After several years, the last section of the Bear Creek Trail is now complete at Wisconsin Point. Hikers and bikers can travel the finished 2.3-mile trail to also find a new pavilion. 

The Wisconsin Point Makwa Ziibiins Miikana (Bear Creek Trail) extends from Bear Creek Park to Wisconsin Point Road. The trail provides access from Barkers Island to Wisconsin Point Lot 1 without the need to use the road.

Mayor Jim Paine held a branch cutting instead of a ribbon cutting to christen the new outdoor trail. He says there are steps to prevent the trail from becoming overgrown.

“The best way to maintain this trail is to use it. That’s what keeps brushback. That’s what lets us know where there’s damage,” Mayor Paine said. “It’s meant to be used. So it will degrade fastest if people don’t come here.”

Mayor Paine also went on to say that with the finished trail, the idea is to not redevelop Wisconsin Point but to preserve the ecology.

“The goal is always preserving the point in its most natural state possible. So we do not want to develop the point. We want to make sure that people can experience it the way it is now,” Mayor Paine said. “Now, that also means protecting the way it is now. Maybe restoring things that have been lost, even through natural degradation.”

Mayor Paine also says the name of the new trail is to honor the legacy of the indigenous people of Lake Superior.

“This has always been a place where people lived and they took care of it. So now that people do not live here, the city has an obligation to take care of that. We do that in close partnership with our partners at Fond du Lac, who own a great deal of land out here.”

For more information about Wisconsin Point you can read more here. For other stories about Wisconsin Point you can read more here.