High Cliff State Park


High Cliff State Park is a Wisconsin state park near Sherwood, Wisconsin. It is the only state-owned recreation area located on Lake Winnebago. The park got its name from cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, a land formation east of the shore of Lake Winnebago that stretches north through northeast Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and Ontario to Niagara Falls and New York State.
A new Master Plan for the park created in 2013 aims to nearly double the size of the park, to add new amenities, and expand conservation efforts.

Activities and amenities

  • Trails: Hiking trails include the limestone-surfaced Indian Mound Trail. The north shoreline of Lake Winnebago can be seen from a observation tower at the top of the escarpment. Various trails are available for biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.
  • The park also offers camping, picnicking, boating, swimming, fishing, and hunting.
  • A statue of Red Bird, the Winnebago leader, overlooks the northeast end of Lake Winnebago.

    Effigy mounds

The effigy mounds at the top of the escarpment have led to a small part of the park being added to the National Register of Historic Places, listed as High Cliff Mounds. A trail meanders through six long-tailed mounds and several conical mounds. Out of the original 30 effigy mounds in High Cliff, only nine remain, among them a panther mound that reaches 285 feet in length, as well as mounds presenting a bird and one that was most likely a bear. The mounds are consistent with other mound groups found at the peak of the Niagara Escarpment along the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago, including the Calumet County Park Group.

Images


File:HighCliffStateParkWisconsinSign.jpg|The welcome sign for High Cliff State Park in Sherwood, Wisconsin, in 2007
File:LakeWinnebagoNorthHighCliffStateParkObservationTower.jpg|The north end of Lake Winnebago taken from the observation tower at High Cliff State Park in Sherwood, Wisconsin
File:SherwoodWisconsinSWFromEscarpment.jpg|Looking west at the southwest corner of Sherwood, Wisconsin and the north tip of Lake Winnebago taken from the observation tower at High Cliff State Park in Sherwood, Wisconsin
File:Wisconsin's High Cliff State Park.jpg|View of Wisconsin's High Cliff State Park
File:HighCliffStateParkPostOffice.jpg|The general store and post office for High Cliff State Park near Sherwood, Wisconsin
File:High Cliff State Park The Ledge Cliff.JPG|View of the cliff faces
File:High Cliff State Park The Ledge Outcrop.JPG|View of the outcrop on top of the bluff