Parks! (A 5 in 5 Adventure)

Kaelyn and I chose parks of the Fox Cities for our first 5 in 5 adventure mainly because the Fox Cities offer many beautiful outdoor leisure activities and we needed to get out of the house more often. The Appleton City Parks and Recreation alone boasts 29 parks, so our decision on where to go was very difficult. I encourage you to check out the Appleton Parks and Recreation website as it is very well laid out, offers maps of the parks, and amenities you will find in each. You can access that website by clicking HERE. Due to our location in Kimberly and the sheer number of parks, we mainly stuck around Appleton. We also only went to parks that we had never been to before and we knew that we were going to be visiting other parks in the near future with other 5 in 5 Adventures.

Don't know about our 5 in 5? Check it out here.

Day 1: Heckrodt Wetland Reserve

The Heckrodt Wetland Reserve is a private nonprofit organization in the City of Menasha. The moment we drove up and saw a beautiful parking lot, headquarters building, and giant turtle sign, I knew that this was going to be fun. This “park” does not allow pets and is not somewhere to bring a bike, but these 3(ish) miles of trails offer views of ponds full of turtles, numerous birdhouses, and the occasional deer on the boardwalk following behind you. I even jumped in the old Boy Scout eagle nest project and stuck my head out to do a little beak-a-boo. Get it? Ok, moving on.

You can find out more about Heckrodt Wetland Reserve by clicking HERE.

Day 2: Appleton Memorial Park

Appleton Memorial Park is the biggest and most inclusive park in the city of Appleton. This public park includes countless baseball diamonds, playground equipment, and places to wonder. And of course, it decided to downpour during our visit. I always envisioned walking through a park in the rain with my girlfriend to feel like a combination of “The Notebook” and “Singing In The Rain”. To my surprise, it was more like wet socks and mud puddles. We plan on coming back when the Appleton Family Ice Center is open and I want to cross country ski here in the winter. The Scheig Center, surrounding gardens, and Appleton Family Ice Center all look like fun opportunities! If you have children (or child-like adults), the storybook walk and playgrounds are well worth the trip as well.

You can find out more about Appleton Memorial Park by clicking HERE.

Day 3: Pierce Park

These next two days of parks are walking distance to each other in Appleton and we actually did both in one day. Pierce Park has a lot of open space and a pavilion where the city band performs. I did find the statue of a Native American with the plaque reading “Commemorating Our Native Americans” and the plaque reading the Gettysburg Address to be a little random, but the 9 hole disc golf course is very well laid out for those that want to play with friends or beginners like us. I also really enjoyed the half-moon sculpture and was a little hesitant to leave it.

You can find out more about Pierce Park by clicking HERE.

Day 4: Lutz Park

A short walk down the hill from Pierce Park on South Pierce Avenue brings you to Lutz Park. This is a smaller park along the Fox River right next to a yacht club. The highlight of this park is definitely the giant walkway dock that brings you a large part of the way out in the middle of the fox river onto an island. The picturesque view of the Appleton skyline, water, and boats going by had us stopping and taking in the views for quite a while. The kayak and boat launch was something that we wanted to note for the future as well as the closeness to another park down the street called Alicia Park.

You can find out more about both Lutz Park and Alicia Park by clicking HERE.

Day 5: Pamperin Park

As we drove to Pamperin Park in Howard, I got excited. Not only because we were stopping at the Green Bay Botanical on the way, but because I have an odd fascination with the idea of bridges that I do not plan to get over any time soon. Well, the point is actually to get over them, but I digress. Pamperin has a scenic suspension bridge that goes over Duck Creek which cuts through the middle of this spacious park. The park includes an 18 hole disc golf course that looked a little challenging, due to the course wiggling through the woods and getting a little too close to the creek for my throwing comfort. The park also provides a large stone pavilion containing two halls and a giant round copper stage, large open areas everywhere, and one of the coolest wooden playgrounds that made me wonder if I would get weird looks from parents if I went on!

You can find out more about Pamperin Park by clicking HERE.

Honorable Mention:

Ok. I know. Adding a sixth park is cheating, but “6 in 5 Adventures” doesn’t have the same ring to it. I could not talk about parks in the Fox Cities without mentioning High Cliff State Park in Sherwood. For this park, you do need a state park pass, but it is well worth it! The only reason why this was not on our list was that we do come here often and we had just had a picnic there on one of the cliffs a week earlier. We love this park for its beautiful trails and tower all overlooking Lake Winnebago.

You can find out more about High Cliff State Park by clicking HERE.