Northeast Wisconsin

Understand

The area has been inhabited by local Menominee and Ho-Chunks for numerous centuries before the area was discovered by Jean Nicolet in 1636, and given to the United States by the British Empire per the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Green Bay and nearby Bay Settlement are two of Wisconsin's oldest cities. The Fox River valley is home to many paper mill cities such as Appleton, Oshkosh, and Neenah while the lakeshore contains Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Sturgeon Bay and is more known for maritime commerce. Northwest of Marinette (another city with some maritime activity) and Oconto, logging and forestry are prevalent, with the infamous 1871 Peshtigo Fire killing roughly 1200-2500 people in Northeastern Wisconsin. Green Bay is also home to the Green Bay Packers, the smallest city in the United States to hold a football stadium.

Sturgeon Bay is also the largest city in a popular tourist destination, Door County, and is known for area cherry production too. Ripon is a small college town that is celebrated as the Birthplace of the Republican Party and Plymouth is known for its cheese production.

Regions

Cities

• Appleton — largest city in the Fox Cities & at the top of Lake Winnebago
• Denmark — small village between Manitowoc and Green Bay
• Elkhart Lake — lake community known for various activities
• Fond du Lac — city at the bottom of Lake Winnebago
• Green Bay — largest city in the area with 107,000 residents
• Ledgeview — suburb of Green Bay
• Manitowoc-Two Rivers — twin cities known for maritime activities
• Marinette — lumber town on the Menominee River
• Oconto — the largest city and county seat of Oconto County
• Oshkosh — renowned for aviation and home to EAA AirVenture
• Plymouth — known as "The Cheese Capital of the World" for producing 40% of cheese consumed in the United States
• Ripon — college town known for the birthplace of the Republican Party
• Sheboygan — mid-size city of about 50,000 known as the "Malibu of the Midwest"
• Sturgeon Bay — largest city in Door County & located halfway up the Door Peninsula.

Get in

By plane

There are two airports in Northeast Wisconsin that offer commercial airline flights.

There are also public General Aviation airports in Manitowoc, Neenah, Fond du Lac, and Oshkosh that can be used if you chose to fly in with your own airplane.

By car

There are multiple major highways that come into Northeastern Wisconsin. The most important highways are:

• I-41 and US 41 enter the area south of Fond du Lac and connects the city with the Fox Cities and Green Bay before heading northeast past Oconto and Marinette into the Upper Peninsula. I-41 ends on the northwest side of Green Bay.
• I-43 enters the area south of Sheboygan and connects it to Manitowoc and Green Bay before also ending on the northwest side of Green Bay. Going south will lead drivers towards Milwaukee
• US 8 Skirts the far northern area of the region, only connecting with US 141 in far northern Marinette County.
• US 10 in the area runs from west of Appleton, and connects the Fox Cities with Manitowoc before leaving Wisconsin on the S.S. Badger.
• US 141 connects Green Bay to Iron Mountain, and ultimately closer to Houghton.
• US 151 connects Fond du Lac and Manitowoc to Madison.
• WIS 29 connects Green Bay to Wausau and Eau Claire as an expressway to the west, and Kewaunee as a generic road to the east.

By boat

• S.S. Badger carferry departs in Manitowoc and ends in Ludington.

Get around

With all the highways mentioned, and countless more not mentioned, by far the most convenient way of getting around outside of cities is by car. That said, there are several trails within and connecting some cities, like the Fox River Trail around Green Bay, the Ice Age Trail in Sturgeon Bay, and the Mariner's Trail in Manitowoc-Two Rivers.

Stay safe

The Door county sheriff number is (920) 746-2400, their address for the office is 1201 S Duluth Ave, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Driving

In Wisconsin, the speed limit unless signed otherwise is 70 MPH on Freeways (correlates to 110 km/h), 65 MPH on Expressways (105 km/h), and 55 MPH on undivided two lane roads. As per most of the Midwest, people will tend to drive at 75-80 MPH on freeways and expressways and even 65-70 MPH on some two lane roads. While this is mostly not a problem considering some parts of the area are sparsely populated (though you should try to stick to the speed limit), excess speed poses a significant hazard during fog and other winter and weather related events. Case in point, Wisconsin's deadliest car accident happened on I-43 near Cedar Grove on October 10th, 2002 because of low visibility, killing 10 and injuring 36. US 141 near Pound also saw a significant crash on December 15th, 2021 when a service van was rear ended by a dump truck, causing the van to be hit by an oncoming train; the visibility was reported to be no more than 100 feet. No matter how fast you usually drive, Wisconsin is not much different from the United States when it comes to severe weather, and you should slow down when encountering weather. If the visibility is very poor, pull over when possible.

Wildlife (mainly deer) can also pose a hazard, especially during migration periods. If you come across a deer, do not swerve. In some cases, hitting the deer may actually increase your survival chances than swerving off the road. Apply Brakes, and then watch for more deer before you resume driving. If you hit deer, pull over safely when possible, call authorities and do not approach the deer as it can be more dangerous and unpredictable after being injured.

City & Urban

Though Green Bay has a slightly higher than average violent crime rate for mid-size cities of its kind, the area along with larger cities like Appleton, Oshkosh, and Sheboygan tend to be safe otherwise; the vast majority of crime in the area relates to property crime. As long as you lock your car and hide your valuables and avoid poorly lit areas at night, you should be pretty safe touring the area.