Updated July 2026

Peninsula State Park: The Complete Guide

The short answerPeninsula State Park is a 3,700-acre park between Fish Creek and Ephraim, and the way to understand it is the one-way loop road that strings together Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Nicolet Beach, Eagle Tower, and miles of shoreline trail. Budget a couple of hours for a quick loop, a full day to hit three or four stops, or an overnight if you're camping — one vehicle sticker covers everything regardless. It's open (and worth visiting) year-round, including for winter trail use.

Peninsula State Park shows up in more of our articles than any other single place on this site — it's got the best-ranked beach, one of the best lighthouses, a top kid pick, and lodging via its campgrounds. What none of those pages do is explain how the park itself actually works, so here's the map.

The park sits between Fish Creek and Ephraim, with the main entrance near Fish Creek. Everything inside connects via a one-way loop road, which means once you're in, you're circling rather than backtracking — plan your stops in the order they come up rather than zigzagging. One vehicle sticker gets you in for the whole day no matter how many spots on the loop you visit.

How much time you need depends on what you're after:

A couple of hours: drive the loop, stop at one or two overlooks, maybe a quick beach walk.
A full day: pair a beach stop with Eagle Tower and the lighthouse, with lunch or a picnic between.
Cyclists: the full Sunset Trail loop is a half-day-plus on its own, separate from car stops.
Overnight: the park's campgrounds put you inside the loop for early mornings and late-day light.

The park stays open year-round — the trail network gets a second life in winter for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, weather depending.

Peninsula State Park

The park at a glance

The whole park connects via one one-way loop road, which is the single most useful thing to know before you go: you enter near Fish Creek, and from there you're circling past Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Nicolet Beach, Eagle Tower, and the Sunset Bike Trail in sequence rather than driving back and forth between them. Plan your stops in the order the loop presents them rather than trying to hit a favorite first — because it's one-way, there's no quick U-turn if you change your mind or miss a turnoff, and the busiest pull-offs can fill up by late morning in summer.

How long you need depends on the combination. A quick scenic drive with one overlook is a couple of hours. Pairing a beach stop with a bike ride or the tower fills most of a day. Doing the full 8 miles of shoreline and the Sunset Trail properly is closer to a full day on its own. One vehicle sticker covers all of it, the park runs year-round, and the trail network shifts to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing once snow sets in.

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

Pairing the lighthouse with your day

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse sits right on the park's loop road, which makes it one of the easiest stops to fold into a bigger day rather than a special trip of its own — you're passing near it anyway. Built in 1868 and perched on a bluff over Green Bay, it's a natural pause between a beach stop and a longer stretch of the loop, especially if you're already parked nearby for lunch or a swim.

Seasonal guided tours run through the lighthouse and keeper's quarters, so build in extra time if that's part of your plan rather than assuming a quick drive-by. The practical move is to treat it as one leg of a loop-road day — beach, lighthouse, tower — rather than a standalone destination, since your vehicle sticker already covers the whole park regardless of how many stops you make.

Where to go for the specifics

This page is the map, not another ranking. For the actual picks — which beach, which lighthouse visit, what's best for kids, where to sleep — head to our dedicated guides: best beaches, best things to do with kids, our lighthouses guide, and where to stay for the specific rankings.

Brad's notes

One vehicle sticker covers the whole day, so don't feel like you have to cram everything into a single stop to get your money's worth. Because the loop road is one-way, there's no quick doubling back if you miss a turnoff or decide you want another look at a stop you already passed — and the popular pull-offs near the beach and lighthouse tend to fill up by late morning once summer weekends get going, so earlier starts buy you more parking options. And don't write the park off after Labor Day: it's open all winter, and the same trails that carry bikes in July can carry cross-country skis or snowshoes in January, snow conditions permitting.