Lapham Peak is a wonderful spot to get away from it all for a couple of hours. Explore the trails in any season. Part of the Ice Age Trail runs through Lapham Peak.
Hours: The park is open from 7 am to 9 pm spring through fall and 7 am to 10 pm in winter. It may seem unusual to have longer winter hours but there are 2.5 miles of cross-country trails here that are lighted for evening skiing.
Fees: The cost is $7 for Wisconsinites for a daily pass, or pay $25 for a yearly state park sticker. Out of state visitors pay $10 for a daily pass or $35 for a yearly pass. Trail fees apply for those who plan to horseback ride, bike, or cross-country ski.
Directions: From Interstate 94, exit on Hwy C at the Delafield exit. Head south, away from the city of Delafield, about one mile until you reach the park entrance on your left. (Insider tip: The city of Delafield is a charming and picturesque place with shops and cafes.)
Lapham Peak Park is divided by Highway C. On the (west) far side of the road from the parking and office are trails for horseback riders and bikers. The Ice Age Trail also crosses through both sections of the park.
There are three parking areas: one near the office, one halfway down the road, and one at the end of the road. The first parking area leads to the Meadow Trail (green). All trails are marked by color rather than their name. Look for the color of your trail at intersections. Portions of trails also have extra, entertaining names, such as Big Slide and Magic Carpet Ride.
At the second parking area you will find the Accessible Trail, a paved loop trail popular with users of strollers and wheelchairs. Also at the second parking lot are trailheads for the Moraine Ridge Trail (black) and the Kame Terrace Trail (purple).
If you continue to the end of the road to the last parking lot you will find yourself at the base of the observation tower. The tower is located on the highest point in Waukesha County and provides views of downtown, Holy Hill, surrounding lakes and far off into the countryside. The elevation at Lapham Peak is 1233 feet. At this parking area you will also find a section of the Ice Age Trail (yellow) and the trailhead for the Kettle View Trail (blue).
Hikers may go in any direction on the trails but for cross-country skiing the trails are marked as one-way routes. The map also provides indications as to how hilly the route is, with +10 as the steepest upslope and -10 as the steepest downslope (assuming you are traveling them in the direction on the cross-country ski signs). Trails with a 0 are meadows. The steeper sections are generally the treed areas of the park. There is a campsite off the Ice Age Trail in the middle of the park.
History: Lapham Peak is named for Increase A. Lapham, an important scientist and naturalist in Wisconsin who lived from 1811 to 1875. He came to Wisconsin in 1836 as an engineer and eventually settled in the Oconomowoc area. Lapham had many roles in his lifetime, including State Geologist, founder and president of the State Historical Society, and surveyor of Indian mounds, but he is probably best known as the Father of the United States Weather Bureau.
A Wisconsin State Marker at Lapham Peak reads in part:
"In 1870, on top of Lapham Peak, then known as Government Hill, the United States Army Signal Corps established one of its original National Weather Service signal stations. Weather data was received here from Pikes Peak, Colorado, and relayed to the United States Weather Bureau headquarters in Chicago. Lapham Peak . . . is named for Wisconsin's premier 19th-century naturalist, archeologist and scholar. From this peak, Lapham recorded many weather observations for his pioneering work in meteorology, which included publishing isothermal maps of Wisconsin . . . Lapham wrote the proposal for a national weather service, which was approved by Congress on February 9, 1870. On November 8th, working as the assistant to the Chief Signal Corps Officer, Lapham recorded the first published national weather forecast...."
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