7 Best Things to Do on Wisconsin's Coast

A few small sailboats floating off a dock at a local port, with red and orange trees behind them and the sunset sky filled with colorful clouds — Head to Madeline Island, the largest of Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands, to camp along the wooded shoreline of Big Bay State Park.

From Milwaukee and the beaches of Lake Michigan to the wild rocky shores of Lake Superior, Wisconsin doesn’t get its coastal due. This is the nation’s “Fresh Coast,” with more than 800 miles of shoreline offering untapped experiences. The adventures here are fresh, to be sure.

Picture it: Cold-water surfing. Scouting for shipwrecks. Climbing dunes and leaping off cliffs. Chasing waterfalls and napping on empty beaches. Wandering through a tribal park and catching ribbons of northern lights. You could fly over the Dairy State, but then you’d never experience what can happen on—and near—the water.

This is how to spend a day (or three) on the Fresh Coast.

White modernist building behind a sign that says "Milwaukee Art Museum" — Milwaukee Art Museum’s iconic Burke Brise Soleil, movable sunscreen “wings,” was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Find art on the water in Milwaukee

Some 30,000 works of art sit inside the Milwaukee Art Museum, but the pièce de résistance is the museum itself. Designed like a bird alighting on the shore, the museum’s Burke Brise Soleil—aka its “wings,” with a 217-foot wingspan—stretches open and shuts twice a day and flaps gently at noon. The museum is set next to the waters of Lake Michigan; while there, you can wander the surrounding paths and gardens, where every angle offers a new perspective on art, architecture, and water. The inside of the museum is also a knockout, with walls bedecked with paintings by O’Keeffe, Rembrandt, Monet, Picasso, Warhol, and Rothko. If you’ve got tykes in tow, there’s even more to love: The museum now offers free admission for kids 12 and under.

Surf on a storm in Sheboygan

Some call Sheboygan the “Malibu of the Midwest,” but Malibu doesn’t know how to scrape a windshield, much less surf winter winds on Lake Michigan. Just north of Milwaukee, Sheboygan’s surfing season technically runs year-round, but the best waves rollick from August to April. The die-hard surfers are out there in January, riding 25 mph winds in 30-degree temperatures. Even in September, when the air is warm, a wet suit is essential.

If you’re not looking to test your buoyancy in fresh water—another added factor in Great Lakes surfing—hit the beaches for some wild spectating. Scout out North Beach or Kohler-Andrae State Park on a windy day, and you’ll see Sheboygan’s signature show. Cheer the surfers on with a Sheboygan brat in hand, on a round Sheboygan hard roll, sprinkled with onion and brown mustard. Like a Chicago hot dog, there are rules here, and they are not meant to be broken.

Aerial view of white lighthouse at edge of green land with trees, surrounded by by blue-green waters — The Cana Island Lighthouse, on the shores of Lake Michigan, is one of Door County’s popular attractions.

Hunt for lighthouses and shipwrecks in Door County

With nearly 300 miles of shoreline, Door County has one of the longest coasts of any county in the United States. You can probably picture it; it’s the thumb part of Wisconsin’s hand shape.

The entire area is part of the Niagara Escarpment, an ancient wall of rock that stretches from here to the eponymous New York waterfall. The rocky bluffs make the waters particularly treacherous, earning the tip of Door County a wild nickname: Death’s Door. Roughly 250 shipwrecks have been documented here, with about 25 easily accessible with shipwreck diving or clear-bottom kayak tours.

Then there’s the county’s lighthouses for those who prefer solid ground. With 11 beaming structures, Door County has the most lighthouses of any county in the U.S. At a minimum, check out Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor and Eagle Bluff Lighthouse in Peninsula State Park. At the latter, the best vantage point is from a kayak, floating underneath that wall of Niagara rock.

Chase waterfalls in Marinette

Wisconsin is awash with waterfalls, but Marinette County has 15 to itself, making this a great spot for a quick waterfall-athon. A $5 day pass to Marinette County Parks is more than worth it: Most of the waterfalls are within a one-hour drive and require just a short hike to the churning cascades. Eighteen Foot Falls and Long Slide Falls in the Marinette County Forest, plus Strong Falls at Goodman County Park, are standouts, though the tread on your hiking boots will determine your destination.

After waterfall hunting, you’re less than an hour from Green Bay, a fine spot for a waterfront toast (and perhaps some requisite cheese curds).

Beyond offering the state’s signature bites, Green Bay also sits on the world’s largest freshwater estuary, newly designated as the Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Explore it at Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, a massive urban refuge steps from downtown.

Or strap on your hiking boots for one last waterfall: Just outside the city, Fonferek’s Glen and its 30-foot cascade make you feel a world away from the thunder of Lambeau Field.

Kayak the Apostle Islands

There’s a movement to turn the Apostle Islands into Wisconsin’s first national park, and that should tell you where to set your expectations for this national lakeshore. The 22 islands along 12 miles of coast make this spot decidedly Caribbean-esque, especially where the sand turns to cliffs and the water turns turquoise. Book a kayak tour from Bayfield (or head out on your own) and float into dark coastal caves, among dots of forest, or even inland to the rivers and sloughs.

The other iconic activity here is a boat tour—the Grand Tour, to be precise. Your captain will cover 55 miles of scenery in roughly two and a half hours, and you’ll see why they call these islands the “jewels of Lake Superior.”

Madeline Island coastline (left); The Madeline Island Ferry on Lake Superior (right) — You can take a car or bicycle on the Madeline Island Ferry from the towns of La Pointe and Bayfield.

Camp on Madeline Island

Madeline Island is technically the largest of the Apostle Islands, but it’s not a part of the national lakeshore. It offers a distinctly different kind of adventure.

A 20-minute ferry ride out of Bayfield lands you on this island sanctuary, where nature blends with art and easy-access amenities. One minute, you’re camping at Big Bay State Park and hiking along the rocky coast of Lake Superior, the next you’re throwing back a Spotted Cow at Tom’s Burned Down Cafe. (Or maybe you’ll be sipping demure cocktails at the Inn on Madeline Island.) La Pointe, the island’s only town, has a year-round community of some 300 hardy, artistic folks—a number that soars by the thousands come summer.

Should you visit come winter, just getting to Madeline Island is an adventure: You glide along an ice road on a windsled. But once you’re there, you’ve stumbled upon—or, rather, skated to—your own semi-private island.

Explore Frog Bay Tribal National Park

The nation’s first tribal national park sits just beyond Bayfield, on the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation, in view of the Apostle Islands. Frog Bay Tribal National Park may be 175 acres, but good things come in this small package. The park is a symbol of a growing movement: Its status as a tribal national park not only protects a large tract of at-risk boreal forest, right on the edges of Lake Superior, but also puts former native lands back under Indigenous management.

With a 1.7-mile rustic trail system and interpretive signs in English and Ojibwe, this spot is less about breaking a sweat and more about contemplating and appreciating your world. Visit after nightfall during winter, and you have a shot at catching the northern lights, too. It’s a beautiful spot, indeed—especially when it’s one you don’t fly over.

This article was originally published in July 2024 and was updated in May 2025 with new information.

Jacqueline Kehoe

Jacqueline Kehoe is an award-winning freelance writer, editor, and photographer. Her work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, National Geographic, Lonely Planet, Sierra, Backpacker, Thrillist, Midwest Living, and elsewhere.

Scout For Shipwrecks and Glimpse the Northern Lights on This Underrated Coastline in the Midwest

Wisconsin’s coast—with its cliff jumping, sea kayaking, and winter surfing—offers plenty of fun experiences.