Walk It Out: Six Walking Tours in the Fox Cities This Fall

Fall is here. Enjoy it outdoors learning about our area's storied past, seeing works of art, and discovering our region's natural beauty on these Fox Cities walking tours this fall.

Fox Trot Trail
This self-guided, two-mile loop walking tour of Appleton's downtown and riverfront will take you through history and past beautiful scenery. Heavily tied to the paper industry, many of the 16 points of interest and sites along the trail helped make Appleton and the Fox Cities the growing and thriving place it was and continues to be.


Neenah Historical Walking Tour
Get a glimpse into Neenah's history and continued vibrancy by taking the self-guided Neenah Historical Walking Tour. Walk past two dozens points of interest including exquisitely maintained, historic homes from the "paper baron era" and other notable landmarks such as the Kimberly Point/Neenah Lighthouse, Hiram Smith Octagon House, Neenah Clocktower, and Doty Cabin.


Downtown Appleton Public Art Walking Tour
Bright murals, decorated traffic control boxes, inspiring sidewalk poetry, and intriguing sculptures spot the downtown Appleton landscape. Walk College Avenue and the surrounding riverfront and downtown area to see the mix of these whimsical, meaningful, and diverse works of art.


History Museum at the Castle Get Up and Go Tours
From a Historic City Park Neighborhood Walk to Cemetery Tour to Houdini's Appleton Tour, the History Museum at the Castle offers more than a half dozen interactive, guided walking tours in summer/fall 2020. October's walking tours include the Secrets in the Stones Cemetery Tour and the Spiritualists and Hauntings tours.

Registration is required, and spots are limited. Tours start at 6 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) on the specified day and last about 1.5 hours.

Hearthstone's Historic Walking Tours of Appleton
Appleton is home to some captivating architectural design and fascinating history. Hearthstone's Historic Tours of Appleton: Victorian and Edwardian Homes of Prospect Avenue Tour takes you through parts of Appleton's Historic Old Third Ward. The region's earliest civic and business leaders built and owned homes overlooking the Fox River and in this downtown neighborhood. Some of these homes are on the National Register of Historic Places, and many of the tour's homes remain privately owned and impeccably maintained to this day. This self-guided walking tour route includes a downloadable audio component and narration.

Sidewalk Tour of Doty Island
Learn about the architecture and history of Doty Island on this self-guided sidewalk tour around the island and its neighborhoods. Well-known paper industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and politicians built and/or lived in many of the featured homes, a majority of which remain impeccably maintained private residences to this day; the tour also features a number of business and mill buildings, which helped build and power the vitality of the Fox Cities region. Even though the official dates of this walking tour are over, visitors can still find route and property info here for a self-guided tour.


Looking for other ways to see the sites of the Fox Cities? Go by boat, segway, pedal bus, or kayak on these tours.


Banner image: Riverside Park along the Neenah Historical Walking Tour route

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