Peninsula State Park
The region's largest state park, with an 18-hole golf course, bike and hiking trails, Nicolet Beach, a lookout tower and Eagle Bluff Light Station. It is also where Northern Sky Theater performs in summer.
THE ENJOY ROAD TRIPS EDITION — FIELD GUIDE
Region
Outdoors in Door County
Five state parks, nineteen county parks, beaches, paddling, fishing and dark skies — where to go outside in Door County.
Five state parks, five different days
The state parks are the backbone of a Door County outdoor trip, and they are not interchangeable. Peninsula is the largest and most developed; Newport is the quietest and darkest; Whitefish Dunes has the sand; Potawatomi is the wooded, western gateway; Rock Island requires two ferries and rewards the effort with ten miles of trail.
A Wisconsin State Park System vehicle admission sticker is required at the four mainland parks. Rock Island also requires ferry tickets.
The state parks
Newport State Park
Eleven miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and thirty miles of hiking trail, with backpack camping and a reputation for darkness. It is Wisconsin's only internationally designated Dark Sky Park.
Good to know Bring a red-light headlamp for night walks and check the moon phase if you want stars.
Whitefish Dunes State Park
A mile of sand beach and the highest sand dunes in Wisconsin, with more than fourteen miles of trail including a route to Clark Lake.
Potawatomi State Park
More than two miles of Green Bay shoreline, six miles of hiking trail, bike trails, camping and a boat ramp. The park protects a piece of the Niagara Escarpment on the county's southern edge.
Rock Island State Park
A 906-acre island park one mile northeast of Jackson Harbor, with ten miles of hiking trail, camping, swimming and Pottawatomie Lighthouse. Access is by the Karfi passenger ferry from Washington Island.
County parks and the shoreline
The nineteen county parks are where the peninsula's geology is most dramatic. Cave Point County Park, inside Whitefish Dunes, is known for sea caves cut into the limestone by Lake Michigan. Ellison Bluff has a wooden walkway and observation deck at the edge of hundred-foot bluffs. Door Bluff Headlands, the county's northernmost point, is preserved in its natural state with no facilities.
Cana Island, a nine-acre county park since 2007, combines a beach walk with the lighthouse. Frank E. Murphy Park near Egg Harbor has 1,600 feet of sand beach on Horseshoe Bay, plus a boat launch.
On the water
Paddling
Green Bay is generally the calmer side; Lake Michigan's east shore is colder and more exposed. Morning is the reliable window.
Fishing
The county's boat launches and piers support both Green Bay and Lake Michigan fishing. Baileys Harbor's shoreline is known for salmon and trout.
Beaches
Municipal beaches in the villages, state park beaches at Nicolet and Whitefish Dunes, and the limestone cobbles of Schoolhouse Beach on Washington Island.
Verification
Sources & editorial record
Factual details on these pages were checked against the sources below on 2026-10-29 . Interpretive prose, itineraries and recommendations are editorial judgement, not sourced fact.
Park acreages, lighthouse dates, ferry crossing times and community descriptions are taken from Destination Door County, the Coastal Byway and the relevant land manager. Opening hours, prices and individual business details are deliberately not published here because they change seasonally.
- Destination Door County Official destination marketing organisation: communities, parks and lighthouses.
- Destination Door County — Parks State and county park acreages, shoreline and facilities.
- Destination Door County — Lighthouses Construction dates, automation dates and public access.
- Door County Coastal Byway 66-mile byway route, three state parks and ten county parks.
- Wisconsin DNR — State parks Land-manager information for Wisconsin state parks.
- Door County government County visitor information and official links.