How big is Schmeeckle Reserve?

Schmeeckle Reserve covers 280 acres on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus, with 5 miles of trails and boardwalks and a 24-acre lake.

Is Schmeeckle Reserve free?

The reserve's site says it is open to the public, and Google lists a free parking lot. Call 715-346-4992 or check the site about programs and rentals.

Which Stevens Point park has a beach?

Iverson Park, at 4601 WI-66, lists a beach, a playground and picnic shelters. Check with the city for swimming season dates.

Are the Stevens Point concerts in the park free?

The Levitt AMP Stevens Point Music Series at Pfiffner Pioneer Park is free. Its 2026 season ran June 4 to August 20, so check its site for next summer.

What is the Green Circle Trail?

It is a loop around Stevens Point, 27 miles on the main route and 31 miles with spurs, and no state trail pass is required.

Can you sled in Stevens Point?

Iverson Park has two 300-foot toboggan slides and sled runs, and winter areas close at minus 15 degrees. Check current hours.

Schmeeckle Reserve, Stevens Point WI: Parks Compared

A 280-acre campus woodland, a sculpture trail, a beach park with toboggan slides and a riverfront bandshell, and the trail that joins them.

Walk the trails to Lake Joanis at Schmeeckle Reserve, Stevens Point, and you are standing in 280 acres of woods that sit on a university campus about 1.6 miles from the downtown Public Square. Three other Stevens Point parks fill out a good day: a sculpture trail, a river park with a bandshell, and a beach park that turns into a toboggan hill in winter.

Each is a different kind of outing, and the Green Circle Trail links them.

What follows covers each park, then the trail that links them and the practical questions: parking, restrooms, winter and bugs.

For everything else in town, start with the sights beyond the parks.

Schmeeckle Reserve: woods, boardwalks and a lake

Schmeeckle Reserve is a 280-acre natural area on the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point campus, open to the public, with 5 miles of trails and boardwalks and a 24-acre lake.

Schmeeckle Reserve

The reserve's trails are open from sunrise to sunset, and its site lists the visitor center as open 9 am to 4 pm daily, so confirm before you go. A gift shop and outdoor gear rentals are listed on the same site. Visitors who reviewed it mention deer on the trails, mushrooms to spot, bird watching at the visitor center and kayaking on the lake.

One reviewer calls it quiet and peaceful, a way to get away for a few hours without leaving town. Its Google profile lists a free parking lot, a wheelchair-accessible entrance and wheelchair-accessible parking. The Green Circle Trail's family guide says the trailhead has an all-season restroom building and free parking.

The land has a layered past. The university's history of the reserve says it was once a dairy farm and logging site, that farmers had left by the early 1920s, and that the state university bought 145 acres for a conservation area in 1956. The reserve was dedicated on July 17, 1978, and the visitor center, a converted family home, opened in 1985.

Lake Joanis was dug between 1975 and 1976 and is named for John Joanis, then head of Sentry Insurance. The reserve's lake page puts the lake at about 24 acres, with a mile-long loop trail around it and a sandy landing on the south shore for canoes and kayaks.

The visitors bureau's 2026 roundup lists Shakespeare in the Park at the reserve and says kayaks and canoes can be rented to paddle the lake. The bureau also suggests the Lake Joanis loop in winter, followed by a warm-up in the visitor center. One caution: the reserve's site announced in May 2026 that the Sedge Meadow Trail boardwalk to Lake Joanis, east of Michigan Avenue, would close for replacement from June, and that a paved path to the Menzel Pavilion would close for paving, so check the site for current trail status. To plan a longer stay around the trails, look at Stevens Point lodging.

Stevens Point Sculpture Park: art along the Brickyard Trail

Stevens Point Sculpture Park is the easiest second stop after Schmeeckle, about 1.1 miles away.

Stevens Point Sculpture Park

The park covers 20 acres at 901 North Second Street, and the Green Circle Trail's family page lists admission as free. The visitors bureau describes an easy half-mile loop with large sculptures by regional, national and international artists, open year-round. In winter it points to the Elk Centaur and the Sand County Bench as pieces to look for.

The Green Circle Trail's family page says some of the sculptures can be touched and interacted with. Reviewers like it in fall color and mention that some of the art comes from public school students. One summer visitor cut the walk short because of mosquitoes, and another suggests a hat and water on a hot day.

The park sits right beside the Brickyard Trail, a 1.2-mile Green Circle section of crushed granite that runs from Zenoff Park on the west to the edge of Schmeeckle Reserve on the east. A 0.4-mile branch connects the trail to the sculpture loop. That lets you link the two stops on foot instead of driving between them. The trail guide lists parking on Second Street North or at the Zenoff Park lot, where there is a trail kiosk, and at the Schmeeckle visitor center on the east end.

Iverson Park: beach and toboggan slides

Iverson Park, at 4601 WI-66, is about 2.2 miles east of the Public Square and is the park to pick for a beach day or a snow day.

Iverson Park

The park's listing mentions a large playground, restrooms, picnic shelters, a beach, a baseball diamond, nature trails and the Green Circle Trail running through. Reviewers describe the Plover River running through the grounds, a sand beach for swimming in summer, volleyball and plenty of trash cans, which keeps it clean.

One walker found the grounds busy with parties but had the trails to themselves. The Green Circle's family page calls the beach shallow and safe, and says the crushed-granite Plover River Trail leads to the park.

Wikipedia traces the park to 1926, when the city developed the Plover River site around its waterworks, and says Danish immigrant Jules Iverson, who ran a jewelry store downtown, bought 63 acres in 1935 and gave them to the city. It credits Works Progress Administration crews in the late 1930s with the stone shelters and bridges.

Winter is the other season. A January 2022 city notice described two 300-foot toboggan slides, three sled runs, a snowboard run and a run for children six and under. The same notice said winter areas close when the air temperature or wind chill reaches minus 15 degrees, and that skates could be rented at a shop inside the park. One reviewer calls the toboggan slides a must-do and says the staff were friendly. That notice is dated, so check the city parks department for current hours and prices before you go.

Pfiffner Pioneer Park: the riverfront and its summer concerts

Pfiffner Pioneer Park is the downtown riverfront park, about 0.2 miles from the Public Square, with the Wisconsin River as its western edge.

Pfiffner Pioneer Park

The park has a bandshell, a gazebo, a paved path and the Pfiffner Building at 401 Franklin Street. A bandshell page says the shell was built in the late 1970s and designed by an intern in the city parks department, and that the park honors Mary Mollie Meehan and the lumberman Pfiffner, who came to Stevens Point in 1875. The Levitt AMP Stevens Point Music Series stages free concerts here, and its 2026 season ran from June 4 to August 20. The visitors bureau says the concerts fall on Thursdays.

The series launched in 2017, so look for next summer's lineup on the Levitt site. The bandshell page also names the Riverfront Rendezvous, held in the park in July.

Reviewers mention flush restrooms, a bubbler with a bottle filler, a boat launch on the north side and a playground. Others like the flower garden and a pond with water lilies, and one saw a trail along the river that leads to a small lake and a skatepark. Opinions on the restrooms are mixed, and one July 5 visitor found the park very busy.

The Green Circle Trail's family page describes the paved Riverfront Trail through the park as good for strollers and wagons. On Saturdays from May through October the Stevens Point Farmers Market fills the Public Square, which makes the two an easy pairing.

The Green Circle Trail ties the parks together

The Green Circle Trail is a loop around Stevens Point, 27 miles on its main route and 31 miles with spurs. It opened on June 1, 1996 as a 22-mile trail, and the state says no trail pass is required.

Its main loop has 12 segments and follows the Wisconsin and Plover Rivers, passing Schmeeckle Reserve and running through Iverson Park and Pfiffner Pioneer Park. In winter the Plover River segment is a groomed ski trail where hiking is not allowed. Riding from Pfiffner to Iverson means about 2.4 miles in a straight line.

Which park for which day

The four parks do different jobs, so match the day to the park.

Quiet woods and water: Schmeeckle Reserve, with 5 miles of trails and boardwalks.
Art in the woods: Stevens Point Sculpture Park, about a half-mile loop.
Beach, playground and winter sliding: Iverson Park.
Live music, a river path and the Saturday market: Pfiffner Pioneer Park.

Parking, restrooms and accessibility

Google profiles for all four parks list a wheelchair-accessible entrance and wheelchair-accessible parking and mark them as good for children. Profiles for Schmeeckle, Pfiffner and the Sculpture Park list free parking lots. The Brickyard Trail is crushed granite. Restrooms are named at the Schmeeckle trailhead and at Pfiffner (reviewers), but not at the Sculpture Park. Bring bug spray in summer, since a Sculpture Park visitor reported heavy mosquitoes.

Beyond the city: Standing Rocks and the Mead Wildlife Area

Standing Rocks County Park has 13 miles of mountain bike trails and a dog park. The Mead Wildlife Area covers more than 33,000 acres of wetlands, forest and grassland. The Tomorrow River State Trail, an about 28-mile crushed-limestone route from Plover to Manawa, connects to the Green Circle by a 4-mile spur.

For lunch near Pfiffner or the Sculpture Park, look at the Stevens Point dining options.

Start at the lake in Schmeeckle Reserve, finish at the bandshell on the river, and the day has covered woods, art, water and music inside about 1.6 miles of the Public Square.