Door County Coastal Byway

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Sturgeon Bay

   Door County is the thumb of Wisconsin, a limestone peninsula that sticks into Lake Michigan like a hitchhiker's hand, and Sturgeon Bay is the town where you come in. It is the only real city on the peninsula, with about nine thousand people, a shipyard, a downtown that climbs a hill from the water, and a ship canal that makes the northern half of Door County, in effect, an island. The canal was cut in 1881 to connect Green Bay with Lake Michigan, saving ships the long, dangerous trip around the tip, and it is crossed by a steel bridge that lifts to let freighters through. If you are held up there, watch for the long, low ships sliding past at head height.

   Read the complete Sturgeon Bay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sturgeon Bay is where the day begins. Next is Egg Harbor.

2. 2. Egg Harbor

   Egg Harbor is the first village of Door County that makes you stop, and it has a name with a story to match. The legend says that in the 1860s a group of boaters returning from a trip to Green Bay got into a fight over a basket of eggs, throwing them at one another until the boat was thoroughly and unmistakably scrambled. Whether or not that is true, the name stuck, and it suits a place that tends to be more playful than solemn.

   Read the complete Egg Harbor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Egg Harbor comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Fish Creek.

3. 3. Fish Creek

   Fish Creek feels like the postcard version of Door County, and it has the good sense to wear it lightly. The village sits on the shore of Green Bay at the edge of Peninsula State Park, its main street lined with old frame buildings, galleries, and cafes, while the harbour is dotted with boats. It was settled in the mid-nineteenth century by Alexander Noble, a pioneer who built a pier and a mill, and the town grew up around the needs of lake traffic and lumbering.

   Read the complete Fish Creek write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Fish Creek. Next is Sister Bay.

4. 4. Sister Bay

   Sister Bay is the northern anchor of Door County's bay shore, and it wears its Scandinavian heritage with a certain amount of humour. Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes settled this part of Wisconsin in the nineteenth century, drawn by the fishing and the timber, and you can still see their influence in the names, the food, and the architecture. The most famous example is a restaurant with a sod roof on which goats graze all summer, a sight that makes most riders pull over and take a picture before they quite know why.

   Read the complete Sister Bay write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sister Bay, late in the day. Next is Gills Rock.

5. 5. Gills Rock

   Gills Rock sits at the end of the line on Door County's northern tip, a tiny fishing village of a few houses, a maritime museum, and a harbour full of working boats. The road that has carried you up the peninsula finally runs out of room here, with Green Bay on one side and the strait beyond. That strait has a name that sells itself: Porte des Morts, or Death's Door, a stretch of water between the peninsula and Washington Island where shifting currents, shoals and sudden storms have wrecked a long list of ships. Whether the French or the Potawatomi named it is debated, but the reputation is earned.

   Read the complete Gills Rock write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Gills Rock. That is the ride.