Fox River Trail upgrades pave the way for economic boost

Rich Palzewic

Staff

August 25, 2025

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – After a summer of work, the Fox River State Trail (FRT) – the 25-mile-long recreational trail beginning in downtown Green Bay and winding along the Fox River in Brown County before ending in Hilbert in Calumet County – is again ready for use.

“This summer, six miles of the trail were reworked and repaved,” Brown County Parks Department Director Matt Kriese said. “In the next two years, other sections of the trail will be worked on.”

Trailside businesses are glad to see the project wrapped up, as many thrive on trail users stopping in before, during or after their rides/walks.

This includes Cycling Brews, located at 1109 Honey Court in De Pere.

Thanks to its close proximity to the Fox River Trail, Co-owner Josh Smits said Cycling Brews has become a go-to spot for trail users.

Smits said when he and business partner Steve Beckett opened Cycling Brews two years ago, they knew the FRT had the potential to be a big boost to their business.

“Funny enough, we named the taproom ‘Cycling Brews’ because the beers would constantly be ‘cycling’ through,” he said.

But Smits said the name fit nicely with the taproom’s location as well.

Smits said the Fox River Trail has definitely played a positive role in attracting customers to the taproom since the business opened two years ago, but added that traffic is still heavily influenced by the weather.

“If we get a nice 70-degree type day, with light winds – the kind of weather bikers say is perfect – we get quite a few people off the trail,” he said. “We’ve had cases where we have more bikes outside than cars in the parking lot – especially on a Sunday. It’s great when we can take advantage of the weather and open the garage doors. I wouldn’t go as far as to say bad weather shuts down the taproom, though.”

As for construction work on the trail, Smits said he feels it did hamper business somewhat.

“Now that the trail is done [by Cycling Brews], it’s very nice,” he said. “With the repaving, I think people were trying to figure out which parts were closed and when, so some avoided the trail a little bit while the repaving was going on.”

Multi-phase repaving project 

Kriese said currently, the trail has about 11 miles of asphalt and another 14 miles of crushed stone.

He said the section from the trailhead at the Porlier Street/Adams Street intersection to Heritage Road in De Pere was focused on this summer.

“That was first paved in 2001, so it’s been a long time coming,” Kriese said. “That was phase one. The other five miles that’s paved [south of Heritage Road to Lasee Road] has been done in pieces over the years. I’d say it’s been about 10 years since paving work was done on that section.”

Kriese said phase two of the project – repaving parts of the other five miles – will likely occur next year.

“Not all of those other five miles need to be resurfaced,” he said. “We have some funds to pick away at those priority sections of the five miles that remain. If I had to guess, it’s probably only a mile or two that needs to be reworked – the rest is in excellent condition.”

Phase three, Kriese said, will most likely occur in 2027.

“Phase three would be continuing the asphalt from Lasee Road south to Greenleaf, which is an additional three miles or so,” he said.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ website (dnr.wisconsin.gov), the Fox River corridor has a rich history, beginning with the Native Americans who used footpaths to travel between their villages located along the river.

The early French explorers, missionaries and traders, per the website, built their posts and missions along these trails.

“The FRT passes through Green Bay, Allouez, De Pere, Rockland, Wrightstown, Holland, Greenleaf, Forest Junction and Hilbert,” Kriese said. “The FRT connects communities – it’s not just a localized municipal trail. It can be used by commuters, those who are truly traveling and for enthusiasts.”

Kriese said the FRT is one of the most heavily used trails in the state.

“Some trails don’t take attendance numbers, so it’s really hard to pinpoint if the FRT is the No. 1 trail – it’s definitely one of the busiest,” he said.

Friends of the Fox River Trail

Kriese said without the help of the Friends of the Fox River Trail group, the FRT wouldn’t be where it is today.

He said the nonprofit organization is dedicated to supporting the maintenance and upkeep of the FRT in Brown County.

Kriese said Friends of the Fox River Trail works with the Brown County Parks Department to enhance the trail’s accessibility and enjoyment for residents and visitors.

“Without question, their fundraising efforts have been crucial to the project,” he said. “When people are willing to open up their wallets and donate, that speaks volumes about how much the community values the trail.”

Tracy Flucke, Friends of the Fox River Trail president, said the organization does a lot of things to promote the trail.

“With the smoother pavement, the speed of the users might potentially be faster, so one of the things we worked on was putting together a trail safety and etiquette document,” she said. “It’s a one-page document that spells out what to do and what not to do on the trail.”

Besides helping raise the money – almost $2.4 million total – for the projects, Flucke said the organization is also helping with trail pass purchases and getting the word out about who is required to purchase a pass.

“There is a little concession building Brown County has [on the trail], so we’ve been staffing that and making sure people have their passes – or talking to them about the importance of the safety and etiquette on the trail,” she said.

Flucke said some of the money raised by the organization will be primarily used for the southern part paving from Lasee Road to Greenleaf.

“We also paid for the new parking lot at Midway [Road], and that’s been really well used,” she said. “It’s nice to have extra parking on the southern part of the trail. We also helped with some culverts that needed to be replaced. We work closely with Brown County to keep the trail in the best condition possible.”

Flucke said the origin of the capital campaign dates to 2021.

“We’re about $90,000 short of our $2.4 million goal,” she said. “Monies raised have come from a combination of private donations, foundation donations, individuals, grants we’ve received from the state and Brown County’s money that went into it.”

Additionally, Flucke said Friends of the Fox River Trail recently received a DNR grant to help put more gravel down and regrade the parts of the trail not paved.

“We’re always doing something,” she said.

Public input

Kriese said last year, the public was heavily involved in a Fox River Trail study.

He said another study was conducted in 2018, so as far back as seven years ago, the parks department knew repaving was soon on the horizon.

“A lot of surveys and feedback were obtained – that’s what led us to the conclusions and why we’re taking these projects on and paving an additional three miles,” he said. “With the other unpaved six miles that would remain from Greenleaf to Calumet County, there is no intent to pave that in the future. That is a horse and snowmobile trail.”

With initial repaving work completed, Kriese said it’s a good time to reflect on the project.

“I think people were really understanding of the construction process,” he said. “We know the FRT is a fee-based trail, so people have high expectations. Knowing we had a lot of closures throughout the last few months, we had really no complaints to speak of through that process. Kudos to the community for dealing with construction – now it should be smooth riding.”

A fresh look

Though the rules are not new, Kriese said the parks department installed new signage at all kiosks and each intersection, highlighting a few important things.

“Trail permits [daily or annual] are required for anyone 16 years of age or older using the trail with wheels,” he said. “That includes bikes, rollerblades, skateboarders, etc. No tax is used for the trail, so your trail permit purchase keeps this trail going strong.”

Kriese said the parks department has made it easy to purchase permits by having QR codes at each intersection.

“Also, with the explosion of e-bikes – which, I’m grateful for people using them, if that gets them out and about – there is a speed limit of 15 mph [on all state trails],” he said. “E-bikes are allowed on the FRT. Class 1 and Class 3 e-bikes have pedal assist only. Class 2 e-bikes have a motor that can operate independently [with the throttle] or dependently [using pedal assist].”

Kriese said Class 2 e-bikes are still allowed, but to use them, riders must pedal.

“It’s not that you can’t use a Class 2 e-bike on the trail – your pedals just have to be in operation,” he said. “This is important to note because there are almost as many e-bikes as regular bikes.”

Peter Flucke – local bicycle and pedestrian advocate, author and business owner – said now that the quality of the trail has improved, you will see users of all shapes and sizes taking advantage of it.

“Back in the day, you’d see a lot of inline skaters, but as the quality of the trail surface declined, we saw less and less,” he said. “There is a time and a place for going fast, but it’s not on the Fox River Trail. A 15-mph speed limit allows folks with baby strollers and dogs to get along with e-bikes or road bikes that are simply trying to head out of town.”