Lakeshore State Park

This will be a relatively short post, as this state park is the third smallest in our state (or smallest, or second smallest, or fourth smallest… there is some major controversy [there’s not, I just made that up – but it does get confusing due to a former state park in the process of becoming a national lakeshore, another one losing its status, and another one gaining some land through technical acquisitions of state natural areas], either way, it’s one of our smallest state parks). That being said, I think it should belong to a different category – urban park, or urban green zone, instead of state park, but I’ll save that idea for a different post. In the meantime, let’s discuss what you need to know, why you should go, and what to expect at Lakeshore State Park.

For starters, being in the bottom three for size, this is THE easiest to state park to complete. I’ve said before, every Wisconsinite in love with this state should make it a goal to visit ever state park, and this one is the easiest to accomplish. Here’s why: at some point in your life, you’ll end up visiting Milwaukee (and you should do so a few times… it’s one of the greatest big cities in the world, according to me). This park is just off of the Historic Third Ward district, right next to several tourist attractions (or just normal attractions in general – you don’t have to be a tourist to visit the nearby places), and basically connected to the Summerfest grounds. Long story short, if you’re visiting MKE, it takes virtually zero effort to visit. And with how small it is, you can very easily hike (walk?) and see it all. Take those two factors into consideration, and Lakeshore State Park is the easiest to cross off that bucket list of yours.

I visited Lakeshore State Park on a day where I was visiting Discovery World, a very cool (kid oriented to be fair) science museum. It was worth a visit, as it combines my love for science and museums, and they also have a mini-aquarium, which was very cool too. Directly south of Discovery World is Lakeshore State Park, so we walked over to see the park, Lake Michigan, and get a mile or so in for some brief exercise. The views of the Lake are obviously great, the trail is paved, and it’s just a nice urban green space right near the heart of downtown. It needs to be bigger, and I’ll save that for a post for another day as well. In addition to being right next door to Discovery world and the Summerfest grounds, it’s very near the Art Museum and is also within easy walking distance of the Historic Third Ward… so easily accessible even if you’re already doing things in Milwaukee. If you can’t walk the greatest, or even at all, this is a state park you can do with ease. Again, maybe it shouldn’t be classified as a state park, but it is, so you might as well give it an hour of your time.

TL;DR
– Hiking Difficulty: Easy (probably easiest of ever state park)
– Scenic Rating: 3/10 (you get to see Lake Michigan to your east, and some cool views of the skyline to your west, but this isn’t some place you’re going to go for views)
– Location: 10/10 – easy to find a reason to be in MKE, easy to find a way to get here
– Extra Opportunities: 10/10 – duh, it’s MKE
– Worth it? Yes, but only because of ease of accessibility
– Rankings
1) Wyalusing
2) Rock Island
3) Lakeshore