Site History
The park, formerly known as Harbor Island, is the only urban state park in Wisconsin and is designed to provide an urban oasis with recreational opportunities and outdoor educational programs.
The 22-acre park includes a 1.7 mile trail that connects to the Hank Aaron and Oak Leaf state trails; a watercraft beach area with access for canoes, paddle boats and kayaks; fishing areas and 20 boat slips for vessels up to 60 feet in length with overnight boat camping available. A bridge connects the north end of the park to the Summerfest grounds and an extension of the land near the American Family Amphitheater connects the south end.
Join us outside and become one of 350,000 people to visit the park each year. Revel lakeside in the scenic sanctuary and enjoy biking, hiking and running, fishing, boating, dog walking, and outdoor educational events. Free to the public and open year-round, activities for kids and adults alike abound.
Natural History
300,000 years ago:
Glaciers formed and covered the area
12,000 years ago:
First evidence of nomadic native tribes in Milwaukee area.
10,000 years ago:
Glaciers retreated, leaving behind basins filled with water (the Great Lakes)
1,000 years ago:
Hunter and Gatherer’ Natives began to make settlements along the Milwaukee River where it connects to Lake Michigan.
1600 – Early 1800s:
Both Native and European settlements coexisted until Natives were forced out with the expansion of the European fur trade.
1800s:
European Settlement. Wetland areas around the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic Rivers were gradually and laboriously filled in to increase access to the rivers and support a growing city population. In this particular area, the original shoreline would have been up to 1,000 feet inland!
1977:
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District begins construction of the Deep Tunnel Project. Rock powder and shards generated from the tunneling machine was deposited along Milwaukee’s lakefront to protect the festival grounds and provide a safe area for ships in inclement weather.
1991:
Harbor Island was opened when soil and Kentucky bluegrass were laid over large mounds of the limestone and dolomite tunnel debris. A crushed stone path was laid around the perimeter, allowing it to become a very popular fishing site.
1998:
Governor Tommy Thompson developed a vision for a State Park in Milwaukee’s urban setting.
2001:
Approval for the transition from Harbor Island to Lakeshore State Park by the DNR Board.
2007:
Lakeshore State Park officially opened in June, making it Wisconsin’s only urban state park. The Park is continuously undergoing prairie restoration, which includes planting and maintaining native forbs (flowering plants) and short prairie grasses.