Hank Aaron Trail Closed During State Fair

Hank Aaron State Trail and S. 76th St. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

The Wisconsin DNR announced Tuesday that it plans to once again close the Hank Aaron State Trail during the Wisconsin State Fair.

The closure is one piece of a strategy by the State Fair and local police to beef up security for the annual event and create an unbreachable perimeter. “Allowing an elevated trail that runs directly over visitors and vendors at State Fair Park to stay open during the State Fair severely compromises this secure perimeter,” according to the DNR.

The 14-mile trail, which runs east-west roughly between the Milwaukee harbor and the county line, was barricaded and closed to traffic near the fairgrounds in 2022 for the same reasons, though the Wisconsin Bike Fed and local cyclists protested the closure.

“This is disappointing and inconvenient for the hundreds of cyclists that use this Trail every day, both for recreation and to commute to their jobs,” the Bike Fed said in a statement Tuesday about the plan to close the trail again. “This decision is an unfortunate byproduct of ongoing incidents of violence at public gatherings both locally and nationally. However, we encourage State Fair and DNR to seek a future solution that does not involve the closing of the Hank Aaron Trail.”

This year the trail will be closed between S. 76th Street and S. 84th Street from Aug. 3-13. A detour along surface streets has been mapped out by the DNR and runs between S. 72nd Street and S. 89th Street. State Fair staff will place signage along the route in the days leading up to the closure, the DNR said.

“While we understand the closure of the Hank Aaron State Trail presents challenges for the many loyal users of the trail, we appreciate the DNR’s support and the public’s understanding of why the portion of the trail that crosses over State Fair Park cannot remain open during the 11 days of the Wisconsin State Fair,” said John Yingling, Chairman of the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board of Directors.

The trail is named for Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and first opened in 2000. At the time it was a much smaller section of trail running through the Menomonee Valley, but over the years it has been extended, bringing it up to its county-spanning length of today.

It creates an important connection for the county’s Oak Leaf Trail Network, plugging into trails that run north and south throughout the county. Peter Bratt, parks director of operations and skilled trades, told Urban Milwaukee Hank Aaron Trail Riders looking for an alternate trail could try connecting to the KK Line of the Oak Leaf Trail at S. 84th Street.