The rain has mostly held off but winds are still whipping violently along the coast. Decided to try a hike along the Hemlock Trail starting at Weborg Point. Waves from Green Bay decided that I’m not allowed to fully walk out on the point so I headed inland hoping the trees would give a bit of shelter.
The “Shorelines and Sedge Meadows” sign at Weborg Point details some of the ecology and history of the Peninsula Park area.
Trails are very clearly marked in this area and across the park in general but be sure to carry a map as they cross each other often and sometimes change between hiking, biking, combination, and ski trails.
Not far into the trail is the Thorp-Claflin Cemetery (also known as the Pioneer Cemetery on some maps; ‘Thorp’ is also misspelled as ‘Thorpe’ on the signs shown above). Asa Thorp and family as well as Increase Claflin and family are buried here. Both were amongst the first permanent white settlers of the area. Of course all of these lands were originally settled by various Native American tribes, particularly but not limited to the Potawatomi and Menominee, before being usurped by European settlers.
Views of Weborg Marsh from this area are open and quite fantastic. Lots of moody clouds in the sky today. Even in this late season there are plenty of birds in this area and I suspect in the summer months would be a great spot to see for the birding community.
Here’s another marker along the Hemlock Trail, though this one could be a bit confusing if you don’t have a park map to reference. Did I mention it is a good idea to grab a map?
From Weborg Marsh the trail ascends and even after all the rain in the past 24 hours everything is high and dry (well, at least firm and not big mud holes). Overall this is a very well maintained trail. Great views of the path through tunnels in the forest.
Another open area along the trail, this particular section almost completely dominated by hemlocks which should be no surprise given the name of the trail. Here deep within the forest cover the strong coastal winds are no more than a breeze.
And just down the trail a short distance more, the tree diversity ramps up again. Most of the leaves have already dropped for the year but those remain are a brilliant bright yellow, offset by only a small minority of conifers.
Today I’m making a loop between the Hemlock Trail to the Hemlock/Skyline Trail segment and returning on the Sunset Bike Route trail to return to the beginning. Signs are clearly marked but again maps do help as these intersections can often go in 4 or more directions.
Because it’s a bike route the Sunset trail is extremely well groomed and the base is almost entirely crushed and compacted gravel. This section is mostly downhill as well making my return trek quite effortless.
Another great part of this section is the views of the Niagara Escarpment that loom high above not far in the distance. This is the same geological cliff that spans all the way east to Niagara Falls, and stretches further south to it’s terminus in southeastern Dodge County.
Another view of my easy walk along the Sunset Bike Route. No further comment necessary.
One more look as I cross both the Middle Road and Skyline Road intersection as I continue back to the south. The sun is peeking out more often now and lighting up the amber colored canopy brightly. Turning out to be quite a pleasant day!
The White Cedar Forest State Natural Area is either adjacent or combines/contains parts of Weborg Marsh. The Sunset Bike Route passes back along the marsh on the west side now giving some different perspectives than we saw earlier on the Hemlock Trail that passes to the south and east.
Here’s one last look across the Weborg Marsh and White Cedar Forest from the end of the Sunset trail as I finish my loop back at Weborg Point. Blue skies are starting to come through and it looks like rain is holding off in the forecast which means possibly more hiking woohoo!
Hiking Data
Here is my hiking route for the morning. Starting off from Weborg Point I headed east and then north on the Hemlock Trail which then bends northwest on the Hemlock/Skyline Trail segment. At the intersection with the Sunset Bike Route trail I turned back south and ended where I began.
Total distance for this loop was a dead even 4 miles and overall just under 200ft of elevation gain which across that distance is basically nothing. All in all this is a great loop that hikers of almost any level should be able to do.
