News from the Park

The park has been a place for more activities in 2023.  Park manager Andi Schultz and park ranger Samantha Ortlieb were joined by LTE staff and campground hosts in late spring and summer to offer visitor and campers service. 

Trees – New and Old
More trees were planted (the blue tubes you see throughout the park protect the young trees); volunteers helped staff water them.  Staff continue to remove multiple dead ash trees in high-use areas.  Some of it is split into firewood by Friends volunteers and sold to campers.

Park Improvements & Maintenance
A project to improve water drainage in the campground was completed.  Boardwalks were repaired or replaced.  A Mobi mat was lengthened to improve access to the north beach as the lake continues to lower levels.  In the fall, work funded by Wisconsin capital funds budget, was started on repair of the Stonehaven Trail road that was damaged by high water levels. It is expected to be completed in spring.

Programs & Events
The Friends organized a variety of events including: the annual meeting, Work Play Earth Day lunch for volunteers, Free Fun Weekend with a free Sunday breakfast, several summer musical programs, and a Fall Harvest Hike.  Friends’ member Amanda Mueller organized a meetup.com group and led the Harrington Beach Hikers through the park on Sunday hikes throughout the summer, as well as on January 1^st for the First-Day Hike.  Board president Becky Hall and others promoted the park and Friends of HBSP at various Belgium Chamber of Commerce events and at Coffee with Friends at the Ansay Center.  Information on our activities can be seen on our Facebook page, which are also seen on this web page under “news”.

Donations Making an Impact
Thanks to donations from some generous park users, new hospital beds and Hoyer lift, and other items were obtained for the accessible cabin.  The Friends also helped pay for some repairs on the cabin.  Through sales of campfire wood and HB shirts and jackets, the Friends were able to apply for and obtain matching grants from the Friends of Wisconsin State Park and WI DNR to pay for the replacement of the tiki torches used for night hikes, event flags, interpretive signage, purchase of a large grill to be installed this spring at Puckett’s Pond, and new directional signs.

Summer Nature Programs
The summer naturalist programs were organized by Samantha, with some funding from the Friends for the program presenters and supplies.  We encourage you to contact the park office (262) 285-3015) if you want to conduct a program in the coming season or if you would like to volunteer in the park.

Staff Departures
Sadly, the park will say goodbye to Park Ranger, Samantha Ortlieb at the end of January. You will find Sam at the Kettle Moraine State Forest – Northern Unit starting January 29^th. In addition, Park Superintendent (Kohler-Andrae & Harrington Beach) Sara Crook moved into a new position with the DNR on December 17^th. Please join us in wishing them all the best at their new locations!
  
See the dnr.wi.gov website for information on how to apply to be a volunteer.

It has been wonderful to resume some of the usual activities of the Friends of the Park, such as Work Play Earth Day, the free weekend Pancake Breakfast, and the Fall Harvest Hike.  Rainy weather reduced turnout for the first two events, but the Fall Hike had good weather and attendance.
 

The playground finally got installed and has been enjoyed by many children and adults.  The Ansay Welcome Center has had some rentals.  The campground and accessible cabin have had good use and wonderful hosts.  The Northern Cross Science Foundation volunteers resumed their monthly telescope viewings, reporting over 80 visitors at their 9/30 event.

New Park Ranger Samantha Ortlieb was given the responsibility to manage volunteers and schedule naturalist programs.  She herself did monthly walks sharing her forestry knowledge of park trees.  She can be contacted with offers of doing a program or to provide volunteer help.

Carolyn Morgen took a new position as a Natural Resource Manager and is now based at the Fitchburg Service Center. Sara Crook has been chosen as the new superintendent and will be starting in her new position in early November.  Katelyn transferred to a KA park ranger position, and Lydia transferred to Treehaven for a year. Those positions were not refilled so office hours were shortened.

Lake Michigan water levels have continued to drop and we have wider sandy beach areas, on both the north and south beaches.  The shoreline erosion continued due to some heavy rainstorms and plans to move the paved road are still not finalized.  A revised park map was completed, adding the playground, the eroded road, and clearly showing where the beach permitting pets is located.  It can be obtained at the park or downloaded from the DNR website.

We are still in need of new Board members.  Contact us at  with your questions about being a Board member.

Welcome to Spring at Harrington Beach State Park.

Make each of your visits into a different adventure!  

• Watch for the early invasives such as garlic mustard, dandelions, or honeysuckle leafing out.
• View and try to identify the birds migrating north along Lake Michigan or paddling around Quarry Lake.  
• Count the many insects and other creatures in the many little streams flowing into the two lakes and Puckett’s Pond.  
• Explore the beach for any treasures winter waves washed up and bag up any litter along the way.
• Keep your eyes open for the first swimmers to go into Lake Michigan.  
• Enjoy the songbirds in the park and the lovely purple martins in their house near the park office.
• Discover a trail through a variety of environments, from cedar swamps, prairies, and former farmland maybe being overtaken by honeysuckle, red osier dogwood and Canada thistle, but also having apple trees and wild berries and changing displays of wildflowers.

The park is an ever-changing adventure, just waiting for you to enjoy!

Get Involved in the Park!

The DNR has recently reopened its buildings for indoor events with staff, volunteers, and visitors.  

Volunteer Opportunities:

The Friends of Harrington Beach State Park (FHBSP) will be needing volunteers to:

• prepare and serve lunch for the volunteers at Work Play Earth Day
  on April 23rd.
• spread wood chips that will be used for part of our new playground surfacing
  in late April.
• clean and prepare the accessible cabin for the opening of the season
  in mid to late April.
• throughout the season: trail clean-up, weeding, firewood (splitting and bundling), temporary soda machine stocking.
• share ideas of your own!  Email us at:

Join the FHBSP!

We welcome your involvement with the FHBSP! Become a member, serve on our board, join us in our mission to make the park the best it can be!  The FHBSP board of directors meets on the 4th Tuesday – every other month. Our next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 6:00pm. The meeting is open to the public. We hope you can join us! 

Keep up-to-date on all that is happening in the park!

Be sure to “Like” us on Facebook and watch our website calendar for events and opportunities: https://friendsofharrington.org/events 

The park continues to provide lovely areas to bicycle, ride horses, walk or run, observe animals and birds, enjoy the lovely late-season flowers and grasses, fish, and hunt. Swimming was good this summer with warmer water temperatures and the lower lake levels, with sand bars to play on near shore. Staff cleared some of the downed trees on the south beach that gave more room for visitors with dogs.

Installation of the playground has been deferred until spring, due to delays in decisions on the equipment and the exact placement of the playground, cancellation of the NRB meeting that would have had the donation proposal on its agenda, and Lee Recreation’s busy schedule. While we now have the money needed for the project, we will continue to accept donations to cover unexpected expenses related to the installation. We are grateful to the donors who helped us reach our goal.

The DNR staff are working on a plan to rebuild the part of the Stonehaven (shuttle) road that was undermined by the high water levels. Unfilled staff positions in the Kohler-Andrae and Harrington Beach State Parks reduced the office hours and ability to provide educational programs.

The Ansay Center has been closed for the winter season. It will be open again for rentals in early June. Consider the Ansay Center for your 2022 events! More information can be found here: https://friendsofharrington.org/welcome-center

The Friends of HBSP need more Board members. Our next meeting will be on February 22, 2022; watch for more details on our event calendar and Facebook page.