National Parks in Wisconsin

There are two national park service sites in Wisconsin. To discover more about these sites, read on below:

Wisconsin NPS Sites Placeholder
Wisconsin NPS Sites
  • Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
  • Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

This unit of the national park service sites in Wisconsin consists of 21 islands (collectively known as the Apostle Islands) and a lakeshore. The entire property measures at nearly 70,000 acres in land area and is located at the northern tip of the Lake Superior in Wisconsin. The site is currently solely managed by the US National Park Service.

The site was named a national lakeshore in 1970 and has since received an annual average number of 176,000 visitors. Lake Superior has long been named as the largest, cleanest and coldest of the Great Lakes in North America. Hence, the US and Wisconsin government hopes to preserve this part of the lake by naming it as a national lakeshore. After all, aside from the islands and the lakeshore itself, there are several important sites within the area including historic lighthouses, natural habitat for various animal species, and old-growth remnant forests. The shore itself also features a beach, cliffs and many other naturally diverse landscapes.

Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway

This unit of the national park service sites in Wisconsin is shared with another state: Minnesota. The site consists of federally preserved riverways that span the St. Croix River (along the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota) and the Namekagon River in Wisconsin. This scenic riverway is one of 8 original national wild and scenic rivers in the US. The total land area covered within this property is at 92,738 acres.

The Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway protects 252 miles of the river together with the adjacent land along the length of that river. The upper side of the river is renowned for being a good source of smallmouth bass. However, there are several other fish species found within this river including catfish, sturgeon, walleye, muskellunge, and more. Aside from fishing, the river is also a popular tourist destination for those who are into canoeing, tubing, boating, and camping.


View all the National Park Service Sites in neighboring states: