I’m no stranger to Door County. Bailey’s Harbor 4th of July parades as a kid, tagging along with dad for plant research, college summers working in Ellison Bay and Gills Rock, and now hiking and birthday weekends. On my way north I’ve driven over Sturgeon Bay’s Bay View bridge 500 times if I’ve driven over it once. Still, I didn’t know until fairly recently that there’s a man-made canal connecting Green Bay to Lake Michigan so ships don’t have to go all the way around Wisconsin’s thumb and through Death’s Door. Furthermore, I had no idea dozens of barges come to Sturgeon Bay during the winter for repairs and maintenance.
Last week after a day of hiking, my mom and I meandered the back roads of Sturgeon Bay looking for a canal park. (Way more fun than Googling it). We discovered the canal overlook on the north side of the canal, east of Highway 42. There are several marked points of access along county road TT.
A historical marker describes the Sturgeon Bay canal’s history.
The overlook looks like it would be a great place for a barge watching, walking, a picnic, or even a bit of fishing. We’ve learned there’s another park on the south side of the canal, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Nature Preserve.
I’m planning to visit both sides of the canal with P during spring break to hopefully see a barge move through the canal. Several are scheduled to depart this week. The Green Bay Press Gazette has more on projected departure dates here.
Walking the bridge’s pedestrian walkway is a neat way to look at the bridge’s structure up close. And it gives you a good view of the ships behind the Door County Maritime Museum.
Have you ever spent the day ship/barge/tug watching in Sturgeon Bay? What’s your favorite spot to watch?
If you can’t get to Sturgeon Bay to see the barges passing through the canal, you can always see what’s happening on the live feed!
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