Door County

A limestone peninsula, two shores and eleven lights.

A 70-mile limestone peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, ending at Death's Door and Washington Island. Five state parks, nineteen county parks, eleven historic lighthouses — and seven communities that each feel like a different trip.

See & do Plan your trip

THE SHORELINE COLLECTION 01 / FIELD GUIDE

Original illustration Door County shoreline — photograph placeholder

WHERE LAND MEETS WATERAN EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION

The shape of the place

Door County is not one town. It is a spine of Niagara Escarpment limestone running northeast from Sturgeon Bay, with Green Bay on one side and Lake Michigan on the other. The west shore is gentler and faces the sunset; the east shore is rockier, with sand dunes and cold, clear water.

That geography explains the trip. You can spend a morning on a Lake Michigan beach, drive twenty minutes across the peninsula and watch the sun go down over Green Bay. The communities in this guide are the places to sleep, eat and start from.

Door County at a glance

State parks: Five: Peninsula, Newport, Whitefish Dunes, Potawatomi and Rock Island
County parks: Nineteen, plus local preserves and beaches
Historic lighthouses: Eleven
Scenic byway: 66 miles, designated in 2010
Shoreline: About 300 miles

Four ways to read the county

The peninsula rewards a loose plan. These are the threads that tie the communities together.

Maritime history

The lighthouse thread

Eleven lights guided ships through the Door and into Sturgeon Bay. Several are open to visitors; others are visible only from the water.

Land and water

The park thread

Peninsula's bluffs, Newport's dark skies, Whitefish Dunes' sand, Potawatomi's forest and Rock Island's isolation are five different days outside.

Scenic driving

The byway thread

The 66-mile Door County Coastal Byway links three state parks, ten county parks, beaches and the shoreline villages.

Eating and staying

The table thread

Fish boils, supper clubs, orchards and small inns are part of the region's identity, not an afterthought to the scenery.

Start with one community

Seven places, one peninsula. Pick a base, then let the byway do the rest.

Plan a trip

The communities of Door County

Each community has its own centre of gravity. Start here, then follow the shoreline.

7 communities

01 Sturgeon Bay The working waterfront at the base of the peninsula. 02 Fish Creek The peninsula's busiest little village, with a state park at its back. 03 Ephraim White clapboard, a sheltered harbour and a Moravian past. 04 Sister Bay The county's table and its biggest autumn weekend. 05 Egg Harbor A busy waterfront village with a green streak. 06 Baileys Harbor The quiet side, with more public land than village. 07 Washington Island Thirty minutes across Death's Door, then open roads.

Verification

Sources & editorial record

Source-backed

Factual details on these pages were checked against the sources below on 2026-10-29 . Interpretive prose, itineraries and recommendations are editorial judgement, not sourced fact.

Park acreages, lighthouse dates, ferry crossing times and community descriptions are taken from Destination Door County, the Coastal Byway and the relevant land manager. Opening hours, prices and individual business details are deliberately not published here because they change seasonally.

Destination Door County Official destination marketing organisation: communities, parks and lighthouses.
Destination Door County — Parks State and county park acreages, shoreline and facilities.
Destination Door County — Lighthouses Construction dates, automation dates and public access.
Door County Coastal Byway 66-mile byway route, three state parks and ten county parks.
Wisconsin DNR — State parks Land-manager information for Wisconsin state parks.
Door County government County visitor information and official links.