A sundae counter, a fishing village, a wood type museum and a state forest, with the seasons and closed days to plan around.
Most things to do in Two Rivers sit within five miles of the harbor, and they run from a sundae the town says it invented to a steel lighthouse tower on Lake Michigan. The city of 11,271 people (2020 census) is in Manitowoc County, where the East Twin and West Twin Rivers meet less than a mile from the lake.
That geography explains the list: a fishing village on the river, a museum in an old wood type factory, a preserve on ancient beach ridges and six miles of state forest shoreline. Hours below come from each place's own site or Google profile, and a few are seasonal, so a call ahead is worth the minute.
Sponsored
The ice cream sundae and the Washington House
Two Rivers says the ice cream sundae was born here in 1881, when George Hallauer asked soda-fountain owner Ed Berners to pour chocolate syrup over a dish of vanilla. Berners sold it for a nickel, and at first only on Sundays. Ithaca, New York, makes its own claim and dates it to 1892, and the two towns have traded songs about it.
The sundae story has stuck around in civic life: the Postal Service issued ice cream sundae stamps in 2016, with a first-day sale at the Washington House. The Washington House's Ruby Sundae uses rhubarb, caramel and nuts, according to CBS 58, and the shop's own description says butter pecan with rhubarb sauce.
Inside, visitors describe historical photographs along the walls, a boarding-house museum to tour and a gift shop. Travel Wisconsin describes the three-story building as an immigrant hotel from 1850 with an original 1890s saloon and a ballroom with restored murals, and lists free museum admission. Google lists the shop closed Tuesday and Wednesday and open noon to 6 PM the other days, but the Washington House has been shown as temporarily closed, so call 920-793-2490 before you drive over.
Rogers Street Fishing Village
The harbor story lives at Rogers Street Fishing Village, a maritime museum on the East Twin River, 0.38 miles from the sundae counter.
A Coast Guard exhibit holds shipwreck artifacts from the Vernon and the Rouse Simmons, the Christmas schooner lost in a storm on November 23, 1912.
Reviewers describe volunteer guides who knew the tug and the lighthouse in detail, and one visitor toured on their own with supplied headsets. The site lists $4 for adults and $2 for children under 16, open May through October, and school presentations on the Vernon and Rouse Simmons are by appointment year-round; call (920) 793-5905 about off-season group visits. That means a November visitor sees the grounds from outside, as one reviewer did when it was closed for the season.
The same docks are where the salmon boats leave.
Five charter captains work from Rogers Street and the river.
King Cob runs six-hour trips for up to six passengers from Dock #8, Shur-Katch fishes from a 30-foot Baha Cruiser with an onboard bathroom, and High Life offers five-hour half days or eight-hour full days. Salmon and trout are the targets, and reviewers describe crews that cut and bag the catch at the dock.
Doubled-Up Charters shares the 2102 Jackson St address with the fishing village, and Doubled-Up targets chinook and coho salmon, with trips that its description says accommodate young children.
Prices and seasons differ by captain, so the fishing charters in Two Rivers are worth comparing before you book.
Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum
Hamilton became the largest wood type maker in the country, and its old factory is now a museum. The museum holds about 1.5 million pieces of wood type in more than 1,000 styles. The museum dates the company to 1880, after a newspaper editor needed decorative type for ball posters.
Hamilton also made the Lushootseed typeface for the Tulalip Tribe to help preserve its language in writing, and the factory built letterpress cabinets, dental cabinets and an early clothes dryer. The presses are arranged in production order, from a wood planer to a trimming station, so the floor reads like a factory line.
The museum's own site calls it the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood type. Milwaukee Magazine described volunteer-led tours that run one to three hours, a gift shop selling posters printed in the town's fonts, and a Wednesday to Saturday schedule, 10 AM to 4 PM, at $10 admission in February 2026. The site lists one-day Learn To Print sessions on November 21 and December 5, 2026, from 10 AM to 4 PM, where you pull a print on a historic press. The building is 0.54 miles from the sundae counter, and the Hamilton Wood Type Museum pairs well with it in an afternoon.
Woodland Dunes Nature Center & Preserve
Woodland Dunes is the quiet answer to the harbor, 1,500 acres of hardwood and conifer forest, wetland and prairie about 1.4 miles west of Rogers Street.
The Harold Alyea Tower next to the nature center is a 30-foot, two-story lookout with a viewing scope. Trails are open sunrise to sunset, and dogs are allowed only on the Ice Age Trail, on a leash. A trail report updated October 12, 2026 showed the Yellow Birch Trail closed as unsafe. The nature center keeps weekday hours of 9 AM to 4 PM, plus Saturday mornings from April to October. One late-October visitor in 2022 found the buildings shut but the trails and tower open. The site lists events by name only, among them a Bird Breakfast & Migration event, Candlelight Night, Enchanted Forest and Heiknbrew, so check its calendar for dates. Reviewers also mention bird banding demonstrations, herons on the pond behind the center and kids enjoying the boardwalks.
Point Beach State Forest and Rawley Point
Point Beach State Forest is the big outdoor day, about 2.7 miles northeast of Rogers Street along the lake. The DNR lists about 3,000 acres and roughly 6 miles of sandy beach.
The forest is open 6 AM to 11 PM year-round, and a vehicle admission sticker is required. Reviewers praise the beach, a dog beach, ice cream and camping close to the water, and a June 2025 reviewer mentions breakfast at the lodge on weekends. One camper warned about poison ivy and rusty-colored water, so pack accordingly. The sand, the trails and the camping loops get a fuller walk-through in the Point Beach State Forest write-up.
Closer to town, the city's own shoreline has Neshotah Park Beach, 0.42 miles from Rogers Street, and swimmers can compare the beaches in Two Rivers before choosing a spot. The city website mentions a public survey on funding beach concessions at Neshotah.
Rawley Point Lighthouse is the landmark inside the forest, a steel skeletal tower first lit in 1894.
One reviewer notes that a state park fee applies to enter the area, and another found no cell signal on the property. It stands about 4.8 miles from Rogers Street in a straight line. Families who want to stay on site can browse campgrounds near Two Rivers. The DNR lists family campsites and two group cabins at the forest.
More to do: the shore, the trail and the water
A paved Mariners Trail links Two Rivers and Manitowoc and passes 50 volunteer-maintained flower gardens, according to Travel Wisconsin. Shipwreck Adventures runs scuba and snorkeling trips among the area's 37 known shipwrecks and rents canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, according to Travel Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, established in 2021, lies off the city. Schroeder's Department Store & Coffeehouse opened in 1891 and is still family owned, according to Travel Wisconsin.
The Ice Age Trail runs through both Woodland Dunes and Point Beach, which makes the two a natural pair for walkers. The straight-line gap between the preserve and the forest is about 3.7 miles.
Eating, drinking and where to sleep
Whisky D's is the river-side stop for burgers and hot wings late at night.
Reviewers like the bacon burger and the riverside seating, and one band's stage hand got a dozen wings to go at almost 2 AM. For pizza, Pop-Start Pizza bakes Neapolitan-style pies on 22nd Street and is closed Sundays and Mondays, and for a sit-down steak or broasted chicken, Rita's Supper Club opens Wednesday to Sunday evenings.
For breakfast or lunch, Two Rivers Family Restaurant on Tannery Road lists daily hours of 6 AM to 4 PM on Google, with taco skillets, a buffet and walleye on the menu. A reviewer warned that weekends get busy and the entry door can crowd, so expect a wait.
More places to eat are covered among the Two Rivers restaurants.
For a drink somewhere other than the river, browse the Two Rivers bars.
Rooms run from motels to a bed and breakfast, and the hotels in Two Rivers are mostly within two miles of Rogers Street.
Putting a Two Rivers day together
Start at the harbor, since Rogers Street, the sundae counter and the wood type museum are all within a mile of one another. Give the afternoon to Woodland Dunes or Point Beach, and plan the lighthouse view for the end of the day. Check the season before you go, because Rogers Street closes after October and the Washington House needs a phone call.
A nickel sundae started the town's fame in 1881, and the walk from the counter to the Lake Michigan shore at Neshotah Park Beach is under a mile, 0.64 miles in a straight line.
Frequently asked questions
Published September 7, 2026
