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Walks in the Downtown Madison Area

There are plenty of shops and restaurants within walking distance of Monona Terrace, but if you want to walk for the sake of walking among pleasant surroundings, here are some suggestions.

Madison Heritage has published an excellent pamphlet, Madison's Pioneer Buildings: A Downtown Walking Tour, which, as its name implies, will guide you to interesting historic buildings in the area. Copies of the pamphlet are available at the LOEX Registration Desk or at the Reference Desk of Madison Public Library, 201 W. Mifflin St.

The walking and biking path that skirts Lake Monona is handy and lovely. As you leave Monona Terrace on the lake side, turn right on the path. If you follow it as far as Olin Park you will be rewarded with a panoramic view of Monona Terrace as seen from the lake. Be careful! This is a path heavily used by bicyclers and in-line skaters as well as pedestrians. If you turn left on the path at Monona Terrace, you will be heading toward the Williamson Street (fondly called Willy Street by natives) area.

If you strike out across the Capitol Square and head down State Street you can get to the Lakeshore Path that skirts Lake Mendota. At the University end of State Street, turn right on Lake Street, then left on Langdon. At the end of Langdon, turn right on Park St, then left at the lake to get to the path. If you're ambitious, you can walk all the way to Picnic Point, an idyllic wooded peninsula jutting out into Lake Mendota. Fortify yourself with Babcock Hall ice cream at Memorial Union on the way.