A new Master Plan for the park created in CE.2013 aims to nearly double the size of the park, to add new amenities, and expand conservation efforts.[3]
Activities and amenities
Trails: Hiking trails include the .6-mile (0.97 km) limestone-surfaced Indian Mound Trail. The north shoreline of Lake Winnebago can be seen from a 40-foot-tall (12 m) observation tower at the top of the escarpment. Various trails are available for biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.[4]
The park also offers camping, picnicking, boating, swimming, fishing, and hunting.[4]
A statue of Red Bird, the Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) leader, overlooks the northeast end of Lake Winnebago.[5]
Effigy mounds
The effigy mounds at the top of the escarpment have led to a small part of the park being added to the National Register of Historic Places, listed as High Cliff Mounds.[1] A trail meanders through six long-tailed mounds and several conical mounds.[6] Out of the original 30 effigy mounds in High Cliff, only nine remain, among them a panther mound that reaches 285 feet in length, as well as mounds presenting a bird and one that was most likely a bear.[6][7] The mounds are consistent with other mound groups found at the peak of the Niagara Escarpment along the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago, including the Calumet County Park Group.[6]
Images
The welcome sign for High Cliff State Park in Sherwood, Wisconsin, USA, on July 7, CE.2007.
The north end of Lake Winnebago taken from the observation tower at eHigh Cliff State Park in Sherwood, Wisconsin, on August 6, CE.2007
^ abcBirmingham, Robert A.; Eisenberg, Leslie E. (2000). Indian Mounds of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 194. ISBN0-299-16874-3. Retrieved September 29, 2008. calumet county park mounds.