A great lakeshore hike in Door County, Wisconsin
I believe that variety is the spice of hikes. The more trail surfaces, views, and landscapes, the more interesting the journey.
Eagle Trail in Wisconsin’s Peninsula State Park offers such diversity. And you can take your Parkinson’s along, especially for the accessible portions (more on that below).
The park is located near the northern tip of Door County.
Door County? Look on a map of the Great Lakes for a big spike of land jutting from eastern Wisconsin into Lake Michigan and forming Green Bay to the west.
That spike comprises Door County, a popular tourist destination known for its fish boils, cherry orchards and charming lakeside towns, not to mention hiking.
Along the 2-mile Eagle Trail you’ll see edgewater views of Green Bay, tall cliffs with small caves, and interesting trees – some as contorted as a Cirque du Soleil performer.
A short portion of Eagle is wheelchair accessible (info on that below). However, much of the hike is on uneven, rooted and rocky trails that will require a bit of fancy footwork.
Parkinson’s tip
There’s virtually no exposure on Eagle Trail; if you trip, there’s little threat of falling far down off the path. But with the protruding roots and large rocks, you’ll need to be able to lift your feet adeptly while walking. Trekking poles are highly recommended.
Our group parked away from the main lot, at Eagle Panorama. To get there, take the east entrance to the state park and travel on Shore Road about 1,000 feet beyond Eagle Tower to a smaller lot.
At Panorama, the trailhead is found to the left of the parking lot when you are facing the water.
But first, take a group picture with the bay in the background.
The first stretch goes down, but not steeply. Elevation change for the entire route is about 180 feet.
Signs for Eagle Trail were easy to follow.
We walked in a clockwise direction.
Within minutes we were near the shore of Green Bay. To our right were cliff walls, calling us to come closer and explore.
The youngsters in our group, which included three generations of hikers ages 3 to 61, excitedly pulled some of the adults off trail to check out the mini caves in the cliffs.
The cliff/waterfront section of the trail is quite rocky and just under a mile long.
This section is no walk in the park.
(Even though it actually is a walk and it’s in a state park.)
The trail then goes back up. We took a sharp right turn to some stairs that got us on top of the bluff again.
Once we were up there, the path became smooth.
The simplicity of the trail was welcome after navigating through the ankle-twisting, stone-filled path behind us.
At the first junction, we took a right onto Sentinel trail.
We were veering off Eagle Trail – but for a good reason.
Sentinel would take us to the highest point of the journey – the 60-foot-tall Eagle Tower.
The newly rebuilt structure and its elevated boardwalk offer panoramic views of the park and Green Bay. The tower was originally built in 1914; the new one opened in 2021.
I counted about 100 steps as we slogged our way to the top.
From there the wooden “canopy walk” took us through the trees in a gentle slope back down to the ground.
Parkinson’s tip
You can skip the tower stairs but still take the canopy walk to get to the top. Just enter on the ramp end, which is not far from the tower. The walk is about one-fifth of a mile to the tower; double it for a nice out-and-back journey.
Once off the boardwalk we headed back to our car via the Sentinel trail (also very smooth, even ADA-certified accessible). A five-minute walk brought us back to the Eagle Panorama parking lot.
Our hike took a little over two hours. Because this trail and its surroundings were brimming with variety, we took it slowly, making stops at interesting places.
You know, that thing about smelling the roses.
Hike info
PD difficulty level (see chart): moderate, but difficult in a few spots
Distance: 2-mile loop
Elevation gain: 180 feet
Trailhead location: Peninsula Park east entrance in Fish Creek, Wisconsin, travel 1 mile north on Shore Drive
Bathrooms: at Eagle Tower parking lot
Emergency medical support: clinic in Sister Bay, about 15 miles
Costs: $13 for 1-day vehicle sticker
Access to trailhead: next to parking lot
Insider tip: Even if you don’t deal with symptoms of Parkinson’s, trekking poles are a good idea for the lower part of this hike. So are solid, over-the-ankle hiking boots.
