Sunday, Nov. 15 is a big date at High Cliff State Park. It's the last day of the Wisconsin DNR's posted closure for the full Lime Kiln and Indian Mound trails. The 8.5-mile Bike/Horse Trail usually closes for the season that day, and the state park fall hunting and trapping window opens.
So the first walk down the rebuilt Lime Kiln stairs won't happen in the October park that went behind construction fencing on Oct. 5. It happens in a park running under a different set of rules.
Three More Weekends of Detours
From now through Nov. 15, the DNR conditions page lists three closures. The entire Lime Kiln Trail and the entire Indian Mound Trail are closed, along with a section of Red Bird Trail. There is no access to Lime Kiln or Indian Mound during construction. A posted detour sends Red Bird hikers from the Indian Mound Trail parking lot to an area south of the family campground.
That still leaves plenty of park to walk. According to the DNR's High Cliff hiking page, these trails are untouched by the work:
- Butterfly Pond Nature Trail, with a 0.4-mile east loop and a 0.7-mile west loop
- Forest Management loops of 0.9 and 1.4 miles, which the DNR also lists as good for winter hiking and snowshoeing
- Red Bird Trail, 3.4 miles in total, passing the Chief Red Bird statue and the 40-foot observation tower, with the detour around its closed section
The Bike/Horse Trail is also open through Nov. 15. Its usual season runs May 1 to Nov. 15, depending on weather, so the next three weekends are likely its last of the year.
Construction is also underway near the park office and entrance road. The DNR says that work started in mid-September 2026 and will continue through spring 2027. The office and entrance road stay open, and visitors are asked to use caution around work areas. Park hours are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. year-round.
If you're planning your Saturday around something other than a trail, the Village of Sherwood's trick-or-treat hours are Oct. 31 from noon to 2 p.m.
What's Going On Behind the Fencing
The closed trails are part of a project that started long before this fall. In June, the Post-Crescent reported that Friends of High Cliff State Park had dedicated the finished Lime Kiln Trail Waterfall Area and Stairs on June 12. That work came from a phased effort the volunteer group began in 2022 to fix safety, accessibility and deferred-maintenance problems.
Greg Burns, a Friends member and the project leader, described the Upper Stair to the Post-Crescent. It sits where Red Bird Trail meets Lime Kiln Trail near the family campground, was finished at the end of May, and "provides the only access to the Lime Kiln Trail from the top of the Niagara Escarpment." The waterfall-area work also added an Observation Lobe with council stones overlooking Lake Winnebago.
The Post-Crescent also gave a sense of scale. Friends board president Gary Vaughan described the park as serving more than 700,000 users each year. Burns noted that the park includes a 125-acre State Natural Area with rare and sensitive plant and animal communities.
At the same dedication, Curt Detjen of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region announced more funding from the foundation and the David L. & Rita E. Nelson Family Fund. That money goes toward the next Lime Kiln phases and the Indian Mound Trail, including rerouting, new surfacing and interpretive signs about the park's Native American history and the cultural connection that continues today.
Burns laid out the rest of the Lime Kiln schedule for the paper:
- Fall 2026: Upper Leg Trail Segment
- Fall 2027: South Connector Trail Segment
- Fall 2028: Lower Leg Trail Segment along Lake Winnebago, which completes the Lime Kiln Trail Remediation Project
That means this fall's closure is the first of three. Expect similar fall closures on Lime Kiln in 2027 and 2028. Also note that the Friends of High Cliff homepage gives Sept. 15 as the start of the Lime Kiln work. The DNR property notice uses Oct. 5 to Nov. 15 as the official closure window.
The Switch Around Sunday, Nov. 15
Here's what changes at High Cliff around that Sunday:
| At High Cliff | Through Nov. 14 | From Nov. 15 |
|---|---|---|
| Lime Kiln and Indian Mound trails | Closed for rehabilitation | Closure listed as running through Nov. 15; check the DNR for reopening |
| Red Bird Trail | Detour around closed section | Section closure listed through Nov. 15 |
| Bike/Horse Trail, 8.5 miles | Open, typical season since May 1 | Typically closed for the season, weather dependent |
| Fat-tire biking | On the Bike/Horse Trail | Allowed on the Red Bird segment from the Chief Red Bird statue to the family campground, and on park roads |
| Hunting and trapping | Closed | Open in mapped open areas through Dec. 15; archery through the Sunday nearest Jan. 6 |
Two of these changes are dates on a calendar. The other two depend on conditions. The Bike/Horse Trail closing date is the DNR's usual date, not a fixed one. The trail closure has a posted end date of Nov. 15, but the DNR hasn't posted a reopening date, and any revised notice would take priority. The DNR conditions page is the place to check the week of the 15th.
High Cliff's Hunting Rules Are Narrower Than the Statewide Ones
Statewide, the DNR's state park hunting and trapping page says gun hunting, archery hunting and trapping are allowed in park areas open to them from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, with archery allowed through the Sunday nearest Jan. 6. The same page says some parks have weapons restrictions, different dates or closed areas.
High Cliff is one of those parks. Its DNR hunting page says archery hunting and trapping are allowed in the park's open areas. It also says "At High Cliff State Park, there is a traditional 9-day muzzleloader-only gun deer hunt. There is no other gun hunting in the park." The DNR lists the 2026 statewide gun deer season as Nov. 21 to 29, nine days starting the Saturday after the trail closure window ends.
On trapping, the park page says it is not allowed in closed areas shown on the park hunting map or within 100 yards of any designated use area, including trails. The current High Cliff hunting and trapping map, PR-2110, was revised Sept. 30, 2026. Its legend separates closed areas, an area open only during the traditional nine-day deer season, and other open areas for archery, crossbow and trapping. If you walk the park in late November, look at that map before you go. It shows where the open areas sit relative to the trails you plan to use.
This section is general information drawn from DNR pages, not legal advice. Hunters and park visitors should confirm current rules with the DNR or the High Cliff park office.
When Snow Arrives, Red Bird Becomes a Ski Trail
After mid-December, the park changes again. According to the DNR's High Cliff winter page:
- Once it's snow-covered, the 3.4-mile Red Bird Trail is groomed for traditional cross-country skiing.
- Snowshoeing is allowed anywhere except snow-covered ski trails, which leaves the Forest Management loops and Butterfly Pond as the obvious choices.
- A 1.5-mile snowmobile trail connects to the Calumet County system, and it opens based on county conditions.
That means Red Bird has a different job in every stretch of this season. Today it carries the detour around the construction. Once the Bike/Horse Trail closes, part of it becomes the park's fat-tire bike route. With enough snow, it becomes the groomed ski trail. The rebuilt Upper Stair at the Red Bird and Lime Kiln junction is where those routes meet the escarpment trail that has been closed since early October.
High Cliff is part of everyday life in Sherwood, and it's one of the things buyers ask us about when they look at homes near the lake. If you'd like to talk about life near the park or anything else around Lake Winnebago's northeast shore, the team at C21 Ace is happy to help. Contact us anytime.
