Liberty Grove - Ellison Bay and Gills Rock--at the Tip of the Door

Gills Rock and Ellison Bay - At the Tip of the Door

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Ellison Bay
Travelling north of Sister Bay you find yet another gift by Mother Nature; a breathtaking vista of Ellison Bay from the crest of a 200-foot-high escarpment. This view is particulary popular in the fall when the leaves range in hues of yellow, orange and red. 

Newport State Park is nearby and offered secluded hiking and cross-country ski trails.

A little further north is Door County's last village, Gills Rock.  Hedgehog Harbor was the name originally given this this area by by Washington Island fisherman and boat builder Amos Lovejoy. Lovejoy decided to winter his sloop on the shores of a cove he found a favorite for fishing in 1855.  Over the winter a family of hedgehogs, also known as porcupines, moved on board. The hedgehogs had chewed numerous holes in the hull of the boat, which to his dismay Lovejoy didn't notice until he launched the sloop again in the spring.  Of course, the boat began taking on water through those holes and Lovejoy was forced to abandon the sloop and come ashore. Until 1870 the small cove was Hedgehog Harbor; in 1870 it was renamed Gills Rock in Gills Rock in honor of Elias Gill, a prominent lumberer.

Gills Rock is known for its strong tradition of commercial fishing.  At the very tip of the Door County peninsula lies Gills Rock, offers divers the opportunity to explore the many shipwrecks in and around Death's Door. The Door County Maritime Museum houses many artifacts from these wrecks and chronicles the fishing industry.

Northport Pier in Gills Rock is the place that ferries depart daily on their trip to Washington Island.

Rowleys Bay is the gateway to the Mink River Estuary, lying rour miles east of Ellison Bay on the Lake Michigan shore.  The area is protected by the  Nature Conservancy and is a shoreline of pristine wilderness that is the home of many rare plants, birds and animal life. The cross on the shoreline is a replica of one built by Jesuit missionaries in the late 1600's. The bay bears the name of Peter Rowley, who lived there during the middle 1800's.

Like those of other northern Door communities, homes in Ellison Bay and Gills Rock take on all forms and the locations are as varied as the styles.  Ellison Bay residents and visitors enjoy close proximity to Sister Bay for year round entertainment, shopping and services.

If it is a truly laid-back lifestyle you seek then we should explore your opportunies in Gills Rock and Ellison Bay.