Door County Fact Sheet

Download this fact sheet as a PDF file here.

Wisconsin's Door County Peninsula is approximately 75 miles long. It's about 18 miles wide at its widest point in the southern part of the county, and less than 2 miles across at the northern tip.

 

It takes a little over an hour to drive from the county line in the southern part of the peninsula to the end of Hwy 42 at Northport, the northern tip of the peninsula.

 

Door County has over 300 miles of shoreline (believed to be the most miles of shoreline of any county in the country) and is surrounded by water on three sides. Lake Michigan lies to the north and east, and the bay of Green Bay lies to the west.

 

Door County has 10 historic lighthouses that dot the peninsula's shores, and has one of the highest concentrations of lighthouses of any county in the United States. Door County's oldes lighthouse, Pottawatomie Lighthouse, will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2008.

 

Door County has over 30 county and local parks, 5 state parks, and countless nature preserves and land conservation areas that give visitors a variety of options to explore Door County 's natural beauty. The peninsula's state and county parks alone contain over 10,000 acres of public land.

 

Door County has 34 named islands that surround the peninsula, the largest of which is Washington Island. Washington Island is approximately 35 square miles large and has a year round population of nearly 700 people. A vehicle/passenger ferry connects Washington Island (via the Death's Door water passage) with the rest of the world 365 days a year, weather permitting.

Door County offers over 30 public swimming beaches for our visitors to enjoy and explore. A list of beaches can be found on www.doorcounty.com.

 

Door County has five local wineries and an expanding grape growing industry. One of them, Simon Creek Vineyard & Winery, has the largest vineyard in Wisconsin at 30 acres.

 

11 different golf courses in Door County give golfers the chance to tee off at 180 different holes. Courses are located from the southern portion of the peninsula all the way to Washington Island, off the northern tip of the peninsula. Courses range in size from 9 to 36 holes.

 

Door County is among the top cherry producing regions in the country with more than 2,000 acres of cherry orchards. The cherry trees normally bloom in mid to late May with cherries ready for picking in mid July to early August. Door County harvests between 10-15 million pounds of cherries every year.

 

Door County is increasingly becoming well known for its' culinary delights. From the popular and traditional Door County Fish Boil experience to locally grown products, one's taste buds are just happier in Door County.

 

Door County has a rich maritime heritage and there are several hundred 19th century shipwrecks scattered along Door County 's coastline, some of which are part of a Wisconsin Maritime Trail system. Trail kiosks are located along shorelines throughout Door County , and SCUBA diving is very popular.

 

Door County is known for its artistic community and boasts nearly 100 art galleries, museums and performing arts venues. These can be found in all corners of the peninsula.

 

Biking is a very popular activity in Door County. A back-road bicycle map is available through the Door County Visitor Bureau's Visitor Center (and on www.DoorCounty.com), and gives routes and information about different trails available throughout the peninsula.

 

Door County's estimated year-round population is just over 29,000. Sturgeon Bay, the county seat and its only city, has a population of around 9,700.

 

Door County is one of the Midwest 's premier tourism destinations, attracting more than 2 million visitors per year.

 

Roughly two thirds of Door County's tourists visit between the beginning of May and the end of October, but the shoulder seasons of winter and spring are becoming increasingly popular thanks to special events and the quiet romantic serenity offered November – April.

 

About half of Door County's visitors come from within Wisconsin, about 30% from Illinois (mostly greater Chicago, which is about 4.5 hours away) and about 5% come from Minnesota (mostly the greater Twin Cities area, which is about 5 hours away). In all, 95 percent of Door County's overnight visitors come from within the six-state Midwest region of the United States.

 

While shipbuilding and agriculture continue to play important roles in Door County's economy, tourism is the major industry. According to professional research conducted for the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, the Door County tourism industry produced direct tourist expenditures of nearly $421 million in 2006, which supported the equivalent of 13,760 full-time equivalent (40-hour) jobs. During 2006, tourism in Door County also put more than $38.5 million in state tax coffers and produced over $21 million in local government revenue.

 

Despite development pressure of recent decades, nearly 90 percent of Door County's land mass remains undeveloped.

Download this fact sheet as a PDF file here.