Whitnall Park in Franklin
At 627 acres, the Milwaukee County Parks flagship park is also the largest. Home of Whitnall Golf Course, Boerner Botanical Gardens and Wehr Nature Center. The park’s diverse habitats include prairie, oak woodlands, a variety of wetlands, oak savanna, and Mallard Lake. Over five miles of trails pass through and link these diverse habitats.
With its numerous habitats, the park offers excellent opportunities for birding and has been identified by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology eBird.org program as a birding hotspot with 200 species observed.
The Oak Leaf Trail loops through the park, connecting it with the adjacent Root River Parkway. In winter the golf course is popular for sledding and a groomed cross-country ski trail. Other amenities include a playground, picnic areas, restrooms and numerous community events through the Friends of Wehr and Friends of Boerner Botanical Gardens.
For Milwaukee County Park map, click here.
For Wehr Nature Center trail map, click here.
Gallery (click to enlarge)
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- Mallard Lake
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- Cedar waxwing. Photo by Kimberly Mackowski.
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- School group at Boerner Garden
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- Olympian John Boie on motorized wheelchair
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- Cross-country skiers
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- Real live and giant metal sunflowers at Margie’s Garden
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- Whitnall Park pond
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- Cross-country ski course
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- Sledding hill at Golf Clubhouse
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- Wehr Nature Center boardwalk
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- Wehr Nature Center. Photo by Kimberly Mackowski.
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- Female cardinal. Photo by Kimberly Mackowski.
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- Rose Garden. Boerner Botanical Gardens
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- Margie’s Garden entrance
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- Aster explosion!
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- Spring beauties
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- After a controlled burn
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- Woodland Trail
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- Golf Course
Address
5879 S. 92 St.53132, Franklin, WI, US