Algoma’s ALLURE
En route to Door County, charming city on Lake Michigan is worth a day trip
Most people who have traveled in Wisconsin have probably been to Door County, one of the state’s most popular tourist destinations.
But many of those have probably sped past another worthy destination just to the south: Algoma. The little city on Lake Michigan in northern Kewaunee County is a great getaway, with a state bike trail, a beach, a historic winery and a newer craft brewery. At just over a two-hour drive from Milwaukee, it’s possible to do it all in a day trip. That’s what I decided to do for my latest road trip this summer. Overnight trips are great for fully experiencing a destination, but sometimes schedules and budgets only allow for a day away.
Bike trail and a brewery
My first stop in the lakeside town was the Ahnapee State Trail. The trail’s name comes from the original name of Algoma. The name comes from an Ojibwa word that means gray wolf, and a river that runs through town and alongside the trail still maintains the name.
The trail and river together would make for an easy paddle and bike trip.
The 48-mile Ahnapee Trail follows an old railroad line from Sturgeon Bay to Kewaunee. The crushed limestone trail is maintained by Door and Kewaunee counties and is open to hiking, biking, horseback riding and snowmobiling in the winter.
A parking lot off Navarino St. in Algoma provides access to the trail, but the southern section is rough in spots. I instead rode alongside the trail on Perry St. until the trail split just south of Birch Street.
From there, you can head southwest to Luxemburg and Kewaunee or northwest to Forestville — the route I chose.
The trail is the two-track kind with grass growing down the middle in spots, so it’s best for hybrid or wider tires and is probably not suitable for kid carriers. Still, it’s a flat and easy ride thanks to its rail-trail status, passing between trees, through farmland and over the river.
In Forestville, a dam along the river has created a swimming spot and fishing hole surrounded by a county park. This is where you’d want to launch a canoe or kayak from. There’s no designated launch, but you can get to the river near the dam. The river is rocky-bottomed and shallow there, but after that water levels are relatively consistent and it’s a low-key 8-mile paddle to Algoma and Lake Michigan, where there are take-out points in Olson Park, at the mouth of the river or at Crescent Beach, if Lake Michigan is calm enough. Be aware that the marina at the river’s mouth can be very busy, especially on summer weekends.
After my 10-mile round-trip ride on
the trail, I stopped by Ahnapee Brewery for a bite and a brew.
The brewery traces its roots to 1868. Civil War veteran Henry Schmiling brewed Ahnapee Lager in an Italianate building just two buildings down the street. That building today houses von Stiehl Winery, run by brothers Aric and Brad Schmiling, descendants of Henry, who brewed there until
1886.
The Schmiling brothers owned Ahnapee when it opened in 2013 but sold it to brewmaster Nick Calaway in 2017. The tap room is in a converted garage with tables overlooking the Ahnapee River where it meets Lake Michigan. The brewery’s tagline is fittingly “I’ll be in the garage.”
Beers on tap when I visited included the Long Goodbye, a Munich Helles that won silver at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015; and Citra Craze, a dryhopped New England-stye IPA that was flying out of the keg. The brewery has a few food options, too, including a handful of flatbread pizzas.
With a full belly I headed behind the brewery to walk along the harbor, where informational signs provide insight into
the town’s fishing legacy. Commercial fishing was king from the 1920s to the ‘60s, and fishing is still a popular activity today with the city claiming to have the largest charter fishing fleet on Lake Michigan.
At the edge of the marina sits the Algoma Pierhead Lighthouse, a picturesque red lighthouse that was installed in 1932 to replace a square structure that had been in operation since 1892.
Just south of the busy marina I strolled along the half-mile Crescent Beach Boardwalk, an accessible boardwalk on the sandy beach.
Like other Lake Michigan towns, Algoma benefits from a cooling lake breeze on hot days. It was especially noticeable — and welcome — after my morning bike ride.
I circled back through downtown along the stoplight-free 4th Street, where I would have stopped at Skaliwags Burger Co. if it had been open. The joint is an offshoot of the popular Scaliwags, which features a changing menu with everything from seafood to steak.
Instead I continued past some of the city’s murals. Ten were added to historic buildings by artists in 2007 as part of the Walldog Wave, an event that brought international “walldog” artists to the lakeside city led by local artist Dave Petri. The chamber of commerce has a brochure describing the murals and other landmarks for a self-guided walking tour.
Back near the brewery I stopped at von Stiehl Winery, which claims to be the state’s oldest licensed winery. Founder Dr. Charles Stiehl claimed that license when he opened the winery in 1967 in a historic building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places.
Although the winery is part of the popular Door County Wine Trail, made up of eight wineries, it doesn’t see as much traffic as its northern neighbors, especially during the week.
Free tastings allow visitors to choose six wines from a lineup that includes everything from sweet fruit wines to dry reds. Tours of the winery ($4 plus tax) are offered daily May through October and on Saturdays November through April. They include a look at the cellar, where wines are still aged in oak barrels, and tunnels that used to connect to other parts of the city. Tours also give visitors a look at the gleaming production facility a couple streets over. Grapes come from the winery’s vineyard, Stony Creek, north of town, plus other suppliers around the country.
As if the historic building isn’t scenic enough, the winery has an expansive patio along the Ahnapee River where it regularly hosts events, including free summer concerts from 12:30 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and the Wet Whistle Wine Fest, Sept. 14-15. In June, the BrewVino Roast featured special releases of von Stiehl wine and Ahnapee beer plus a steer roast. The 2019 event is scheduled for June 8, and tickets ($25 includes food, water and a commemorative glass) will no doubt sell out quickly as they did this year.
“It’s a beautiful view,” someone on my tour said a few times as we stood on the patio looking over the river and the marina.
It was, and with big blue Lake Michigan in the distance it was the perfect snapshot to file away from a great day trip to Algoma.