A review of Door County/FAQ for some of the people who have given less than perfect reviews to…read morecertain Door County establishments and for those who are new to Door County and the Door County lifestyle: A few things about Door County. Firstly, there is a very good reason for the visitors tax. DC is a completely separate entity from the rest of the state&essentially from the country at large. Its almost completely sustainable by itself. It has it's own economy. That economy is run almost completely on tourism. You are paying for the luxury of an old-fashioned sustainable economy, the likes of which you won't find elsewhere (well, maybe in Cape Cod or The Hamptons). You must consider this when visiting. The taxes you pay when staying in and while eating, shopping, etc. in Door County go to a good cause. As the county is almost entirely separate and sustainable in its own right, any extra money you pay either in taxes or just during your visit in general goes to a great cause and is used to keep the county running in the future in the way that it has been able to do these past thirty or forty years. In my opinion, we are very fortunate to be able to have such a place available to us in the United States in this day and age. As to the county 'closing at 9pm,' a criticism that I don't find to be entirely fair, which I've found in several reviews of DC establishments, it depends on what time of year you're visiting of course, although I know plenty of places all over the peninsula that are open late year round. Try JJ's/La Puerta or Husby's in Sister Bay next time, or Shipwrecked Pub or Mojo Rosa's in Egg Harbor. There are many options available in downtown Sturgeon Bay as well, or book a late night tour of the peninsula or a pub crawl at Lautenbach's in Fish Creek. You'll have a blast! Also, check out the Door County Visitor's Bureau's awesome show on YouTube for more ideas for Door County fun! Visiting in the winter? Try a midnight horseback ride or a nighttime ski or snowshoe walk. There is always lots to do in Door County!

This is one of the best visitor centers I've been to. We stopped here to use the restrooms before…read moregoing snowshoeing late last week. There are a couple of educational displays in the center of the space, there's a screening room for films and videos -- and other events -- and there's a gift shop. While many gift shops in state and national forests and parks don't offer much that's useful, this one is solid. There are tons of local and regional nature guides, as well as other texts available. You can get park patches. And they stock other local and regional stuff -- including a CD recorded by a woman who gave C. dulcimer lessons when she was a little girl. That was pretty rad to see. Worth supporting. Tax dollars at work.

Great visitor center. Includes displays, maps, gift store, presentations done at times, and more…read more Up on the hill by the intersection of Highway 45 and Highway 2 in Watersmeet, MI. The forestry department office is also there in the vicinity for help on the National Forest, trails, hunting and more. Nice parking lot. A cabin in the area to stay at is: Stickley Lodge Getaway. 920-680-7095 (text or leave message). www.stickleylodgegetaway.weebly.com. Branch and log decor. Circle driveway great for trailers and extra vehicles. Gameroom. Reasonably priced for area. Right off trail system for ORVing and snowmobiling. Cisco Chain of Lakes area. Other National Forest Lakes in area. Or, Beatons Lake, Pomeroy, Langford and more. GEM Grouse hunting area. Coyote and bear hunting. Ottawa National Forest by cabin and in area. Ontonagon River close by. Waterfalls including Kakabika, Yondota and others.

There is a $5 entrance fee. They have beautiful gardens around the office. We hiked the ridges &…read moreswales and out to the range lights. It was well worth the $5 per person entrance fee. They have a very nice trail system! Bring bug spray though!

Just a quick 2021 update! Please also see my previous review. On our most recent visit in…read moreSeptember of 2021, all of Door County was more crowded than usual for mid-September and so we weren't surprised to find the parking lot by the new visitor center completely full. We went around the corner to the old, now unmarked, parking area and found the signs to the trails were still there! Yay! We assumed it was still OK to park here, and the signs provided some reassurance. The park is as peaceful as ever, and they have now finished the restoration of one of the lighthouses and are letting visitors in. The late fall wildflowers were lovely. Don't miss this peaceful place for a woodsy walk in Door County.

Cool Spot, Must Hike Down After Catwalk!…read more Really beautiful waterfall, nice clean water and once you get down to the water line at the fall there was no one there when I went. It was cool because you actually felt alone in nature for once at a waterfall. You can also take the little trails up from the walkway to get onto the old railroad bridge which is now a snowmobile bridge and you can see good views as in my pictures that are shown. There is a nice walkway and the catwalk over to the falls under an old railroad bridge. Go ofc the right where the trail is and carefully climb down to the water. If you just go down the cat walk and that is it you won't be able to see you too much. It's important to navigate down but if you have physical limitations or any worries about climbing down the dirt hill you should not attempt it.

This was such a nice surprise!…read more For being right off the highway, I wasn't expecting much, but this ended up being one of the funner waterfalls in the U.P. It had a steep walkway down the mountain that is a fun workout to get down to, then back up, and you can get a great view of the bridge and waterfalls from down there. If you walk up only twenty feet or so from the main pathway, you end up on the bridge overlooking the falls-both great sites.

I love the welcome center. I come down here to talk all the time. This center is good for riding…read moreyour bicycle, running , walking and more. The view down here is amazing it keeps making you come back for more. The Center provides good information for tourists and people that don't know the area. You can also grill out like I did. Is a great time here