Since there are five seasons in Green Bay, Wisconsin, playing outdoors in all kinds of weather is highly possible.
The Bay, of course, is one playground, and so is the Fox River, flowing right through downtown. Walking trails abound in conservancies and other protected spaces.
And a Great Lake is just a short drive away, with forests and dairy farming views en route.
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A Fifth Season?
Season Five is Game Day with the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field. Bleachers circle the field, but sitting isn’t the point. Neither is the famed Lambeau Leap; that’s for touchdown exclamation points in the end zone.
Season Five is for cheering the team, for touring Lambeau Field and its 2023 renovations ($90 million worth!) and for strolling the massive Green Bay Packers Pro Shop.
The store’s a museum as well as a source for merchandise. Hot items include April, 2025, NFL draft logos. That draft will happen in Green Bay.
Read More: Fun Things to Do in Green Bay for adults and kids.
Try These Green Bay Waterways
- Fox River floats
- Green Bay Sail & Paddle
Nationally Important Habitat
Green Bay’s waters have been described by NOAA – the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—as the world’s largest freshwater estuary. Good reason to want to sail and kayak there!
Final approval is expected in May of 2025 for 37,000 acres of this land and water to officially join 30 coastal sites as an estuarine research reserve.
Think Fox River meets Lake Michigan!
SheBuysTravel Tip: Good to be in the know when playing outdoors in nationally recognized Green Bay! Estuary means ecosystem where fresh river water meets tidal seawater. That can be an ocean, or Great Lake.
Fox River
Locks add to the fun of kayaking on the Fox River, holding a rope as the water level changes! Even the lock keeper’s house is picturesque—pale blue and overlooking lush pollinator gardens of native plants along the river’s edge.
The Fox is a calm, meandering river, urban for sure as it divides downtown Green Bay. Seventeen locks control water in 39 miles of the Fox; a shorter, easy stretch for a Green Bay kayak experience is along the De Pere Riverwalk.
Sail & Paddle
Getting out on the bay named Green seems important, and Sail & Paddle thinks so too. They’re a non-profit (just like the Green Bay Packers) which thinks all sorts of people should have the chance to sail.
“Green Bay grew up with so much industry,” says sailing director Jeff Larson, “that people didn’t realize just how much water we have for sports.”
Sail on their catamarans, with lessons and guidance. Ages 8 to 99 are welcomed, and on certain family nights, children ages 6 and 7 can come along too.
This is the southern part of the bay, and Larson says the water’s shallow.
Best way to see if the schedule matches vacation visiting plans is to check the Sail & Paddle website for women-only or family or small group times. Larson is often sharing his love of sailing with people whose challenges have limited opportunities for them.
Hike These Green Bay Trails
- Osprey Point
- De Pere Riverwalk
- Ice Age Trail
- Baird Creek Greenway
Osprey Point
Just knowing ospreys return to these 100 acres makes walking the trails special. And the trails are grassy and wide, surrounded with lush growth.
Volunteers take care of Osprey Point which is in the Bellevue community, part of greater Green Bay. Mailing address is De Pere which offers many reasons to visit.
“Natural-ness” is their goal and the Osprey Point volunteers seem equally determined to share water, woods, wildlife and air with visitors—for free.
They care about Green Bay’s Fox River and praise the massive cleanup several decades ago, changing its personality from industry to outdoor pleasures. They’re quick to point out the Fox flows south to north, as does the East River which sometimes is part of the Osprey Conservancy title.
Find two catch-and-release aerated fishing ponds, 60 bird species, two beehives—and plans for a playground made totally from things of nature when you go.
De Pere Riverwalk
Go for 20 miles if you like on the Fox River State Recreation Trail—smooth and paved. Or choose an easy stroll to chat with the pelicans and peer into the river where kayaks experience the northern end of the lock system.
Pelican encounters really matter because they’re the evidence river cleanup passes muster! The birds hadn’t been seen for years and now they’ve made new homes in Green Bay.
This walk features grassy spaces and picnic tables, families figuring out fishing pole set-ups for little kids and long views along the Fox River where skilled fishing seems to be happening.
Study flowers native to this region because they are planted in abundance, with signage, or just enjoy the way they look, edging the walkway and the river.
Half-an-hour is a good stroll from the parking lot sign for De Pere Riverwalk to the pelican gathering.
Ice Age Trail
The National Park Service is the authority for this walk, and a wooly mammoth with enormous tusks adorns the logo. My mile and a half near Algoma and Lake Michigan was rained out, but the opportunity to understand about glaciers is real.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Key places to notice on the Park Service map for an Ice Age hike from Green Bay are Point Beach State Forest, Two Creeks Buried Forest and Potawatomi. Most definitely focus on the little town of Algoma for lunch, art galleries and an interesting winery.
Baird Creek Greenway
This outdoor public space is also a non-profit preservation foundation. Lots of that non-profit attitude in Green Bay, Wisconsin it seems.
Hike, bike and cross-country ski on 14 miles of trails if you’re human. Count on flowers and nectar if you’re a bee or butterfly. Other animals? Know the preservationists are maintaining habitats.
Mountain bikers understand single and double track terrains, and some seek the Baird Creek Greenway technical sections with rocks, roots and creek crossings.
Count on nature walking trails and picnic areas also. Dogs need to be on leashes no longer than seven feet.
Plans call for connecting to the Ice Age Trail.
Stroll These Downtowns
Green Bay
CityDeck needs to figure into treks to Green Bay’s city center. It’s a 2.5 acre linear park along the Fox River, with platforms jutting out over the water, and docking spaces for kayaks, canoes and small boats.
Think both sides of the river because planners wanted to connect the city which the Fox flows through. The 50-foot wide boardwalk is a quarter mile long.
Two bridges at either end bookend this riverwalk, further connecting Green Bay.
Wooden benches invited me to stretch out and consider napping; it seems they’re also strategic barricades to withstand a 100-year flood!
Special events happen on CityDeck. Fridays on the Fox is one, attracting thousands, with free live music and sunset viewing. Boaters listen and watch from the river; others from the deck and restaurant patios.
De Pere
Green Bay, like many cities, involves smaller communities with personalities of their own while being part of the greater “beyond legendary” mission.
The De Pere Riverwalk connects visitors to the locktender’s house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This is also considered a wildlife viewing pier with reports of bald eagles, black cormorants, salmon, walleye and pelicans.
Mulva Cultural Center is a see-through building in De Pere, connecting inside and out, including grand views of the Fox River.
IMAX 3D films and nationally touring exhibitions are the staples, as are meals and snacks in the gourmet on-site restaurant. I didn’t eat but saw pastries reminiscent of trips to Europe.
St. Norbert is a Catholic liberal arts undergraduate college in De Pere with 2,200 students, and graduate and medical programs too.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Walk to campus and admire the sculpture of Norbert falling from his horse which was startled by a bolt of lightning. The story of his religious conversion inspires many student, faculty and graduate conversations.
Algoma
If 30 miles feels like a bit much for a day trip to Algoma, rethink road trip immersion in beautiful Wisconsin countryside with Lake Michigan at the end! Sandy beach, active lighthouse, charter fishing, art galleries and murals, heather and lavender farm and a most interesting downtown winery named Von Stiehl.
Some visitors stay for a month, timing their trips to the kite festival, blessing of the fleet, outdoor music concerts and beach festivals. That’s a story of longevity—Soar and Shore has been an Algoma happening for 36 years.
Crescent is the name of the beach, with a half-mile boardwalk accessible from both ends. Find a changing room at the north end.
Von Stiehl Winery, Cidery, Distillery
Brothers run Von Stiehl but their family name is Schmiling. And their philosophies are sustainability and innovation, humor and technology—and flavors.
That innovation is made even more interesting since it happens in an 1868 building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Take the 40-minute tour to uncover the owner/operator brothers’ forward thinking and to see the Italian bottling machine, first in North America, says Brad Schmiling.
Grapes are sourced from California, Washington, New York, Michigan and next-door Door County! Stony Creek Vineyard, Schmiling-family owned for 100 years, is six miles north of Algoma, the oldest commercial vineyard in the county.
What’s in a name? Physician Charles Stiehl launched the winery in 1967.
Where To Sleep
The Legacy
Live music – audible, not visible, from the entry lobby – bodes well for a fine hotel stay. That’s how my after-dinner check-in at the Green Bay Legacy Hotel started.
Positive notes.
January, 2024 was the opening of this all-suites hotel in sight of the Green Bay Packers Lambeau Field.
The address will welcome football fans: 1004 Brett Favre Pass. For less aware guests, Favre was the Packers quarterback who started 235 games—from September 20, 1992 to January 20, 2008.
The space with the music feels like a large living room, with high-backed wing chairs in a variety of fabrics, and groupings with small sofas allowing for multiple private conversations. . . or focus while listening to jazz.
Suites are studios, one-bedroom and penthouse, dogs welcome, wifi free and easy to log in, and the airport just five miles away.
There’s a twist with the television remotes: one raises and lowers the big-screen into the footboard of the king-size bed.
Wyndham calls the Legacy part of their Trademark Collection. They make it easy to orient to Green Bay with a handsome art glass window separating the lobby bar and sit-down restaurant. Clearly the very blue Fox River flows through downtown.
A casual grab-a-breakfast café features simple murals detailing Green Bay scenes; this is learn your way around while choosing from an array of muffins tourism.
SheBuysTravel Tip: Head up to the top floor bar whether you want a cocktail or not. The spaces are interesting. With live music in the lobby-level bar, it could be hard to remember to go up too. Full disclosure: I ordered a Wisconsin old-fashioned. That involves brandy.
LodgeKohler
The name’s one word, and yes it emphasizes fancy room showers (five shower heads!) and sumptuous water features in the spa. Kohler, after all, is a Wisconsin family company started in 1873 and known for its plumbing products.
LodgeKohler Green Bay includes 10 suites in its 144 rooms. The lobby is intimate, with several separate sections and big-screen tvs.
The spa is named Waters, with a HydroMassage experience pool with custom jets, cool plunge pool, steam room and sauna in addition to the full range of expected spa treatments.
Walk across the lawn at the expansive public playground called TitleTown for one of the hotel’s entrances.
Families are likely playing catch with footballs on that lawn, and people of all ages are enjoying night markets with vendors, ice skating and sledding in winter, restaurants and bars in all seasons.
TitleTown is another one of those “give back to the community” notions so evident in Green Bay. The Packers are the owners, and there are plenty of businesses, but the green spaces to play and mingle for free are equally abundant.
Stiehle Away
Next door to the winery in Algoma is a rental cabin with a great name: Stiehle Away. One room has a queen bed, one a set of bunk beds and the sofa pulls out.
Try These Brews and Meals
Cheese curds seem right to order every day, and they taste a bit different each place. But they always squeak.
Among many Green Bay dining options, these offer up a particular memorable distinction:
- Cocoon Brewing in De Pere
Pollinator gardens brimming with flowers, and also yard spaces just right for kids who want to run. Plus, comfy little cabins for friend or family brew tasting with a bit of privacy and lounging furniture.
- Nicky’s Lion Head in De Pere
Handsome tavern feel with dark wood and neon lights, and an upstairs overlooking it all
- Cedar & Sage Grill House in the Oneida Nation casino
Menu reflecting indigenous traditions with easy access to the casino.
- Hagemeister Park on CityDeck in Green Bay
Center front for festivals at the river, and for downtown explorations.
- Three Eleven Bar and Bistro in Algoma
Careful attention to fine dining cuisine in a downtown which encourages kite flying, beach strolling, wine tasting and an abundance of art galleries and murals.
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