Door County is full of hiking trails. Check with any of the state parks and you’ll find a great place to start. Easy to difficult, short to long, wooded or riding the shoreline. But if you want to further your hiking adventures, and find some less-traveled routes, consider the trails of the Door County Land Trust.
The mission of the Door County Land Trust is to protect the county’s “exceptional lands and waters forever.” In other words, the trust is preserving the ecological wonders that make Door County great. The trust grows year after year and includes land from fields, forests, farmlands, orchards, wetlands and shoreline. Much of that can be enjoyed by the public. Our Door County friends, who love hiking, recommended the land trust trails to us. One of their favorite spots is…
Three Springs Nature Preserve
Located two miles outside of Sister Bay, we have walked the trails at Three Springs at different times of the year and at different times of day. One of our friends says her favorite part of this hike, is the “moonlight by the spring in winter.” Whatever day/time/season you visit, is the right time.
Some of the features that make this trail stand out are the old stone fences, the historic farm buildings and the scenic lookouts over the wetlands and springs. Keep your eyes out for wildlife and wildflowers. This land trust property is home to endangered species such as the Hine’s emerald dragonfly and the dwarf lake iris. At 515 acres, it is one the Land Trust’s biggest purchases.
Heins Creek Nature Preserve
Despite what the names implies, Heins Creek in Baileys Harbor is more than just a hike along running water. As you can see, you’ll also be hiking up and along sand dunes as you come out of the forest.
If you read the history of this land trust property, you’ll discover that it’s what separates Kangaroo Lake from Lake Michigan and was once the site of a Native American Village. As we first approached the creek, we spotted a trout flashing it’s scales in the shallow water. It was early in the year, so we didn’t see much else. But in the spring and summer, you can see trout and salmon spawning in the creek.
It’s not a long hike. Just a .75 mile loop. But with so much to see, it is definitely worth a visit.
White Cliff Nature Preserve
Many of the trailheads of the Door County Land Trust are literally just off the beaten path. That was the case with White Cliff Nature Preserve in Egg Harbor. There is no real parking spaces. Just a bit of a clearing on the side of the road. The trail was full of roots at times, blocked by downed trees and dotted with muddy areas from groundwater and a wet summer. But we loved it. Loved the smell of the forest, the colors of the bright moss, and the sounds of wildlife all around us.
The trail is well marked which helped us navigate through all those toppled trees. According to the land trust website, White Cliff is an “upland forest and consists of primarily of white cedar, hemlock, red oak, big toothed aspen, American beech, and sugar maple.”
Walt’s Woods Natural Area
We are always on a quest to find new-to-us trails to explore in Door County. So when a couple of us discovered Walt’s Woods on North Bay, we returned later with the rest of our family. What delighted us the most, was the diversity of the trail. We started out in a forest, worked our way past some rock formations and eventually found ourselves on a rocky shoreline looking out over Lake Michigan.
Walt’s Woods is off of County Highway Q near Baileys Harbor. Find a map of the .7 mile loop trail here.
Boo’s Bluff Natural Area
Boo’s Bluff might be the first Land Trust property we explored, discovering it years ago on a visit to Washington Island. According to the land trust’s list of milestones, it established Boo’s Bluff as a nature preserve in 2014. We look forward to exploring more of their land acquistions over time!
If you’re looking for a home base to plan your Door County hiking adventures, check out some of the stunning properties at Northern Door Vacations.
