Visitors to Potawatomi State Park and Whitefish Dunes State Park will have a little more room to roam than they have had in months. A nearly six-month logging operation in Potawatomi State Park wrapped up earlier this month. This opens up North Norway Road and much of the trail system around the Eastern terminus of the Ice Age Trail for the first time since January. Park Superintendent Erin Brown-Stender says it is reopening at the right time.

Lower water levels this year is allowing people to more thoroughly explore the beaches of Whitefish Dunes State Park. The first beach access at the park is still closed however due to high water and shoreline erosion. Brown-Stender says it may be a while before the beaches are back to normal.

The spring is already leading Brown-Stender to believe it will be another busy year at the two state parks after records were set last year. Potawatomi State Park had no available campsites last weekend, an occurrence usually reserved for holidays and the peak summer season.