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| Petrifying Springs Park |
There’s no better way
to experience autumn colors in southeast Wisconsin than a hike.The brilliant yellows, oranges and red of maples to the
scarlet and russets of oaks...the crisp, fresh autumn air and the last warm rays of sunlight before winter arrives...
the crunch of fallen leaves and acorns beneath your boots...stopping to enjoy a warm mug of apple cider or a caramel apple pulled from your backpack – it all calls for an afternoon on the trail.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great autumn trails across southeast Wisconsin to hike. Some are right out your back door, while some are a day trip that you can do in an afternoon.
Kenosha County
Among the best places to see fall colors are streams, where the leaves reflect beautifully against the blue water or brighten a gray sky. Such is the case at Petrifying Springs Park, where an unnamed trail traverses 2 miles (round trip) through a woods and alongside Pike River in the park’s southwest corner. Be sure to take the side trails with footbridges crossing the river, where you can enjoy orange and yellow leaves on trees and shrubs, some of them falling into the water and slowly gliding downstream. In Kenosha, from Wis. Hwy. 31 exit east onto Berryville Road/7th Street. Take the second right/south. Drive 0.17 miles to the second parking lot. Pick up the hiking trail from the paved sidewalk on the lot’s west side, going southwest into the woods.
Milwaukee County
An observation tower offers great views of Lake Michigan and 185 acres of forest right in the Milwaukee metro area. The 0.26-mile Green Tree Accessible Loop at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center heads through a woods of beech, sugar maple, basswood and red and white oak. On the loop’s northeast side is a 60-foot high tower that you can go to the top of. From Interstate 43, head east on E. Brown Deer Road. Turn right/south onto E. Bay Road and into the center. Park in the lot at the road’s end. Walk east from the road to the trailhead.
Ozaukee County
Migrating raptors and fall colors set against the backdrop of beautiful Lake Michigan await at Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve. After passing a wetlands popular with waterfowl, the 2-mile round trip Lion’s Den Trail enters a deep, verdant gorge. Aspen stands and mature white birch with their fluttering yellow leaves abound. The trail then delivers you to a long, secluded beach. From Port Washington, drive south on County Road C/Lake Shore Road. Turn left/east onto High Bluff Drive, which enters the park. When the road becomes a roundabout, park in the first/southern lot.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great autumn trails across southeast Wisconsin to hike. Some are right out your back door, while some are a day trip that you can do in an afternoon.
Kenosha County
Among the best places to see fall colors are streams, where the leaves reflect beautifully against the blue water or brighten a gray sky. Such is the case at Petrifying Springs Park, where an unnamed trail traverses 2 miles (round trip) through a woods and alongside Pike River in the park’s southwest corner. Be sure to take the side trails with footbridges crossing the river, where you can enjoy orange and yellow leaves on trees and shrubs, some of them falling into the water and slowly gliding downstream. In Kenosha, from Wis. Hwy. 31 exit east onto Berryville Road/7th Street. Take the second right/south. Drive 0.17 miles to the second parking lot. Pick up the hiking trail from the paved sidewalk on the lot’s west side, going southwest into the woods.
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Hikers can experience the richly colored orange-red leaves of the hawthorn tree that grows along Pike Creek near Kenosha. The 0.4-mile looping Hawthorn Trail runs in the Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum. Hawthorns grow from 16 to 49 feet tall, and when more shrub than tree-like, their leaves branch out all around the trunk from the ground to its top. A bonus in autumn: The woods is a major stopover for migrating songbirds. From Kenosha, head north on Wis. Hwy. 31. After crossing Somers Road, turn left/west into the nature sanctuary. Park at the nature center; the trail begins west of it.Milwaukee County
An observation tower offers great views of Lake Michigan and 185 acres of forest right in the Milwaukee metro area. The 0.26-mile Green Tree Accessible Loop at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center heads through a woods of beech, sugar maple, basswood and red and white oak. On the loop’s northeast side is a 60-foot high tower that you can go to the top of. From Interstate 43, head east on E. Brown Deer Road. Turn right/south onto E. Bay Road and into the center. Park in the lot at the road’s end. Walk east from the road to the trailhead.
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Day hikers can enjoy autumn leaves at a state forest smack dab in the middle of Wisconsin’s largest urban area. The 1.28-miles round trip self-guided Nature Trail loops through Havenwoods State Forest in Milwaukee. A grove of Norway maple sits at the trail entry. The maple typically turns yellow but some will glow orange-red. Another part of the woods along the trail includes box elder, which turns brilliant gold, elm for a mix of yellow, russet, bronze, orange and wine, white ash to amber and maroon, and hawthorn to hues of purple. From Interstate 43 in Milwaukee, go west on West Silver Spring Drive. Turn right/north onto North Sherman Boulevard then left/west onto West Douglas Avenue. Park in the lot at the nature center.***
Day hikers can enjoy autumn colors at Greenfield Park in West Allis. Orange, yellow and russet leaves line a segment of the Oak Leaf Trail, which runs 0.8 miles through a woods between two parking lots. You can extend the hike by continuing on the Root River Parkway to the south or around a willow-shaded pond to the north. From the junction of Interstate 94 and Wis. Hwy. 100, take the latter south. Turn right/west on West Rogers Street. The road enters the park and ends at a parking lot, from which where the trail heads south.***
A walk through a rainbow of harvest hues awaits at the Wehr Nature Center in Franklin. The looping 1-mile Woodland Trail passes sugar maple, aspen and oak lit up in amber, orange, russet and red during fall. From the junction of Interstate 43 and Wis. Hwy. 100/South 108th Street, take the latter south. Turn right/east onto West College Avenue then once in Whitnall Park go right/south onto Nature Center Drive. ***
Day hikers can traverse a wooded ravine with great views of Lake Michigan at Seven Bridges in Grant Park on Milwaukee's South Shore. The 0.4-mile round trip Seven Bridges Trail, with its stone steps and footbridges, makes for a great autumn hike. Along the way are yellow-leafed American beech and birch, amber-, orange- and red-colored maples, and gold to maroon white ash. From the junction of Interstates 94/41 and College Avenue, take the latter east. Go right/south onto South Lake Drive then left/east onto Grant Park Drive. Park in the spaces off the road at the Seven Bridges Trailhead.***
Day hikers can amble through a maple-beech forest in the heart of Wisconsin's largest metro area at the Forest Exploration Center in Wauwatosa. During autumn at the 60-acre woods in Hoyt Park, hikers can enjoy the amber, orange and reds of sugar maple and the golden-bronze of beech. This type of forest used to dominate southeast Wisconsin along Lake Michigan. From the junction of Interstate 41 and West North Avenue, take the latter east. Turn right/south onto Menomonee River Parkway, then right/southwest onto Underwood Parkway, and then left/south onto Forest Exploration Drive. ***
Autumn colors with a view of Lake Michigan awaits at Big Bay Park in Whitefish Bay. A short 0.44-mile round trip path heads along the tree line, atop the bluff, while another heads to the Lake Michigan shore, where there's a concrete pier. In fall, yellow-, olive- and russet-colored leaves brighten the walk. From the intersection of Interstate 43 and West Hampton Road, take the latter east. Turn left/north onto North Lake Drive then right/north onto North Palisades Road. Park on the street.Ozaukee County
Migrating raptors and fall colors set against the backdrop of beautiful Lake Michigan await at Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve. After passing a wetlands popular with waterfowl, the 2-mile round trip Lion’s Den Trail enters a deep, verdant gorge. Aspen stands and mature white birch with their fluttering yellow leaves abound. The trail then delivers you to a long, secluded beach. From Port Washington, drive south on County Road C/Lake Shore Road. Turn left/east onto High Bluff Drive, which enters the park. When the road becomes a roundabout, park in the first/southern lot.
