What is it about Wisconsin's beauty that takes your breath away? Whether you live here or visit you know, Wisconsin is brimming with beautiful landscapes, but its Great Lakes coasts host some of the most sublime natural geography in the world. Today we're traveling to scenic byways that traverse unique terrain and charming, picturesque communities along the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan coasts. Buckle up. We're traveling Wisconsin's coastal byways. Hello and welcome to Discover Wisconsin. Throughout Wisconsin's coastal scenic byways, you'll find parks and destinations that were protected, enhanced or acquired through funding from the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program. These efforts were undertaken to protect, restore and make accessible our valuable and shared coastal assets. There are two designated scenic byways along Wisconsin's Great Lakes coasts, the Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway in Bayfield County and the Door County Coastal byway in, you guessed it, Door County. The 66 mile loop in Northern door County tours through some of Wisconsin's most charming communities, including Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport. The Door County Coastal Byway is a state and nationally designated scenic byway. Highway 42 runs up to Bayside. And Highway 57 runs down the Lakeside. So I just pulled into Egg Harbor. And that's our first stop on the bay side of this tour. Egg Harbor has a ton of great opportunities for things like golf. There's two beautiful beaches, gorgeous Harbor View Park. There's two craft breweries, wineries, a distillery and tons of great shops. There's also a lot of great history here. You know, as much as I love driving the door County Coastal Byway, I'm going to swap my ride for a bit and take a tour on the Door county trolley. In fact, I got this one waiting for me right now. Door County Trolley offers tours all over the county. Want to do a wine tour? Art tour. Whatever kind of tour you want. They have it and they have knowledgeable guides who tell you everything about it. And just up the road is Fish Creek, which is so charming. You know, one of the best things you can do in Door county is just wander to see what you can find. And in Fish Creek, you will find adorable little shops, cafes, galleries, all kinds of great stuff. The marina itself, absolutely Instagrammable. And if you're hungry, you're in the right spot. Fish Creek is a culinary destination. Like Island has been open since 1896. It's right next to Sunset Beach in downtown, and they're famous for their breakfast, especially their door county cherry stuffed French toast. Now, almost all the restaurants north of Sturgeon Bay are locally owned, and they love using local products and produce, like, for example, door county cherries, which are stuffed into this French toast. Fish Creek sits adjacent to another huge door, County attraction Peninsula State Park. The park is over 3000 acres, but the beautiful part is you can walk or bike to just about anything. The sunset bike route is nine miles and takes you through marshes and forests, then right out to the shoreline. The park has over 450 campsites. And don't miss Eagle Tower for an epic view of the bay. It's a destination within a destination you know, when you're taking a road trip on a coastal byway. Sometimes the waters start calling. So here in Sister Bay, I found this beauty, the Edith and Becker. It's one of the ships you can charter from Sale Door County. This beauty is a 65 foot double mast schooner, and we get to go for a ride. Ahoy! Let's go. The old post office here and Ephraim's been a building since 1874 in various capacities. But it's been this restaurant since the seventies. And they specialize in a door county staple the fish boil. I am the boil master here at the old post office. I do every single fish boil here at the restaurant. Which comes down to roughly 400 of these every season. It's definitely a door county original tradition, and you can date it all the way back to the very first European settlers. We had up here in Door County. They're all locally caught Lake Michigan Whitefish, and we buy all the fish from local fishermen right here in Door County. We get fresh fish delivered just about every other day. They caught all your fish yesterday morning after a beautiful day here in Door County, capping it off with a beautiful sunset here in Ephraim. So we're traveling the door County Coastal Byway and Highway 42 and 57 meet up again in Sister Bay. But it's definitely worth the drive further on 42. Highway 42 ends right here at death's door and that's where we get the name of door county port park also gives you great views of the geologic feature that's the backbone of Door county the Niagara Escarpment. These dolomite cliffs run from Niagara Falls in New York through Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the Door County Peninsula and down into southeastern Wisconsin. There are a lot of diverse biomes in Door county. It's part of what makes it such a special and popular place. Now we're here at Newport State Park, near the northern end of the lake side of the peninsula. This is Wisconsin's only state wilderness park. You can go hike, bike, backpack and camp here. And it was recently designated an international Dark Sky Park, the first in the state, only 49th in the world. So the east side of Door County is quite different. So we're in the Cuesta of the Niagara Escarpment. So you've got the bluffs on the bay side and then it gently slopes down over to the east side where we've got some exposed bedrock, but then also very sandy beaches out here. We've got 11 miles of shoreline, so there's plenty of areas to put the kayak in and go to all these unique little coves. We've also got 18 backpack campsites and about 30 miles of trail. So we've got much more area, much more trails, a lot less people out here. So it's a really spectacular place to camp. Further down the lakeside, you'll come to the community of Baileys Harbor, a great stop just off Highway 57 is the Cana Island Lighthouse, some with Hal, who's the lighthouse keeper here on Cana Island. This is a really cool lighthouse. There's like 11 of them in the county, right? There's 11 lighthouses in Door County. We have more lighthouses in Door county than any other county in the United States. Cana along with the range lights that are currently in Baileys Harbor and operational, were both installed in 1869, and it's been operational every since. And it shines out for about 18 miles. And it's been doing that for 153 years with various modes of lighting from kerosene, oil, light bulbs. And today it uses a halogen light bulb at 110 volts. But the ships use it as a reference to know where they are in relation to other places. It's all before GPS, by the way, way before GPS. Cana island has five shipwrecks around it over the last hundred and 53 years. There are three sailing ships out what we call the deep water. You have the bartelme, the last wreck, and you have the Frank O'Connor, which is a well known wreck because it's only in about 20 feet of water. Very popular dive wreck built in 1869. Metal clad in 1902, 100 feet tall. You can get up to about 79 feet and take an amazing 360 degree view of this whole quiet side of Door county. It is spectacular. The history is amazing and I am looking forward to coming back and checking out in other seasons. But today is perfect there are a lot of great farmers markets all over Door County. But if you find yourself near Baileys Harbor on a Sunday, you have to come here. We’re a little different on the rest. We have the most unique vendors. We try not to let a lot of the same vendors in. So we have food, books, jewelry, crafts, pictures and then your produce and plants. Hey Annie. Hi. I got a question for you. What is it about Door County's climate that allows people to grow stuff that you can't grow everywhere else? The lake never freezes over except temporarily. So that keeps us cooler in the spring. Warmer longer in the fall and the limestone base from the Niagara escarpment helps orchard and vineyard crops a lot. Cherries have to have a lot of lime, and so do other orchard fruits. We have one more stop here on the door County Coastal Byway, and that's Whitefish Dunes State Park, just south of Jackson Port off Highway 57. This is a day use only park filled with trails and hiking, biking, all kinds of great opportunities. But the dunes and beaches are what's most spectacular. Right this way. So a lot of people that come in here don't even realize that all the hills they're walking through are actually sand dunes, because our sand dunes are basically as old as the last ice age. So they've been here so long that vegetation has started to form over the top of them and they just look like hills now. So we get a lot of windblown sands. We have some of the tallest sand dunes in Wisconsin here. You can do all different kinds of watersports here. You can go swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding. We do have kayak tours that run off of our beach. Here. We have hiking trails, bike trails. We have the picnic area. So, yeah, there's lots to do here for sure. And don't forget the Dare County Coastal Byway. It's open all year round. It's ready for you any time. Well, we've experienced Lake Michigan. Our next trip takes us up to Lake Superior. That's next. Today, we're traveling the Wisconsin Lake Superior Scenic Byway, also a national scenic byway. The adventure will take us along 70 miles of Highway 13 along the south shore of Lake Superior. Here in Bayfield County, we'll see how culture, history and nature are beautifully woven together in the communities of Washburn, Bayview, Bayfield, Redcliffe, Cornucopia and Herbster. A great way to start your road trip is with a visit to the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. It’s right by the junction of US 2 on Highway 13. It's also on the border of the Chequamegon National Forest and the Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Refuge. The museum's celebrates the history and heritage of Lake Superior, its diverse cultural and natural resources, through a beautifully designed exhibit hall and mural. There's galleries that feature artwork and educational programs that promote environmental stewardship. Outside, you'll find a couple of trails and some great viewing areas a few miles up the coast will come to the city of Washburn, known as the little town on the Big Lake. It's also the county seat of Bayfield County. This quaint community is really worth exploring. They have some great restaurants and bars, some cute boutique shops, art galleries and a lot more. I highly recommend a stop at the Washburn Cultural Center if you want to learn more about this maritime community. And it's a cool building. The first floor features an antique shop complete with a vinyl vault and an art gallery with rotating exhibits. Upstairs, the local history museum features artifacts, photographs and dioramas like this. This is actually West End Park. Wow. Back in 1900. Both spaces help tell the story of this place and its people. So just a lot of history here. So between the logging history and then we had quarrying with the brownstone and then dynamite with DuPont. We had a lot going on. Now, today it's more outdoor recreation is what we're known for and artists. So it's this really interesting conglomeration of people who love the outdoors. Washburn’s historic Lakeshore Parkway, and Walking Trail is another great way to learn some history and get a beautiful view of Chequamegon bay. The trailhead is at Thompson's West End Park, where you'll also find camping a boat launch and the Spragg well, which has been supplying hikers and visitors clean, cold, artesian water since 1903. Driving north from Highway 13, you pass through the town of Bayview. It's home to Houlton Falls, Nature Preserve and Bayview Park, which has one of the most pristine beaches along the superior coast. You know, often when you're driving through Bayfield County, you'll notice a lot of orchards. That's because there's a fantastic microclimate here. Thanks to Lake Superior, perfect for growing fruit and berries. So we're going to check out Houser's Superior View Farm. And I believe they have a cidery there. My great great grandfather started this farm in 1908. So we're well over 100 years old Century Farm, and we grow about 15 different varieties, you know, everything from a macintosh, your standard old school apples to Honeycrisp. Well, you've diversified, too. I mean, you grow apples and you grow other berries, but you've developed a cidery. Yes. This will be our six year doing Ciders. Ciders are finally coming back. And it's it's a great thing for for everybody. I mean, especially for us. Now that we're getting into this market, it can give you enjoy some nature, learn about apples and then drink them. I mean eat them. Or both. Or both. Hey cheers. The view as you come into Bayfield on the Lake Superior scenic byway one of the reasons they call it scenic, this is stellar. We're a very iconic harbor town. I've been bringing my family here for 30 years. We have sailed. We've kayaked, we've gone on the tours. We've camped out on the islands. It is a beautiful lake. And this is a beautiful shoreline, especially with the Apostle Islands around here. This lake. It's clean, It's fresh. It's one of the coldest of the Great Lakes. It's also the largest. This is just a piece of heaven here. This is a good looking fish diner. And this was swimming in Lake Superior this morning. Absolutely. We have two families, Bootmans, they have been fishing for six generations. Bodeens have been fishing for five generations. Boy, you see so much when you just take a walk around here. I mean, there's so many shops. Oh, we have so many galleries. We have art studios, stores, pubs. We have a wonderful coffee shop. So if you're looking for an unforgettable evening of entertainment, head to Big Top Chautauqua. It's an intimate 900 seat venue under a blue striped tent. It's hosted legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Gladys Knight and more. But it's also home to the adored Blue Canvas Orchestra. It's made up of extraordinarily talented, professional local musicians who are also amazing storytellers. Most of the performances here celebrate Lake Superior after such a beautiful day, exploring everything on the Lake Superior Scenic Byway. When the sun goes down, it's time to rest your head somewhere. And you have so many great options around. Bayfield Whether it's historic Inns, Airbnbs and at Blue Vista Farms, which goes blueberries and more out here. But they have a great Airbnb. That's where I'm rested my head tonight. So sweet dreams of Lake Superior sunrises in the east and you get a fair look at the beautiful waters of Lake Superior. Maybe you want to go to Madeline Island. Well, there goes the Madeline Island Ferry ready to take people over there. It makes multiple round trips every day. As for me, I'm off to Redcliffe. Bayfield County was originally inhabited by the Anishinaabe. The Red Cliff Reservation remains their home today and within it is Frog Bay Tribal National Park, the first tribal National Park in the US. It protects and sustainably manages over 300 acres, including 4000 feet of undeveloped lake Superior shoreline. This Frog Bay Tribal National Park section has 1.7 miles of hiking trails. Visitors will be able to experience beautiful, mature hardwood forest and a beautiful section of beach with a great view of the Apostle Islands. So, Marvin, as a tribal elder, what does this park mean to you? Well this park. This park is very special, not just to me as an elder, but certainly to our community. The reason why it's special, because it talks to us. It tells us. It tells us about the land, about the air and about the water. So we felt we felt with the park. That would be our chance to tell the story of how pristine the land is, not just here in Redcliffe, but but certainly within the region. One of the most popular attractions to the area is the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It offers stunning Lake superior views and access to the 22 Apostle Islands. There are also nine lighthouses within its boundaries. This is one of those places where when people come here, they can just be in awe with something so large and something so beautiful. It's a place where you can walk on the beach. We can go for a swim in the summer where you can find somebody who has a boat company and maybe go out to the islands on a taxi or on a kayak tour. As we're standing now, it's warm and there's beaches, but there's some good hiking trails right here, too. Most of our hiking trails are off shore, but there is a little boardwalk here that people can walk on to the wetland. The main one that people are interested in is actually over at Myers Beach, which is also on the scenic byway. That location, you can hike about a mile and a half along the top of the shoreline and look down on the sea caves that are below. This location is within the Red Cliff Reservation, has a really important relationship to the Ojibwe nations. And so it's just a place to begin to get an understanding for something so big, for something so special, for so many different experiences on the shores of Lake Superior, on the northwestern slope of the Bayfield Peninsula, right along Lake Superior is the charming fishing town of Cornucopia, home to the northernmost post office in Wisconsin. And Ella's General store. Let's get some lunch. Just off Highway 13, outside of Cornucopia is the River Preserve. Home to the falls one of five beautiful waterfalls you can easily access off the scenic highway. And these trails take you right to it. Let's check it out. Right now, I get to watch the sunset here on the beach in Herbster just down the street, port wing and clover land. Each has their own unique characteristics and culture. The Lake Superior, Scenic Byway and the Door County Coastal Byway connect some of Wisconsin's most precious cultural, historical and natural resources. And the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program is dedicated to preserving access to the beautiful Great Lakes coastlines. I'm Eric Paulson. I'll see you down the road.
