The largest marina on vast Lake Michigan is the Reefpoint Marina in Racine, a full-service facility with 921-slips that is perfect for access onto one of the world’s largest freshwater lakes. Other major marinas on Lake Michigan that combine scale with an urban location include the huge facility by Downtown Milwaukee, where both the Milwaukee Yacht Club and the McKinley Marina Center Docks offer over 700 slips combined. The biggest marina on Wisconsin’s northern shore, looking directly out onto the brisk and windswept waters of Lake Superior, is the 420-slip Barker’s Island Marina in the city of Superior, a full-service facility great for both backwater exploration and open-water fishing. Alternatively, drop in at the 208-slip Pikes Bay Marina to discover one of the state’s most iconic yachting destinations, the Apostle Islands. This jagged 22-isle archipelago is known for its sheer cliffs, impressive rock formations, mysterious sea caves and rich marine ecosystem.
If anything the boating scene grows in the size the further inland you go. Expansive Lake Winnebago is a 137,700-acre, relatively shallow freshwater lake popular with bay-boaters, fishers and sailors that is the busiest watercourse in the state. Fishing for walleye, bass and perch is on offer here, but the main draw for fishers has to be the Sturgeon, with some catches weighing in at more than 212 pounds. One of the best marinas for exploring the cliffs and coves here is the 232-slip Pioneer Marina in Oshkosh, perfectly placed for both the lake and the enchanting Lake Butte des Morts. Geneva Lake, meanwhile, is an upscale 5,401-acre retreat near the Illinois border lined with jetties, boat ramps, marinas and some of the upper Midwest’s finest gilded age mansions that attracts visitors from around the region and beyond, who come for a more rarefied experience on the water. The Green Lake, a 7,350-acre deep-water lake in central Wisconsin is another popular destination perfect for fishers, sailors and water-skiers, with well-stocked populations of both warm and cold water fish.
If exploring rivers is more your vibe then the two standout options are the Wisconsin River, the longest contained entirely within the state and the famed Mississippi, whose northern reaches wind along the state’s western border. The centerpiece of the Wisconsin River has to be the Upper and Lower Dells, a captivating natural gorge lined by dramatic sandstone cliffs that can be explored via kayak, WaveRunner, pontoon and jetboat. Boating on the Mississippi can be enjoyed from the St. Croix Marina, a welcoming 135-slip facility not far from Minneapolis, or the Pettibone Boat Club, an island marina with views of bustling La Crosse.
Wisconsin boasts the 7th largest recreational boating industry in America, worth over $8.4 billion dollars per year to the state, supporting more than 34,000 jobs across a diverse range of businesses, including the world-leading motor firm Mercury Marine. America’s Dairyland is also home to some of the most iconic boat-building brands in the country, like Cruisers Yachts, who have been manufacturing luxury cruising craft since 1953, and the Burger Boat Company, a firm founded in 1863 that now builds some of the most impressive superyachts in the world. Other companies headquartered here include Grand Craft Boats, Lake Assault Boats and, up until 2015 and 2021 respectively, Palmer Johnson, Cruisers Yachts, and Carver Yachts.
