Where can you combine a rejuvenating workout with the beauty of delicate wildflowers and pungent painted autumn forests?  What can transport you past wetlands, farm fields, apple orchards, sandy lakeshores, and glacial dolomite outcroppings?  Where can you sense the history of a time gone by while enjoying the beauty of its legacy?  The answer is right here in Wisconsin’s “thumb” – on the Ahnapee State Trail. 

Slicing through the heart of Door and Kewaunee counties, the former railroad bed of the Ahnapee & Western Railroad is a picturesque, inviting nine-foot-wide packed gravel lane comprising part of the 1,000-mile Ice Age Trail.  One can nearly see the ghosts of locomotives pulling their cargos of lumber and dairy products to stops in Casco Junction, Algoma, and Sturgeon Bay. 

Though the era of train transport ended in the 1970’s, the 29-mile trail now welcomes a diverse company of travelers.  Hikers, touring bikers, snowmobilers, and horseback riders discover a variety of sights and sounds as they traverse the path. 

The Ahnapee Trail consists of two major sections – the 18-mile northern section running from Sturgeon Bay to Algoma, and the 9-mile southern section running southeast from Algoma to Casco Junction.  Beginning in Sturgeon Bay, one can watch enormous freighters passing through the shipping canal or take a side excursion to nearby Potawatomi State Park and climb the tower for a commanding view of the bay of Green Bay.  In addition to the 5-mile stretch along the Ahnapee River, the northern segment boasts the Ahnapee Wildlife Refuge and Forestville Mill Pond.  Forestville also provides a rest stop/pavilion for trail users. 

The southern segment includes a wooden bridge over the Kewaunee River, from which trail enthusiasts can enjoy peaceful sunsets and listen to the bubbling of Casco Creek as it joins the Kewaunee River.  Kingfishers and cranes train keen eyes on the waters, watching for trout and salmon.

For winter sports enthusiasts, the Ahnapee Trail offers a pristine wonderland to explore.  The trail connects with 370 miles of snowmobile trails in Kewaunee and Door counties, and a 12-mile segment of the trail is groomed for cross-country skiing through wooded, hilly terrain.

The exciting news for 2008 is that the trail is expanding!  Another ten miles of railroad bed between Luxemburg and Kewaunee is joining the Ahnapee Trail.  The first of three construction phases will create a new trail segment beginning in the City of Kewaunee and running to Clyde Hill Road. 

 This segment, which includes two new bridges and passes the Bruemmer Park and Zoo, will be completed and open for use sometime in spring, 2008.  The second segment, running from the  Village of Luxemburg to Casco Junction, where it joins the present Ahnapee Trail, will be completed by autumn, 2008.  The final segment will connect the new western and eastern segments and should be operational by fall, 2009.  Space for additional parking will be created in Casco Junction.

There are no fees to use the trail, and free parking is provided at specified locations in Kewaunee, Casco, Algoma, and Sturgeon Bay.  For more information about the Ahnapee Trail, visit the Ahnapee on the web or call the Kewaunee County Promotion and Recreation Department at 920.388.0444.  Trail maps are available at the Door County Parks Department at 920.746.9959.

If trails could talk, you might hear the Ahnapee Trail playfully wondering, “Now that you know all about me, when will you come explore me for yourself?”  Perhaps that’s why its Ojibwa name means “When?”  It’s waiting for you!