Day Tripping: Kayak Wisconsin

09/16/2026

09/16/2026

Kayaked the West Twin River in Two Rivers
Beautiful egrets and herons!

09/15/2026

Wisconsin's Shipwreck Coast stretches along Lake Michigan from just north of Two Rivers down to Port Washington, covering roughly 82 miles of shoreline and linking four historic maritime towns: Port Washington, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers. The area was designated the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary in 2021, protecting one of the densest concentrations of shipwrecks anywhere in the Great Lakes.

The wrecks scattered along this stretch of coast date back to the 1830s and continued piling up into the early 1900s, a period when wooden schooners and early steel steamships hauled everything from iron ore and lumber to Christmas trees and immigrant passengers across Lake Michigan. Two Rivers sits especially close to several Michigan ports, and its shallow waters combined with sudden Great Lakes storms made the area particularly dangerous for ships trying to make the crossing.

Lake Michigan holds an estimated 1,500 known shipwrecks in total, and Wisconsin has more individually listed shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places than any other state in the country. Within the sanctuary itself, roughly three dozen wrecks are considered historically significant, and 21 of those are formally listed on the National Register. The cold, low salinity freshwater of Lake Michigan has kept many of these wrecks remarkably well preserved compared to what typically survives in saltwater environments elsewhere in the country.

One of the most famous wrecks in the region is the Rouse Simmons, known as the Christmas Tree Ship, which sank off Two Rivers in November 1912 while hauling thousands of Christmas trees toward Chicago, taking 16 lives down with it. Other notable wrecks scattered through the sanctuary include the Continental, the Walter B. Allen, and the Phoenix, a steamship carrying Dutch immigrants that sank in 1847 and whose recovered artifacts, including a burned 1693 Dutch Bible, are now preserved at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.

Manitowoc anchors much of the region's maritime identity beyond just the wrecks themselves. The city built ships for generations and later built submarines during World War II, a history now preserved at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, the largest maritime museum in the Midwest and home to the fully restored WWII submarine USS Cobia. From Manitowoc, visitors can also walk the Mariners Trail, a six mile paved path hugging the Lake Michigan shoreline all the way to Two Rivers, passing lighthouses, harbor views, and access points where divers and kayakers explore the wrecks below.

Researchers believe less than half of the shipwrecks within the sanctuary have even been discovered yet, and new technology like side scan sonar continues to turn up wrecks that had been lost to the lake for well over a century. For a stretch of coastline most people associate with quiet lakeside towns and ice cream stands, it holds one of the richest and least explored maritime histories in the entire Great Lakes region.

09/06/2026

Menasha: from Menasha Lock to Brighton Beach and back, 5+ miles

09/05/2026

Hiked the Lime Kiln trail at High Cliff, then a swim.

09/04/2026

Really enjoyed the Fox Locks walking tour by Christine Williams tonight!
Got to stand on the lock wall, first time since I was a kid!
Don't think I've ever walked the Fox Yrot river trail at night.

08/30/2026

A few more photos from yesterday

08/29/2026

Doty Island lagoon kayak clean up,
Rick and I had 2 big loads each!
6 kayakers helped clean up debris...
We didn't make much of a dent...

08/29/2026

HELP NEEDED TODAY
Continued Water Way Cleanup in Menasha.❤️🛶🌊💙
We are seeking the assistance of kayakers and shoreline volunteers. A lagoon on Doty Island requires significant cleanup efforts. Debris including plastic, boards, and garbage cans need to be removed from the water. Please bring your kayak, gloves, rope, garbage bags, and a willingness to help. We will be meeting tomorrow, August 29th at Jefferson Park's boat landing at 1:30 pm. Your support is crucial in restoring this beautiful space to its natural state.

Please share with friends.
Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance
Menasha, WI Forum
Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship