SHERWOOD — One of the Wisconsin state park system’s most popular trails, the Lime Kiln Trail at High Cliff State Park, is undergoing extensive improvements after years of deterioration.
As of Monday, the upper segment of the Lime Kiln Trail is closed and inaccessible to the public throughout the duration of the partial closure.
The closure is expected to last through Feb. 28, 2026. The work is a continuation of the multi-phase, multi-year Lime Kiln Trail Rehabilitation Project.
According to a social media post, public access to the lower segment of the Lime Kiln Trail along Lake Winnebago will remain open. The Lime Kiln Trail parking lot will also remain open. Access may periodically be limited due to contractor activity.
The public can continue to access the Lime Kiln Trail from the stairs at the Red Bird Trail (near the Family Campground) until the existing stairs are removed for replacement.
After the existing stairs are removed, public access to the Lime Kiln Trail will only be available from the Lime Kiln Trail parking lot. Access will be restricted to north-south hiking along Lake Winnebago.
This multi-year project is sponsored by the Friends of High Cliff State Park to improve park visitor experience. This project restores the unique features and natural beauty of the Lime Kiln Trail with increased safety and recreational opportunities. The project will also protect the unique geology of the globally significant Niagara Escarpment and its rare and endangered animal and plant communities.
The trail is used by hundreds of thousands of people annually, according to the Friends of High Cliff State Park, which spearheaded a major fundraising effort for the improvements.
Decades of wear and tear, a microclimate that causes wood stairs and boardwalks to deteriorate, very high visitor use, and the sloping landscape with seepage areas prone to erosion and flooding have degraded the trail.
