Walworth: Nature Trails, Wetlands and History

Four hiking trails through the Kettle Moraine, a river park and wetlands offer different ways to experience Walworth’s natural surroundings. There are also lakeshores, historic railroad cars and museums. You can plan your trip around your own interests—with outdoor activity, insights into nature or local history.

Trails, Lakeshores and Open Landscapes

At Natureland Park, four hiking trails lead through the Kettle Moraine landscape. White River County Park offers a different setting: It covers nearly 200 acres and stretches for two miles along the White River. For walks and hikes, you’ll find very different landscapes here, from moraine terrain to riverbanks.

Along the White River State Trail, there are five places in Walworth County where you can park and access the trail. Another longer option is the Lake Geneva Shore Path: The 21-to-26-mile route circles Geneva Lake and can be walked in sections. Being able to walk the path in stages is especially useful if you’d like to include individual stretches in your plans rather than the entire route.

Big Foot Beach State Park lies on the shore of Lake Geneva and also has a family campground. Black Point Estate & Gardens offers a different view of the lake: The estate sits on a hill overlooking Geneva Lake. The lakeshore and hillside provide two different perspectives on the lake, without requiring you to plan the same kind of outing.

Wetlands and Distinctive Habitats

The landscapes of the protected and natural areas vary considerably. Troy Wildlife Area includes open wetlands, shrubland, oak and lowland forests, as well as a small section of restored prairie. By contrast, the landscape at Turtle Valley Wildlife Area is shaped mainly by shallow marshes, wet meadows and tallgrass prairie on the surrounding hills. If you’d like to explore different habitats, you’ll find more here than just a backdrop for a walk.

Lulu Lake is a 95-acre, 40-foot-deep drainage kettle lake fed by the Mukwonago River. The wetlands at Lulu Lake are best viewed from watercraft via the channel from Eagle Spring Lake to the north. At Beulah Bog, a boardwalk runs through the bog to the edge of the bog lake. Six species of carnivorous plants grow there. More than 80 native plant species have been found at Young Prairie. These places highlight different aspects of nature: waterways, bogs and native plants.

Barnyard Adventure also features nature-related attractions, including an official Monarch Waystation garden. The Learning Coop also covers cooking, as well as agricultural and household topics. This means there’s more to see there than just the landscape.

Local History on the Rails and in Museums

The historic railroad cars of the East Troy Electric Railroad travel a 14-mile route through southeastern Wisconsin. At the East Troy Railroad Depot Museum, you can see model trains, artifacts and exhibits about electricity. Together, a train ride and the exhibits offer insights into technology and railroad history.

At the Geneva Lake Museum, you can walk along a paved Main Street from an earlier era. The homes and shops lining it represent the Geneva Lake area from 1830 to 1980. The Whitewater Historical Society Museum is housed in the historic Whitewater Passenger Depot and offers another way to explore local history. Each museum has its own focus, from a recreated Main Street to a preserved historic depot.

Choose the Right Focus for Your Trip

When looking for a hotel in Walworth, it helps to decide first what kind of trip you want: Would you like to spend most of your time on trails and in the landscape, explore wetlands or plan visits to historic attractions? The places described here offer specific ideas for each. Plan your days around the experiences that interest you most, and factor those priorities into your choice of where to stay.

Discover more destinations: Elkhorn, East Troy, Lake Geneva, Whitewater, Fontana-On-Geneva Lake, Delavan, Kewaunee County, St. Croix County.

For the main travel overview: Wisconsin.