Lizard Mound State Park (Blog Hike #1024)

Trails: (unnamed)
Hike Location: Lizard Mound State Park
Geographic Location: northeast of West Bend, WI (43.46402, -88.14055)
Length: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: September 2024
Overview: A short, flat loop past many effigy mounds including the famous Lizard Mound.
Park Information: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/lizardmound
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=972355
Photo Highlight:

Short Video: (coming July 15)

Directions to the trailhead: From West Bend, take SR 144 north 3.7 miles to CR A.  Turn right on CR A.  The park entrance is 0.4 miles ahead on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, and park in the only parking lot.

The hike: Hundreds of years before the first European explorers arrived in America, the Mound Builder peoples lived a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle across what is now the eastern United States.  The Mound Builders lived in societies that were highly organized for their era, and they built their characteristic mounds at numerous sites, many of which are protected today as state or national parks.  Wisconsin lies on the northern end of the Mound Builders' geographical range, and the Lizard Mound site is one of the best places in Wisconsin to view the Mound Builders' legacy.

            The historical value of the Lizard Mound site lies not so much in the size of the mounds as in their variety and quantity: at least 60 mounds of various shapes have been identified at this site.  The exact date and builders of the mounds remain unknown, but most experts think they were constructed between 650 and 1300 AD.  Some of the mounds were destroyed by farming before Washington County established the site as a county park in 1950: only 47 of the original 60+ mounds remain today.  The State of Wisconsin acquired the site in 1986, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

            True to a park established to preserve history, tiny 22-acre Lizard Mound State Park has limited amenities.  The park offers only a parking lot, some picnic tables, and a small interpretive center that gives you information about the mounds.  A limited system of unnamed and unmarked trails provides access to the mounds, and the hike described here takes you on a winding route designed to maximize your distance and your mound viewing.

Interpretive center

            Start by heading to the interpretive center.  To get there from the main parking lot, walk back out the park entrance road and angle left to reach the small picnic shelter-looking building.  Although many questions about these mounds remain unanswered, numerous signs give general information about effigy and burial mounds as well as specific information about this site.

Heading toward the mounds

            Armed with some knowledge about the mounds, next head for the mounds themselves by exiting the interpretive center to the south and walking between 2 ornamental metal fixtures that bear lizard-like shapes.  The first part of this hike goes through a sunny grassy area that is dotted with trees.  In general you want to turn right at each trail intersection to take the longest possible route through the mounds.

Passing a mound

            Quickly it becomes apparent that these mounds come in many shapes and sizes.  The first mound you pass on the left is a T-shaped mound that resembles a bird when viewed from above, while the next one is an elongated mound many experts think was meant to resemble a panther.  More ordinary conical and linear mounds are also passed.

Large panther mound

            At 0.3 miles, you pass a large panther mound that I originally thought was this site's signature lizard mound, but in fact the lizard mound sits just beyond and is signed.  This site has several panther, bird, conical, and linear mounds, but it only has 1 lizard mound.  You approach the lizard at its head, and the best vantage point looks over the lizard's front and back legs down its elongated tail.  A bench encourages you to sit, rest, and admire the unusually-shaped mound.

Lizard mound, looking toward the head

Lizard mound, looking toward the tail

            Past the lizard mound, the trail passes between a pair of panther mounds and enters a more heavily wooded area, where it will remain for the rest of the hike.  This area could be very buggy in the spring and summer, but bugs were not a problem when I hiked here in mid-September.  Many more conical and linear mounds are passed, and while no mound on this site is more than a couple feet high, all of them are interesting.

Conical mound in the woods

            The trail takes a serpentine course through the wooded eastern part of the park, and the persistently flat terrain might make you feel like you are hiking in circles.  Keep turning right at each trail intersection and keep following the trail.  Just shy of 1 mile, you reach an old hand water pump that probably dates to this land's agricultural days.  The main parking lot sits just to the right, thus signaling the end of the hike.

Kohler-Andrae State Park: The Cordwalk (Blog Hike #1023)

Trail: The Cordwalk
Hike Location: Kohler-Andrae State Park
Geographic Location: south of Sheboygan, WI (43.66733, -87.71630)
Length: 3 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: September 2024
Overview: A double out-and-back atop sand dunes along Lake Michigan.
Park Information: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/kohlerandrae
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=972356
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming July 18)

Directions to the trailhead: Just south of Sheboygan, take I-43 to CR V (exit 120).  Exit, go east, then quickly turn right to stay on CR V.  Where CR V ends in 1.9 miles, continue straight to enter the park.  Pay the entrance fee, then follow signs for the Sanderling Nature Center, where this hike begins.

The hike: Consisting of 988 acres on the shore of Lake Michigan, Kohler-Andrae State Park's hyphenated name stems from its 2 separate histories.  The park's southern 122 acres were originally known as Terry Andrae State Park, which was established in 1928.  Terry Andrae was the President of the Julius Andrae and Sons' Electric Supply Company in Milwaukee, and he built a second house on this property to take advantage of the scenic dunes overlooking Lake Michigan.  After Andrae died in 1927, his family donated the land to the State of Wisconsin to form the park that bore his name.

            In an unrelated event, in 1966 the Kohler Company donated 280 acres of land located immediately north of the existing park.  Rather than adding the land to Terry Andrae State Park as would be customary, the Kohler donation was formed into a new park called John Michael Kohler State Park to honor the company's founder.  Additional adjacent land acquisitions bring the area's size to the current total.  While the "park" is still officially 2 separate state parks, they are managed, maintained, and marketed as a single entity: Kohler-Andrae State Park.

            In 2023, the park was the 7th most visited state park in Wisconsin, and it offers some fantastic amenities including a 135-site developed campground, some picnic areas, and a nature center.  Yet the park's main attraction remains the same as it was in Andrae's day: the dunes overlooking Lake Michigan.  Several hiking trails explore the dunes, and this hike describes possibly the most famous trail in Wisconsin: the Kohler Cordwalk.  The Cordwalk features fantastic dune-top Lake Michigan scenery, but the Cordwalk's unusual construction makes the hiking much easier than walking in soft sand.  I came here on a warm sunny morning in mid-September, and I had a splendid, scenic, and memorable hike.

Trailhead for southern Cordwalk

            The Cordwalk can be accessed at 3 distinct points; I chose to start at the Sanderling Nature Center near the Cordwalk's midpoint because it is easy to find and has a large parking lot.  Pick up the Cordwalk as it heads southeast from the parking lot.  A large sign that says "Kohler Dunes State Natural Area" marks this trailhead.

Hiking the Cordwalk

            Immediately the wonder of the dunes becomes apparent.  The soft sand dunes are mostly covered by green grass and shrubs with an occasional cluster of trees, while azure blue Lake Michigan can be seen and heard to your left.  The wind is your near constant companion.  Plenty of benches encourage you to rest and take in the scenery, but there is minimal shade on this hike.  Be prepared for the sun and warmth of the sand dunes.

Sunny Cordwalk bench

            The Cordwalk heads the general direction of south, but it meanders and undulates in seemingly random and endless twists and turns and ups and downs.  In some places you can see the construction of this unique trail surface.  Boards laid perpendicular to your route are strung together by 2 cables or cords that pass through holes drilled in the boards.  Some of the boards are loose and uneven, so you have to step a little carefully.  Nonetheless, hiking this trail surface is many times easier than hiking in soft sand as required at other Lake Michigan dunes hikes such as Warren Dunes or Indiana Dunes.

The Cordwalk's trail surface

            Several "spur Cordwalks" exit right or left from the main Cordwalk.  The spurs going left lead down to the beach beside Lake Michigan, while the spurs going right lead to inland wetland overlooks or the group camp.  You may not want to take each of these spur trails, but you should take a couple of them to see the dunes, lake, and surrounding areas from a different perspective.  Large numbers of gulls were sitting on the beach when I hiked down to the lake.

Gulls along Lake Michigan

            At 0.85 miles, you reach the south end of the Cordwalk and Parking Lot #5.  The main campground lies south of here, but there are no other trails that lead to this parking lot.  Thus, you want to turn around and hike the Cordwalk back north to the Sanderling Nature Center.  If you want to add a little variety to your return route, you can take a short spur of the Cordwalk called the Creeping Juniper Nature Trail.  This spur goes further inland than the trail you hiked southbound, and it takes you through one of the largest clusters of white pines among the sand dunes.

Hiking the Cordwalk northbound

            2.1 miles into the hike, you arrive back at the Sanderling Nature Center parking lot to complete the southern part of the Cordwalk.  If you are getting tired you can head home now, but why not see the northern part of the Cordwalk too?  Make it so by heading north out of the parking lot at another large sign for the Kohler Dunes State Natural Area.

North trailhead at Sanderling Nature Center

White pine cluster

            The northern part of the Cordwalk offers more of the same hiking and more of the same scenery, and thus the experience remains sublime.  A large cluster of white pines offers welcome shade and coolness just before you reach the Cordwalk's northern terminus at Parking Lot #2.  A spur trail leads right to the pet beach area along Lake Michigan, but no other trails depart this parking lot.  Thus, retracing your steps south returns you to the Sanderling Nature Center for a second time at 3 miles to complete the hike.