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| Picnic Area at Governor Nelson State Park |
Across Lake Mendota, the State Capitol rises above the thriving city of Madison. Governor Nelson State Park inhabits the quiet northwestern side of the lake. The park's main draw is its beach, but the park also offers an 8-mile network of walking trails through woodlands and restored prairies. These wide trails are perhaps most popular in winter when they become groomed cross-country ski trails. In other months, these hiking trails combine to offer easy family-accessible hiking and trail running.
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| Morningside Trail at Governor Nelson State Park |
The growing population of Dane County has many hiking opportunities. The hikes in this south-central county are not that diverse; they all follow the typical format of wide mowed grass multi-use trails that network in the constrained boundaries of small acreage preserves and parks. Still, given that this is Wisconsin's second largest metropolitan area, these immediately accessible outdoor opportunities are essential. Madison's population of healthy-minded and outdoor enthusiasts make good use of them.
The oft-overlooked Governor Nelson State Park does not offer campgrounds or stunning scenic vistas, however, the trails do offer a chance to shed some calories and enjoy the sounds of birds and wildlife. It's an easy place to visit on your way home from work, or to pull the kids away from their screens for a couple hours.
For my hike at Governor Nelson, I combined a few trails into a larger "Governor Nelson Loop" highlighted in blue on the map below. This hike is just short of 3 miles in total distance and covers The Morningside, Red Hawk, and Woodland trails. It takes about 1 hour to hike this easy loop and covers both open prairie as well as oak savanna terrain.
The woodland trail passes the panther effigy mound. This mound may be mistakenly attributed to panther, and may rather represent the Ho-Chunk Water Spirit clan; the name Waunakee translates to "spirit place". There is also ongoing debate involving all panther mounds whose shape appear to be drawing from shapes and illustrations of water spirit clan icons. Does it make sense that this mound would be perched overlooking Lake Mendota near the mouth of Six Mile Creek and the vast wetlands in the Six-Mile watershed? Nearby the trail also passes through a grouping of conical mounds.
The trails at Governor Nelson State Park offer a good mix of terrain for easy hiking and a number of loop options. For an hour of time in the outdoors, Governor Nelson may be just the right place to escape to.
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| Woodland Trail at Governor Nelson State Park |
Governor Nelson State Park Loop
COUNTY: Dane
COMMUNITIES: Waunakee
TOTAL MILES: 2.67-mile loop (blue)
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Morningside Trail
TOTAL MILES: 2.6-mile triple loop (magenta)
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Oak Savannah Trail
TOTAL MILES: 1.83-mile triple loop (purple)
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Woodland Trail
TOTAL MILES: 1.3-mile loop (Green)
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Red Hawk Trail
TOTAL MILES: 1-mile loop (Red)
DIFFICULTY: Easy
Directions and Trail Map
If viewing on a mobile device, open the trail map above to load into Google Maps App by touching the expand rectangle in the upper right corner.
Address for your GPS:5140 County Highway M, Waunakee, WI 53597
| coordinates: 43.015434, -89.520003 |
| From Milwaukee | 1.5 Hours |
| From Madison | 5 minutes |
| From Green Bay | 2.5 Hours |
| From Wausau | 2 Hours |
| From Minneapolis | 4 Hours |
| From Chicago | 2.5 Hours |
Photos
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| Fishing Dock at Governor Nelson State Park |
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| Beach at Governor Nelson State Park |
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| Morningside Trail at Governor Nelson State Park |
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| Anchor Display at Governor Nelson State Park |