Nestled along the scenic shores of Lake Michigan, Door County boasts an incredible network of trails that wind through breathtaking landscapes, charming communities, and natural wonders. We are proud to present a comprehensive collection of trail maps that will guide you on unforgettable adventures.

The creation of this trail map collection represents a vision for enhanced collaboration among the various entities responsible for public lands throughout the Door County peninsula. Realizing a truly seamless and interconnected trail system will require continued cooperation and coordination among local governments, organizations, and engaged citizens working together toward this shared goal.

Explore these trail maps to plan your next outdoor adventure and discover the natural treasures of Door County. But more than that, we hope this resource fosters a spirit of collaboration by providing insight into the current trail initiatives of our community partners as well as their future plans. With open communication and a shared vision, we can unite efforts to create a cohesive trail network across the peninsula for all to enjoy.

The Door County Community Foundation, and its component fund the Door County Green Fund, expect to be entertaining requests for funding from the non-profits and municipalities that will further this work. Consequently, Destination Door County has generously agreed to take a central role in helping move this effort into its next stage. To get involved, contact Amanda Stuck at amanda@doorcounty.org.

The Door County Multi-Modal Trails Task Force’s primary goal was to develop a comprehensive map of all trail-related projects, both existing and planned, throughout the entire county. The purpose of the map would be to provide information to communities to aid in the development of trails. This included reviewing all current bike and trail plans as well as reaching out to all 19 municipalities for information on what trails they maintain or are planning to develop in the next 5, 10, and 20 years.

The project was not meant to be a new plan for what communities “should” be doing. The task force recognized that communities are already pursuing projects and have plans in place. The group decided the best course of action to provide support for trail initiatives would be to help inform all communities of what’s going on across the county to connect people who may not be connected otherwise.

Therefore, the maps that have been developed are consistent with all current plans that are in place and reflect only those projects that are actively being discussed by the municipalities or organizations that are responsible for pursuing them.

The Door County Community Foundation, and its component fund the Door County Green Fund, expect to be entertaining requests for funding from the non-profits and municipalities that will further this work. Consequently, Destination Door County has generously agreed to take a central role in helping move this effort into its next stage. To get involved, contact Amanda Stuck at amanda@doorcounty.com.

Our community is home to an abundance of dynamic trails used by walkers, hikers, and bikers alike. However, between 19 municipalities, 5 school districts, and countless non-profit organizations, coordinating the stewardship of our trails can be difficult. In 2022, the Door County Green Fund, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc., convened an ad hoc group of government officials, environmental groups, and trail enthusiasts, to foster better communication toward the ultimate goal of a seamless network of trails connecting the entire county.

Phase I – Information Gathering

In the first phase of the project, it was important to connect to all municipalities and relevant stakeholder organizations to not only inform them of the project but also to understand what trails exist and what trails might be developed in the future. It was important to gather this information directly from those responsible for trail development. The following table shows all communities and organizations that were contacted and the responses they provided. This information was used as the basis for developing all maps.

Phase II – Map Development

Phase 2 began once enough information was collected to begin laying out the comprehensive map. The design came together using information from each municipality as well as base map layers acquired from stakeholders. The initial comprehensive map came together with all the information collected and was presented to the task force in November 2023. The task force was able to make suggestions for changes including additions based on new information received and removals for initiatives that had either changed or were no longer moving forward. The task force also outlined additional maps to be developed using the comprehensive map as a base. These included close-up maps of each municipality as well as maps that showed a breakdown of trails vs. cycling routes for both Northern Door County and Southern Door County.

Phase III – Reviews and Revisions

Based on the task force’s review of the initial comprehensive map there were multiple new maps to create that could be used by each municipality to pursue their own trail initiatives. The bulk of the new maps included close-ups of the following communities:

• City of Sturgeon Bay
• Village of Egg Harbor
• Village of Ephraim
• Village of Sister Bay
• Town of Gibraltar
• Town of Baileys Harbor
• Town of Jacksonport
(View all Trail Maps Here)

Each of these close-up maps was sent to the appropriate contact or administrator for review and feedback. Feedback was received from all communities and edits were made to ensure that the information presented on each map was verified and correct. The review process also helped to ensure that each community was comfortable with the information that was presented on each map in regard to being able to speak to the map should questions or comments arise from community members in the future.

In addition to the close-up maps the task force wanted to see maps depicting the trail connections being planned from Egg Harbor to Sister Bay. A map was developed showing the four communities involved including: the Town of Gibraltar; and the Villages of Egg Harbor; Ephraim; and Sister Bay. The boundaries ranged from Frank Murphy County Park (located in the Town of Egg Harbor) to Waters End Road, just north of the Village of Sister Bay’s northern limits.

Phase IV – Future Planning

The maps that have been developed through the Door County Green Fund are resources for municipalities and community members to use in the development of the trail network. These resources can help each community plan for and move forward with trail development over the next 5-20 years.

The Door County Community Foundation, and its component fund the Door County Green Fund, expect to be entertaining requests for funding from the non-profits and municipalities that will further this work. Consequently, Destination Door County has generously agreed to take a central role in helping move this effort into its next stage. To get involved, contact Amanda Stuck at amanda@doorcounty.org.

In the summer of 2022, Pamela Wattenmaker approached the Door County Community Foundation with an idea. She imagined a Door County in which it was easy for someone to walk from their home on the outskirts of town into the shopping areas downtown. She envisioned a system of trails that went from one village to the next, from one town to another. The challenge, of course, is how to bring that vision into reality.

As a result, under the auspices of the Door County Green Fund, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc., an ad hoc group of citizens, government officials, non-profit organizations, and local businesses began meeting to expand on that original vision and see if there were tangible steps that could be taken to move it forward. The team that formed had no defined membership roster, no formal standing, and no specific mandate. Rather, these were just people who shared the vision of an interconnected trail network for walkers, joggers, bikers, and the like. The team grew organically, as members identified and invited others who shared their enthusiasm for this work. Everyone was welcome.

The team began by looking at previous efforts to map out a multimodal trail system in Door County and even entered into discussions with several national consulting firms that could guide such a county-wide process. However, it was readily apparent that in other places in the country where such an interconnected system exists, the trails typically were located within a single municipality or involved just a small handful of units of government. That made it relatively straightforward when creating a shared vision. In Door County, such a county-wide interconnected multimodal trail network would likely require the coordinated effort of 1 county, 1 city, 4 villages, 14 towns, 5 school districts, and countless non-profit environmental organizations that control public lands.

Rather than try to define a shared vision, the team instead decided to collect and document the individual visions of all these public landowners in Door County. The goal is to help individual municipalities and organizations better understand what their neighbors are doing today, and what they plan to do in the decades ahead, in the hope that the players will come together themselves in a spirit of collaboration. If you know where your neighbor plans on building a new trail in the next decade, you might be more likely to alter your own future trail plans to enable them to connect.

The team’s greatest hope is that this document will foster greater conversation and collaboration between those entities that control public lands on the peninsula. If Door County is ever going to truly realize an interconnected trail system up and down our peninsula, it will ultimately take the efforts of individual units of government, and their citizens, all working together.

The Door County Community Foundation, and its component fund the Door County Green Fund, expect to be entertaining requests for funding from the non-profits and municipalities that will further this work. Consequently, Destination Door County has generously agreed to take a central role in helping move this effort into its next stage. To get involved, contact Amanda Stuck at amanda@doorcounty.org.

The Community Foundation welcomes gifts to any of our funds via credit or debit card. Click here to make an online gift to the Door County Green Fund.

Give by Sending a Check

Contribute to Door County Green Fund via check. Please mail checks to:

Door County Green Fund
c/o Door County Community Foundation
222 N 3rd Ave
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235

Give Stocks, Real Estate, or Other Assets

The Community Foundation is pleased to accept direct gifts of highly appreciated assets – generally saving you from capital gains taxes and offering you a charitable deduction as well. Contact the Door County Community Foundation if you’re interested in making such a gift to any of our Funds.

Give from your IRA

Donate up to $100,000 from your Individual Retirement Account annually – tax-free. The Charitable IRA Rollover (also known as a “Qualified Charitable Distribution” or “QCD”), allows you to give more to charity and pay less in taxes. Contact us at the Door County Community Foundation to learn more.

Give through your Estate Plans

The Community Foundation is a terrific vehicle for giving back through your estate plans. We’re able to work with most any kind of planned gift including bequests, retirement accounts, insurance policies, life estates with retained interest, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts – and far too many other tools to list them all here. Contact us at the Community Foundation and we’d be honored to help you give back to Door County Green Fund.

Further grants facilitated land acquisitions for organizations like Door County Land Trust, Nature Conservancy, City of Sturgeon Bay, and Ridges Sanctuary. The largest grant expanded Robert LaSalle County Park south of Sturgeon Bay, enhancing its beauty along Lake Michigan.

The Green Fund at the Door County Community Foundation will continue to support land acquisition projects in our community. But it will also invest in environmental education, fund land preservation, eradicate invasive species, and support other types of green projects.

Green Fund Grant Guidelines

The proposed activities should be environmental projects in Door County. There is no minimum or maximum grant amount, but we anticipate awarding multiple grants during each Sustainability Grant cycle typically in the range of $2,500 to $5,000.

The following do not qualify for a Sustainability Grant:

• Retiring debt or budget deficits
• Loans or re-granting programs
• Multi-year commitments (charities may reapply in future cycles for the same idea)
• Activities that advance a particular religious belief (religious organizations should contact the Commnity Foundation to discuss specific project ideas before applying)
• Individuals or groups that are not qualified public charities or units of government

While we recognize the importance of all of these activities, our Board has made a strategic decision to focus the priorities of our Sustainability Grants elsewhere.

We generally do not make grants to pay for activities that have been contracted or that occur prior to the awarding of a Sustainability Grant.

Fundraising expenses, capital campaigns and grants to an endowment are generally not supported by Sustainability Grants unless the applicant can articulate special circumstances which make their request particularly important.

Each charity is limited to one application per Sustainability Grant cycle. However, charities may submit applications in successive grant cycles or to the other granting programs of the Community Foundation that might be open at the same time.

Application

Please complete the Community Foundation’s Common Grant Application and submit via email to applications@givedoorcounty.org.

The Chief Executive of your organization must review the entire Application Packet and sign the Application Form accordingly. This is an important step in the process as on occasion we have received applications that were submitted without the knowledge of the charity’s senior management. To protect your organization and ours, we now require that your Chief Executive review your Application Packet before we will consider it.

For purposes of this application, the “Chief Executive” is generally the highest ranking paid staff person in your organization. In many charities it is the Executive Director or President & CEO. For schools, the Principal must sign the Application Form. For units of government, the highest ranking official such as a Mayor or Village Administrator must sign.

For an all volunteer organization, the Board President should sign the Application Form.

We will accept the typed name and email address of the Chief Executive typed on the Application Form as an “electronic signature” if the Application Packet is submitted by email. However, please note that if it is not an original signature, we may contact the Chief Executive listed on the form to confirm their electronic signature.

Combining Individual Projects into a Single Application

It is permissible to include multiple projects in a single application so long as each individual project has a strong and natural correlation with the others.  For instance, consider a municipality seeking grants to fund a beach improvement effort, the construction of a new playground, and the expansion of a shelter.  If all three of these projects occur in close proximity to each other at a single park, they have a strong and natural correlation and thus may be combined into a single application.  In another example, consider an organization that wants to install wayfinding and interpretive signage on multiple properties spread out across the County.  While the installation of the signage will occur on individual properties far apart from each other, the types and purposes of the signs are similar everywhere and thus can be combined into a single application because they have a strong and natural correlation to each other.

Individual projects that do not have a strong and natural correlation must be submitted on separate applications.  Please remember that applicants are allowed only one application per grant cycle.

While it’s permissible to combine multiple projects with a strong and natural correlation into a single application, the budget on the application should separate the individual line-item expenses by project.  For instance, rather than adding up the total design, equipment, and labor costs for all three projects into single line items, instead, list them by individual project.

Application Deadlines

Spring Sustainability Grant Cycle
Applications Due: 4th Monday of March at 4:00 p.m.

Summer Sustainability Grant Cycle
Applications Due: 4th Monday of June at 4:00 p.m.

Fall Sustainability Grant Cycle
Applications Due: 4th Monday of September at 4:00 p.m.

Winter Sustainability Grant Cycle
Applications Due: 4th Monday of December at 4:00 p.m.

Please provide your contact information if you would like to receive emails announcing when applications become available for the various grant programs of the Community Foundation.

Submit your completed Common Grant Application via email to applications@givedoorcounty.org.

On occasion, our spam filters inadvertently screen out email from some charities. You should receive an email within 3 business days of our receipt of your application confirming its receipt. If you do not receive this confirmation, please call (920) 746-1786 to confirm that we received your application materials.

Applicants will be notified of a decision about 6 weeks after the application deadline.

Please email us, or call (920) 746-1786, if you have any questions or would like an informal assessment of your idea prior to the submission of a formal application.

Final Report

Grant recipients agree to provide a Final Report as a condition of receiving a grant.

All grantees must submit a completed Final Report via email to grants@givedoorcounty.org within 60 days of the expenditure of the Community Foundation’s grant funds. 

Ephraim used its grant to help develop a wetlands preserve on the south end of the village near Peninsula State Park. Crossroads used its grant to offset acquisition costs for purchasing over five acres of open space along Highway 42/57, on the east side of Sturgeon Bay just north of the Bayview Bridge.

Both projects are very visible to members of the traveling public and very important to the residents of the communities within which they are located.

Subsequent grants funded land acquisitions by the Door County Land Trust, the Nature Conservancy, the City of Sturgeon Bay and the Ridges Sanctuary.

The largest gift of the original Green Fund, Inc. was to the Door County Parks Department. It used the grant to assist with the acquisition costs for an expansion of Robert LaSalle County Park south of Sturgeon Bay.

The County was able to significantly increase the size of this beautiful park along Lake Michigan thanks in part to the Green Fund grant. Since that time the County has acquired even more acreage contiguous with the original expansion, further enhancing the views of the Lake from the road and the park itself.

The Door County Community Foundation itself has also has been a source of charitable dollars for numerous important environmental projects.

Grants were given to Crossroads at Big Creek to help create the Great Lakes educational display. The Door County Soil and Water Conservation Department received a grant for its “greenprinting” project – an effort to map out all the environmentally sensitive areas of Door County.

The Community Foundation also offered support to the to the Door County Master Gardeners to educate young people and the Ridges Sanctuary to educate adults. The Community Foundation also assisted in the purchase of the ship canal property by the Door County Land Trust.

The “new” Green Fund builds upon the expertise of both organizations.

The new Green Fund at the Door County Community Foundation will continue to support land acquisition projects in our community. But it will also invest in environmental education, fund land preservation, eradicate invasive species, and support other types of “green” projects.

Look for exciting news from the Door County Green Fund in the coming years. With your continued friendship and support, the Door County Green Fund will be at the forefront of efforts to make sure that “Beautiful Door County” stays beautiful.

At it’s most basic, the Green Fund pools the contributions from citizens who care about our environment then makes grants to the most promising initiatives in our community.

In time it became clear that celebrating and preserving our environment requires more than investing in land acquisition.  In addition to the purchase of land, the Green Fund needed to begin supporting environmental education, funding land preservation, eradicating invasive species, and assisting other types of “green” projects.

So in 2010, the Green Fund, Inc. and the Community Foundation agreed to join forces and launch the all new Green Fund, a fund of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc.

Our vision hasn’t changed – and neither has our logo.  Many of the members of the Board of Directors of the Green Fund, Inc. serve on the new Green Fund’s Board of Advisors. 

By merging our activities with those of the Community Foundation’s Environmental Fund, we’ll be able to minimize our shared administrative expenses and maximize the amount we have to grant out to environmental projects right here in Door County.

Of course, none of this is possible without the continued friendship and support of folks like you. By pooling our resources with the contributions of countless other good people, we’ll be able to sustain this very special quality of life we enjoy in Door County.

We hope you will consider making a gift to the Green Fund today