Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
whitelighthousetowersabovethesandypines.Thewind-whipped2,900acresspreadalong
latte-colored sandy beaches; the wicked shoals offshore have pulled plenty of ships to their
graves. The lighthouse is functional, but public access is sporadic. The preserved ridges
along the shoreline are residual effects of a glacial lake last seen retreating 5,500 years ago,
one reason the entire forest is a State Scientific Area. One of Wisconsin's official
Rustic
Roads
stretches along the park—Highway O, a.k.a. Sandy Bay Road.
Camping reservations (888/947-2757,
wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com
, reser-
vation fee $10, non-residents $17 and up/night, vehicles $10/day) are a good idea.
One of nine Ice Age National Scientific Reserves in Wisconsin is the
Two Creeks
area,
a few miles north of here. Two Creeks contains the remnants of a 12,000-year-old buried
glacial forest.
Also a hop off the interstate on the way to Green Bay is the Danish enclave of Denmark,
known heretofore as Copenhagen. There's lots of old Danish architecture downtown, and
more cheese shops per capita than anywhere else.
The Bay
Notonlycolorful,LaBayeVertewasahavenfromthevolatilityofLakeMichigan.In1669
New France established under Jesuit overview an official settlement—the first permanent
settlement in what would be Wisconsin—at the mouth of the bay near the present-day sub-
urb of De Pere.
The bay region's explorers and trappers found a wealth of beavers and new networks of
inland waterways—meaning trees; the wilderness from here to the Fox River Valley pro-
duced more than any other region in New France.
The City
Forts erected by the French, mostly during periods of Native American unrest, gave per-
manence to east-central Wisconsin's most populous community, Green Bay.
The fur trade made up the bedrock of the city's fortunes early on, but Green Bay began
growing in earnest upon completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. Immigrants put down roots
