For more than a century Wisconsin has excelled in preserving its great outdoors. Its collection of state parks, forests and trails, totalling 100, is one of the finest park systems in the country.
   Out on Wisconsin's Door Peninsula, the Potawatomi State Park lies on 1200 acres of upland terrain along the shoreline of Sturgeon Bay. There is no disguising its Indian sounding name. The Bo-De-Wad-Me Tribe name, meaning keeper of the fire, slowly evolved into today's name of Potawatomi. The park area bluffs were once valued for stone, as well as forests of beech, maple, basswood and white cedar. Migratory birds, plus resident shore birds, tallying more than 200 species, attract Door County bird watchers. The park's dense forests also cloak area campgrounds and picnic areas, with additional sites along the water's edge.
   This view, from high above on the park's Niagara Escarpment, looks out over Sawyer Harbor and a distant Sturgeon Bay. From up on top the 75 foot observation tower, built by the CCC in 1933, signs of spring's new growth are seen below. The delicate green leaves spell out that spring has arrived.
   Potawatomi Park also marks the eastern end of the Ice Age Trail. The trail follows along the bluff line, once the former shoreline of a much higher Lake Michigan. Here at the park there's plenty of land and water related activities. Along with camping and picnicking, park visitors can also enjoy fishing, boating and skiing. Park hikers may also take the opportunity to get started at the eastern terminus of the 1200 mile Ice Age Trail.

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