Poor Stepchild

Common in literature of old, particularly fables, is the idea of the poor stepchild, and how they fit or do not fit within the reorganized family structure.  Looking through genealogy records it is not uncommon to find a women who died early, perhaps in childbirth, and the husband would remarry.  When I visit Door County, as I once again did two weeks ago, I sometimes think of the Lake Michigan side as the poor step child to the Bay side.

Lady Slipper at Ridges Sanctuary
My first time viewing, I believe, of a Lady Slipper plant

The lake side has its share of expensive homes on or near the shores of a great lake, but the bay side has what many refer to as the quaint villages, which, without proper planning, can often become a victim of their own success.  Those quaint villages of Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay, and Gill's Rock are tourist magnets.  What does the east side contain for villages?  Bailey's Harbor. Although you could also count Jackson Port.  When my spouse and I visit Door County we like to spend more time on the Lake side than the Bay side.  I am not into shopping, and neither fortunately, is my spouse.  The stores in those picturesque villages hold little for me.  Even though it has its share of homes on the lake shore, some of which have been destroyed by ice floes this past year, there is still significant public or reserve land on the lake side.  The bay side has Peninsula State Park, and the geologically interesting Door Bluff County Park, but the lake side has it beat, in my opinion, in areas of natural interest.

Cave Point Cairns

The lakeside has two state parks.  Whitefish Dunes State Park preserves massive sand dunes formed by Lake Michigan wave action.  At the north end of this park is Cave Point County Park, with its dolomite/limestone outcroppings being gradually eroded by wave action.  (  Perhaps the time is not too far away, that the famous "blow hole" at Cave point falls into the mass of Lake Michigan.  One can already see just south and west of this famous opening the location of a fissure.  Geologically, a chemical reaction takes place as waves continually beat the limestone rock, making it almost melt away over time.  This is what causes the famous sink holes, or what we in the geography world refer to as Karst topography.  Door County is part of the Niagra Escarpment, which arcs from Niagra Falls and generally ends somewhat south of Milwaukee.  But for the Niagra Escarpment, Door County probably would not exist being above water level.  Wisconsin would not have its thumb.

Southwest of main blow hole at Cave Point
is a developing fissure

Cave Point and Whitefish Dunes are near Jackson Port.  Near the north east end of the county on the mainland sits Newport Beach State Park, the only wilderness state park in the state system.  Its almost 2400 acres has eleven miles of shoreline.  By comparison, Peninsula State Park has eight miles of shoreline, but a mass of 3,776 acres.  Newport Beach is long and linear providing a great deal of lake shore for us non-lake side homeowners to enjoy.  That is the general public.

Flowers at Ridges Sanctuary

Besides Cave Point Park, there are other features and places that have been preserved between Whitefish Dunes and Newport Beach.  Mud Lake State Natural Area, Moonlight Bay State Natural Area, Bailey's Harbor Boreal Forest and Wetland, near Cana Island lighthouse, and Mink River Estuary State Natural Area.  Add to this the private land trust of the Ridges Sanctuary and you get a view of the unique nature of the lake side.  Together, all of these natural places set the lake side apart from the bay side.  I suspect, the ability to preserve this land had to do with early human settlement.  The bay side offered calmer water for harbors and ports from which fisherman could dock.  The limestone shelf, which is so prevalent on much of the lake Side is not as extensive on the bay side, and would allow less navigation issues.

Swale at Ridges Sanctuary

As I travel to Door County, and around Madison and Monona (and many lakes up north), I think of  what is termed the Tragedy of the Commons.  Where private interests have topped that of the public.  This is particularly present in the development of our lake shores.  Traveling the bay side in Door County, or biking in Monona there is little in the way of great public expanse of beaches.  The small towns may have a small beach area, but by and large much of the bay side in Door County, but for the large state park, and some county parks, has been developed.  You see that in much of Madison, too.

Ridge at the Ridges Sanctuary

On our most recent visit to Door County we stopped at "The Ridges Sanctuary" near Bailey's Harbor.  This was our first visit to this unique place.  Created in 1937, it was the first land trust in the State of Wisconsin.  It was founded to preserve some unique ridge and swale habitat formed by Lake Michigan over the past 1400 years.  The ridge-swale-ridge-swale...with its repeating pattern... topography is a unique habitat for flora and fauna.  It is not large in area, nor are the ridges tall and imposing, but luckily someone had the foresight to preserve this unique habitat.  It was well worth the $5.00 donation, which is the price of a beer (or less) at some restaurants. This unique habitat can be well seen in air photos.

Air photo of Ridge's Sanctuary
Source:  Google Maps

While many visitors to Door County will stay to the trendy bayside of the peninsula, that is fine by me.  I like the fact that the lake side, that poor step child of this vacation hot-spot, is less crowded, but, it seems with every visit we see more and more activity along the lake side.  Not unlike me, perhaps they have come to enjoy nature as intended.  It may quickly become a regular child and not the poor stepchild.

Sunset over Green Bay

Photos by author, June 2018