Ask around Green Lake this summer whether the bike trail to Ripon is finally finished, and you'll get more shrugs than straight answers. That's not because nobody's paying attention. It's because this trail has looked finished before, more than once, and each time there was still a gap somewhere between here and there.
The trail is called Lauree's Trail, named for Lauree Renaud, the Green Lake resident who started pushing for a paved connection between Green Lake and Ripon back in 2008 because she and her family biked constantly and got tired of sharing the shoulder of Highway 23 with cars. She died in 2018 at 61, before seeing it done. The nonprofit she helped build, Green Lake Greenways, kept raising money and laying asphalt in her name for another seven years. As of this summer, for the first time, you can actually ride the whole connected route between the two downtowns without detouring onto the highway.
Why "finished" has been a moving target
The trail's history reads less like a single ribbon-cutting and more like a string of them, each one celebrated as the finish line at the time.
| Year | What happened | Was it actually done? |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | First phase of construction begins in late April, backed by a DNR stewardship grant matching Greenways' fundraising up to $250,000 | No. Middle section only |
| 2022 | Roughly 75 riders gather for what was called the official opening, marking completion of the mile-long segment from Forest Ridge Road to Sunnyside Road | No. Still didn't reach Ripon |
| 2025 | The final .6-mile stretch from County Road PP to Koro Road closes the last gap on the Ripon side | Yes. This is the piece that actually connects the two cities |
That 2022 event wasn't a false claim exactly. A real segment did open, and 75 people showed up to ride it. But the Ripon Commonwealth Press editorial covering that day described the route as having "a few twists and turns" and "a non-linear trajectory," which was a nice way of saying it still wasn't a straight shot into Ripon. The section that finally closed that gap, from County Road PP to Koro Road, didn't finish until late 2025.
Dr. Barry Rogers, a Green Lake Greenways board member who's been present for more than one of these milestones, put it simply when the last piece opened:
"What is really great is that many of the property owners who had to give up land for the trail are now bikers who regularly use the trails."
What's actually under your tires right now
The final segment is 10 feet wide with 2-foot shoulders on either side and 3 inches of asphalt, built at a cost of $275,000. Half of that came from a single gift: $200,000 donated by Suzanne Smith in memory of her husband Gary, their son Jason, and Gary's father Roy, all three avid bikers. Because the trail runs partly in state highway right-of-way, ownership has to sit with a municipality rather than the nonprofit that built it. The Green Lake side belongs to the city of Green Lake, and this newest Ripon-side stretch belongs to the town of Ripon.
Greenways has plans for a small park near the cul-de-sac at the end of Koro Road, with a kiosk and a map for riders arriving from the Ripon side. That piece hasn't been built yet, so don't expect it this summer, but the pavement underneath it already connects.
If you're starting from downtown Green Lake, you'll find a trail marker at Fortifi Bank on the corner of Highway 49 and 23, one of the spots Green Lake Greenways has set up for riders getting oriented before heading out.
The mileage numbers don't quite agree, and that's worth knowing
You'll hear two different distances thrown around for this trail, and both are technically correct depending on what's being measured. The Ripon Commonwealth Press's coverage of the final segment describes it as reaching five miles of connected trail between the two cities. The Wisconsin Bike Fed, meanwhile, describes a ten-mile paved multi-use path connecting the Green Lake Conference Center to Ripon.
The likely explanation is where each count starts. Five miles appears to describe the fully off-road, dedicated paved trail itself. Ten miles likely includes the additional stretch from downtown Green Lake out to the Conference Center, which functions as an extension of the same route even if part of it predates the newest construction. Either way, if you're riding from downtown Green Lake, you have a choice: head west through the Green Lake Conference Center, or head east and keep going until you're in Ripon proper.
What's still just a line on a map
The version of this trail that gets talked about in grant applications is bigger than what exists today. The original vision, dating back to planning discussions in 2020, was an 18-mile off-road path connecting Green Lake, Ripon, and Berlin, running along the north side of Highway 23. The Oshkosh Area Community Foundation's account of the project puts the total estimated cost at $1.8 million and describes the Berlin leg as still ahead once "the final phase is completed."
That final phase isn't this one. What closed in late 2025 was the Green Lake-to-Ripon connection specifically. The Berlin extension is still fundraising, still routing, and still a few construction seasons away based on how the earlier phases moved. If you're picturing a ride all the way to Berlin this summer, that's not there yet. What is there, for the first time, is an unbroken route between Green Lake and Ripon that doesn't dump you onto the highway shoulder partway through.
What this actually means for your weekend
If you've biked pieces of this trail before and always had to plan around a gap, that gap is gone. You can start at the marker outside Fortifi Bank, ride the length of the connected path, and end up in Ripon without touching Highway 23's traffic lanes. Whether that's five miles or ten depends on where you count from, but the practical answer is the same either way: it's a ride you couldn't finish on pavement before, and now you can.
Seventeen years of grants, one bulldozer operator named Jeff Washkovick who ran his own equipment during construction, a $200,000 memorial gift, and a board of volunteers who kept fundraising after losing the woman who started it all. That's what it took to make a stretch of asphalt that sounds, on paper, like a small thing. It isn't small if you're the one riding it into Ripon for the first time this August.
If you're already out there on two wheels this season, you're experiencing something Green Lake residents have been waiting on since 2008. That kind of patience, and the payoff that comes with it, is part of what makes this a place people choose to stay in for decades, not just a summer.
For more on life around Green Lake, or if you're ever curious what it takes to buy or sell property in a town built around this lake and its trails, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Special Properties is local, has been for years, and is always glad to talk. Get the Special Advantage. Talk with our team today.
