Chicago's Newport. A 21-mile path across the Gilded Age.
The Shore Path runs 21 miles across the front lawns of Gilded Age estates that made this Chicago's summer answer to Newport — a public right-of-way settlers protected by decree, still walkable end to end.
Geneva Lake is a spring-fed glacial lake in Walworth County, Wisconsin, split among three towns with distinct identities. Lake Geneva itself, at the east end, is the downtown — Riviera Beach, the Horticultural Hall farmers market, the Wrigley Drive mailboat docks. Williams Bay, on the north shore, holds Gage Marine (running since 1873) and Yerkes Observatory, home to the world's largest refracting telescope. Fontana, on the west end, is Gordy's territory — a sprawling marina-and-restaurant complex with quieter shoreline beyond it. What sets the lake apart is the 21-mile Shore Path, a public footpath that crosses directly across the lawns of the historic estates lining the water, a legacy of the lake's run as Chicago's Gilded Age summer colony. About 90 minutes from Chicago and 45 from Milwaukee, it draws weekenders rather than a fly-in crowd.
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