Plymouth, a city in Sheboygan County, settled in 1845 and incorporated in 1877, boasts a charming and historic downtown.
Located along the Mullet River, the city offers a wide variety of recreational activities in its parks.
A pedestrian network running through downtown Plymouth provides convenient access to various points of interest in the city.
Visitors exploring Plymouth will be immersed in the vibe of a New England town, as many of the original settlers of the city were New England migrants.
For this reason, their new town was named after Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.
Check out the following list of best things to do in Plymouth, Wisconsin, to learn more about the charms of the city.
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Drive onward to County Highway U on the southwestern edge of Plymouth to gain access to the Parnell Tower.
This wooden structure is one of the attractions within the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest.
It stands at 60 feet and is accessible via a hike on the state forest’s Ice Age Trail.
The easier route, of course, would be driving on County Highway U or through the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive.
From the parking lot on County Highway U, Parnell Tower can be reached through a 3.5-mile trail in the forest.
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Atop the tower after negotiating its 96 steps, you will enjoy a 360-degree panorama of the state forest’s glacial landscape.
Search for hidden Sheboygan Rocks in the tower, take a photo of your find, and post it on the Sheboygan FB page to record your visit.
The visitor facilities near the tower include picnic tables, grills, and restrooms, as well as a potable drinking water source.
A rustic shelter near the tower can also be reserved for camping.
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Check out South Milwaukee Street for a photo-op at a Plymouth landmark: Big Cow Antoinette.
This 20-foot fiberglass statue was erected as part of Plymouth’s Centennial celebration in 1977.
Named after the statue’s local advocate, Jack Anton, Big Cow Antoinette relates to the long history of Plymouth in cheese manufacturing.
The city put up this statue on the former site of the National Cheese Exchange, where prices of the commodity were set.
Plymouth became known as the “Cheese Capital of the World” because of this exchange.
It helped, too, that the city is home to four major cheese manufacturers: Great Lakes Cheese, Masters Gallery, Sargento, and Sartori.
Road America is a racetrack established in 1955 that has since grown into a world-class motorsports destination.
Located off State Trunk Highway 67, Road America is set on 640 acres where more than 400 events are held annually.
The races here are mostly hosted on the main track extending over four miles and featuring 14 turns.
Road America also provides a one-mile Motorplextrack designed for go-kart racing.
Campsites with complete facilities are available for racers and spectators visiting this motorsports hub.
Besides watching thrilling races, you can join its 4 Miles of Fitness, held Monday and Wednesday nights from May to September.
On these events, you can run or stroll along Road America’s cross-country trails, service roads, and even on the racetrack itself.
Take a trip to Plymouth Rock RV Resort on Lando Street to unwind.
A gated complex, this RV park provides several facilities, which include four playgrounds, a baseball field, and basketball and volleyball courts.
It also offers two pools, a hot tub, a dance hall, and facilities for boating, kayaking, and biking.
Guests can pick from several campsites, with the choices including “wagon wheel” areas designed for those who prefer a social setting.
Power, water, sewer, and cable connections are provided in the RV campsites.
Besides these campsites, Plymouth Rock RV Resort also offers two-bedroom cabins and a deluxe cabin.
Founded in 1926, Camp Anokijig is a popular destination for family bonding on weekends.
This camp offers families a wide range of water-based recreational activities, such as swimming, fishing, pontoon boat excursions, windsurfing, sailing, kayaking, and canoeing.
Out of the water, your family can enjoy horseback riding, archery, as well as arts and crafts classes in Camp Anokijig.
The camp offers delicious meals from its home-style cooking, with charcoal barbecues and lumberjack breakfasts among the choices.
For accommodations, your picks include tents and cabins either amid the woodlands of Kettle Moraine forest or overlooking the scenic Little Elkhart Lake.
Check the open dates at Boneyard Paintball which has an outdoor shooting field on Highview Road that has been open to the public since 2009.
Founded in 2003, this venue for paintball and airsoft shootouts is the only one in Sheboygan County.
The fees here are affordable though, given its wide patronage and long years of operating experience.
Playing paintball at Boneyard Paintball is beginner-friendly, with its friendly staff providing thorough instructions to novice shooters.
This facility also has a store onsite where you can buy paintball supplies, including second-hand paintball guns, at reasonable prices.
Crystal Lake is one of the most popular fishing and boating destinations in Sheboygan County, as it’s easily accessible from Birch Tree Road.
A public boat launch is just off this road, opening access to the lake’s waters of 129 acres.
Crystal Lake is spring-fed and boasts crystal-clear waters great for swimming.
Sunday is the best time to swim in the lake when it is open only to non-motorized boats.
The three miles of the lake’s shoreline are thus relatively quieter during those days.
Measuring 61 feet at its deepest, Crystal Lake draws anglers for its thriving population of bass, bluegill, crappie, northern pike, and walleye.
Lakehouse Bar and Grill is located on County Road C, just a short distance to the west of the Crystal Lake public boat ramp.
This restaurant is not only a convenient dining venue for those on an excursion to the beautiful lake but is also a great dining destination after enjoying the fun activities at Boneyard Paintball or Road America.
These two prime attractions in the city of Plymouth are a short distance east of the restaurant.
Lakehouse Bar and Grill, which provides outdoor seating, is famed for its Tater Tot bowls with fried chicken chunks, corn, and gravy.
Even the simple lunch or dinner option of a burger sandwich and a cold beer draws patrons to this laid-back restaurant.
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You can take the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive via State Trunk Highway 23 near Elkhart Lake on the northern edge of Plymouth.
This picturesque corridor stretches over 115 miles from north to south, unveiling the beauty and variety of the geology of southeast Wisconsin.
Besides cutting through Sheboygan County, this scenic drive traverses five other Wisconsin counties.
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The points of interest along this corridor include the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest, the Kettle Moraine Red Oaks State Natural Area, and the Johnson Hill Kame State Natural Area.
There are many stops along the way where you can have a picnic, camp, hike, bike, swim, and fish.
You can also visit many historical sites and enjoy the leisure facilities of commercial hubs along the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive.
Four sets of tees for play ranging from 4,805 to 6,306 yards over hilly terrain await golfers’ pick at the Crystal Lake Golf Course.
This 18-hole executive golf course, located off County Road C and just west of Crystal Lake, plays at par 65 over well-groomed greens and fairways.
A round on this public golf course offers the challenge of the scenic ridges of the Northern Kettle Moraine.
A stretch of the Mullet River also winds across the southwestern side of the course, enhancing the excitement of playing at the Crystal Lake Golf Course.
Book a schedule in this course Saturday evening for a chance to experience its glow ball play.
Take State Trunk Highway 23 onward to the northwest periphery of Plymouth’s city limits to access the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Year-round recreational activities are in store for visitors of this largest and forerunner of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Amid the world-famous glacial landforms of this 30,000-acre state forest, you can hike the Ice Age Trail.
Visitors also have the option to go horseback riding, mountain biking, or opt for skiing on the trails of this state forest during winter.
In addition, more than 350 campsites are available in this forest that families can enjoy visiting.
There’s also an Ice Age Visitor Center featuring nature programs that will make your visit a learning experience.
Capture the rich history of Plymouth and its pioneer businesses through a self-guided Downtown Mural Walk.
Going on this tour will take you to 25 murals painted on the exterior walls of downtown buildings in 2011 and more recently in 2021.
Through donations and sponsorships, Plymouth commissioned the Walldogs, a group of more than 160 international artists, for these murals.
Many of the murals in the Downtown Mural Walk are located on buildings along downtown Mill Street where two murals celebrate Plymouth’s flagship cheese industry.
Also along this corridor are murals about the city’s Vintage Road America race track and the King Midas Flour Mill, another business pioneer in Plymouth.
You can pick up a Mural Map at the city’s Visitor Center on Walton Drive in downtown Plymouth.
The Plymouth Historical Society, founded in 1990, lets visitors catch a glimpse of the old days in downtown Plymouth.
The society’s building itself is historic, a circa 1876 mixed-use residential-commercial building.
A mural, called Plank Road Trail, is located on the museum’s lower level and recreates the city’s downtown in its early days.
The mural provides a birds-eye view of the downtown, featuring churches, a carriage shop, a livery stable, schools, a flour mill, a sawmill, a tavern, and other historic buildings.
In addition to this permanent exhibit, the museum also features a Vintage Kitchen and many changing displays of local interest.
Just east of the Plymouth Historical Society’s museum, more cultural exhibits are on display at the Plymouth Arts Center, also on East Mill Street.
Plymouth Brewing Company offers a taproom where you can choose from its 14 craft beers on tap and one canned brew.
The lone canned beer, Stone Blue, is a blueberry ale available in a four-pack that you may be tempted to take home after a sampling.
Other popular picks at Plymouth Brewing Company include Dark Matter, a dark chocolate stout, and Ichabod, a pumpkin coffee stout.
Located on East Main Street corner Caroline Street, Plymouth Brewing makes its beers onsite.
The operating hours of its tasting room are limited, as the brewery focuses more on local distribution.
Patrons of this taproom can bring food, as the brewery doesn’t serve any.
The historic ambiance of Plymouth Brewing is also a source of delight for its visitors.
It is housed in a vintage building circa the late 1800s where a predecessor brewery operated till 1938.
The owner of this historic building, S & R Cheese, also runs its Sartori Cheese operations here.
Located between Suhrke Road and Grove Street, Plymouth City Park enables locals and visitors to enjoy outdoor activities right within Plymouth’s city limits.
This 18-acre park is the largest among the 17 parks in the city, providing various recreational facilities.
The park boasts an Aquatic Center for outdoor swimming, as well as various courts for volleyball, tennis, and basketball.
It also features a skate park and a lighted softball field.
During winter, Plymouth City Park is popular for its lighted sledding hill.
The best things to do in Plymouth, Wisconsin, make the city one of the top travel destinations in the state.
Taking the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive traversing Plymouth alone can unlock many of the city’s points of interest.
You can get the most out of a Wisconsin trip by including stops in this beautiful city.
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