Lake Geneva Footpath
Footpath around the lake allows hikers a unique look at stately mansions
By Cari Taylor–Carlson
Whatever one's motivation, whether a morning stroll, a lengthy hike or a serious trek, Lake Geneva's Shore Path is a pleasure. Originally an Indian footpath, the 20–plus mile pathway allows walkers to pass along the shore and across the well–kept yards of the stately mansions that ring this massive southern Wisconsin.
From Library Park on Lake Geneva's Main Street, a popular place to start the Lake Geneva Shore Walk, follow the pavement alongside the
harbor in a counterclockwise direction. Although there's no rule that says you must walk one way or the other, everytime my friends and I walked to Williams Bay, we found almost all the other hikers coming at us. Going against the crowd avoids the problem of walking and gawking too slowly, thus forcing faster trekkers to pass or moving more quickly than adjacent hikers and wondering how to politely pass on a narrow trail.
Before beginning this walk there are a few essential rules of the road that must be observed. Not everyone is clear on whether or not bikes are allowed, as evidenced recently on Wisconsin Public Radio when a caller asked if he could ride the trail. The answer, an unequivocal no, nor are unleashed dogs, horses and small motorized vehicles welcome. Baby strollers aren't banned but steps, rocks, roots and erosion make it problematic for pushing; however, babes in backpacks will enjoy the ride.
The public is also reminded that this is a footpath, not a beach or a pier walk, and to encourage its perpetuity, walkers are requested to avoid all side excursions onto private property. No state or local law established this shore path; instead, it exists because property owners graciously unlocked their gates. Many of the spectacular homes viewed along the way were established on Lake Geneva more than 100 years ago and the present owners hospitality needs to be respected.
Now that's said, on to the trail. In Fontana, at the opposite end of the lake from the town of Lake Geneva, a bronze plaque on a boulder commemorates the transition from Indian to white ownership. It reads: "A village of Potowatami Indians occupied the rising ground west of this point when the first whites visited the lake, May 1831. The intention of these Indians to join the hostilities in the Black Hawk war of 1832 was defeated
by Shabbona, an Ottawa Indian, friendly to the whites, who here learned of the impending attack and warned the settlers. The Indian lands were bought by the United States at the Great Council at Chicago in 1833, and the Indians were removed to western reservations in 1836."
This resettlement came about thanks to President Andrew Jackson's policy to move Indians west of the Mississippi River, where people thought they
would be better able to retain their culture. Soon after the Potowatami were moved to Iowa, the first white settlers built a log home in Fontana.
Several access points make the Shore Path available to those who choose to walk a section rather than encircling the lake in one marathon trek, 20.3 miles. Since the walk invites contemplation and conversation as one gazes upon the magnificent estates that ring the lake, it's not usually done all in a
day's journey. There's just too much to see. Access points include Big Foot Beach Park, Lake Geneva's Library Park, Williams Bay Beach, Fontana Beach, Chapin Road, Linn Pier Road and Big Foot State Park.
The trick to following the path, and it does disappear once in a while, is to hug the shore and trust, because it will always show up again. It comes in a variety of forms such as sand, wood chips, gravel, lannon stone blocks, a
dirt path, a grass path, blacktop, brick, round landscape stones, railroad ties and a concrete sidewalk, to mention a few.
This is not a wilderness adventure. Looking out across the sparkling water one can see an impressive array of boats decorating the landscape, including sailboats, pleasure yachts, party boats, boats pulling water skiers and the ubiquitous Jet Ski.
Many of the estates between the town of Lake Geneva and Williams Bay
were built by wealthy Chicagoans. This end of the lake and especially the north shore was settled by city dwellers because of the railroad from Chicago that brought women and children for the summer while their husbands came by train on weekends. Today it's interesting to observe not just the manicured acres and baronial estates but the flower strewn piers and elegant boathouses that line the shore.
Across the lake from Williams Bay, Stone Manor dominates the horizen.
This Italianate palace, built in 1901 by Otto Young, who made a fortune in real estate after the Chicago fire, was abandoned by the family after his death in 1906. In the 1970s the owners of Stone Manor tested the shore path as a legal right of way when they tried to lock their access gates. After the town of Lake Geneva sued protesting that the path was first an Indian trail that preceded the manor, the gates were opened and the path remains continuous, at least for the moment.
Three towns – Lake Geneva, Williams Bay and Fontana – sit alongside the lake. It's a big lake, 5,425 acres with the water level maintained by regulating the outflow that goes into the White River, which joins the Fox which joins the Illinois and finally flows into the Mississippi and on to the sea.
Formed by the last glacier that receded about 10,000 years ago, the lake is 144–feet deep, one of many lakes left behind in southeastern Wisconsin
where the most southern edge of the ice mass dumped millions of tons of rubble and created a contoured landscape.
For the record here are some distance markers, walking clockwise around the lake, for the purpose of planning and possibly arranging a car shuttle:
Fontana to Williams Bay 3.2 miles
Williams Bay to Chapin Road 3.3 miles
Chapin Road to Library Park in the town of Lake Geneva 3.3 miles
Library Park to Linn Pier Road 5.3 miles
Linn Pier Road to Fontana 5.2 miles
A detailed map and guide book to the path, "Walk, Talk and Gawk," can be ordered by mail by sending a check for $7 made out to Walk, Talk and Gawk, P.O. Box 413, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.
That's it. Get out a Wisconsin map, find your way to the path and enjoy a colorful October saunter.
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