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Downtown Sturgeon Bay WisconsinPhoto: Greg Tally - User: (WT-shared) WineCountryInn at wts wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 3.0
AOutdoors
Outdoors in Sturgeon Bay

Sturgeon Bay has 12 miles of mapped trails, 1.2 for every square mile of land

504 acres are parks and preserves, 51 per 1,000 residents. 95% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Crossroads at Big Creek (6.8 mi), Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve (2 mi), Sunset Park (0.8 mi).

Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns · #64 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it

Conserved land
4%
268 acres · of 9.9 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
1.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
504 ac
51 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
95%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.2 mi
0.8 mi lanes · 4.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
3 beaches · 11 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Sturgeon Bay?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

A trail town1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, more than 85% of U.S. towns.Parks close to home95% of residents live within a half mile of a park.History along the way10 places on the National Register.
Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Sturgeon Bay have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sturgeon Bay is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns, #64 of 362 in Wisconsin. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, conserved land lowest.

A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sturgeon Bay’s overall grade.
Conserved land4% of the land · typical WI town 4% · U.S. 4%BTrails1.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · WI 0.4 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land51 acres of park per 1,000 residents (504 acres) · WI 31 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home95% of residents within a half mile of a park · WI 90% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 89%
LessMore
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 83%

Water is 14% of Sturgeon Bay’s area (2 of 12 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 4%.

How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.

PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →

The map

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.

1234
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk

Pick a walk

The longest trail network is Crossroads at Big Creek, with 6.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Crossroads at Big Creek

Park
131 acres6.8 mi of trail
Crossroads Summer Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve

Managed by Door County Land Trust
421 acres2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Sunset Park

Park
128 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot

Crossroads at Big Creek-Ida Bay

Nature preserve
69 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
Crossroads at Big Creek131 acres · 6.8 mi of trail
Directions
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve421 acres · 2 mi of trail · Door County Land Trust
Directions
Sunset Park128 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Directions
Otumba Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Bayview Park2 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Directions
Crossroads at Big Creek-Ida Bay69 acres
Door County Fairgrounds68 acres
Directions
Big Hill Park13 acres
Directions
Sawyer Park8 acres
Directions
Cherry Blossom Park5 acres
Garland Park3 acres
Directions
Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal2 acres
Graham Park2 acres · City of Sturgeon Bay
Directions
Martin Park1 acres · City of Sturgeon Bay
Directions
Who protects it

268 conserved acres

4% of Sturgeon Bay’s land. Water is left out: Sturgeon Bay has 9.9 square miles of land and 1.7 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Sturgeon Bay’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city158 ac
State natural resources129 ac
Private owners3 ac
Local Park · 140 acState Recreation Area · 104 acState Conservation Area · 19 acLocal Conservation Area · 13 acRecreation or Education Easement · 9 ac
Good to know

Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 7 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.

The biggest protected parcels
Parcel (PAD-US)Managed byAcresPublic access
Strawberry Creek State Habitat Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources73Restricted
Sunset Park
Local Park
Town or city64Open
Big Creek State Habitat Area
State Recreation Area
State natural resources20Open
Statewide Habitat Areas
State Conservation Area
State natural resources19Restricted
Sturgeon Bay Fields
Local Park
Town or city16Open
Lawrence Big Hill Park
Local Park
Town or city11Open
Sawyer Park
Local Park
Town or city8Open
Woodside Wildflower Preserve
Local Conservation Area
Town or city8Open
Cherry Blossom Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open
Franke Park
Local Park
Town or city7Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

19 places to go in Sturgeon Bay

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Boat launches in Sturgeon Bay
Sawyer Boat Launch
Directions

Plus 10 boat launches without a name on the map.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 3 lakes & rivers

Named trails
Crossroads Summer Trail0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Bradley LakepondLarge Dry DockSmall Dry Dock
Biking & sports

6.2 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

0.8 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.4 mi
off-road bike paths
1.0 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
9Baseball
7Pickleball
6Tennis
3Basketball
2Volleyball
1Skate park
1Soccer

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

History along the way

10 places on the National Register

The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 14 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.

History →
Louisiana Street/Seventh Avenue Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About it
Third Avenue Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983
About it
Larson, L. A., & Co. StoreBuilding · listed 1985
About it
Carnegie Free LibraryBuilding · listed 1988
About it
Sturgeon Bay Post OfficeBuilding · listed 2000
About it
JOYS (Shipwreck)Site · listed 2007
About it
Sturgeon Bay BridgeStructure · listed 2008
About it
Teweles and Brandeis Grain ElevatorBuilding · listed 2018
About it
Dr. Joseph and Olivia Soper HouseBuilding · listed 2024
About it
PRIDE Shipwreck (Schooner)Site · listed 2024
About it
When to get out

The best walking months in Sturgeon Bay: May and July to September

NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)9.110.411.813.414.815.615.314.012.510.99.58.8
High (°F)262938496272777668564231
Rain (in)1.61.21.83.03.33.73.43.33.23.22.21.9

February is the driest month (1.2 in) and July the warmest (highs of 77 °F). 3.7 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Sturgeon Bay →

Next door

Sturgeon Bay and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Sevastopol21 miNasewaupee18 miSturgeon Bay12 mi
TownConserved
of land		Trail mi
per sq mi		Park acres
per 1,000		Near a park
½ mile		Outdoors
Sturgeon Bay4%1.25195%A
Nasewaupee4%0.472526%B
Sevastopol6%0.456719%B+

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Sturgeon Bay

Where can I hike in Sturgeon Bay?

The longest trail networks: Crossroads at Big Creek, 6.8 miles; Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve, 2 miles; Sunset Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Sturgeon Bay is conserved land?

4% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Wisconsin town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.

Are dogs allowed on Sturgeon Bay’s trails?

Crossroads at Big Creek and Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Sturgeon Bay?

6.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.8 of painted or protected lanes, 4.4 of off-road paths and 1.0 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Sturgeon Bay?

4,714 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sturgeon Bay or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 504 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Sturgeon Bay have?

Ahead of 89% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #64 of 362 in Wisconsin. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

Trail talk

Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Sturgeon Bay neighbors.

Town Square →
Share a tip
Sources

Where this page comes from

Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →