The Wisconsin Way links The Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, the first and only approved Marian Apparition site in the United States and Canada, just northeast of Green Bay, with Holy Hill - Basilica and Shrine of Mary Help of Christians, just outside Milwaukee, covering approximately 156 miles thru the Kettle Moraine Forest along the Ice Age Trail and farm country roads, stopping along the way at historic churches, monasteries, roadside chapels and shrines.
An American Camino
The Wisconsin Way is a pilgrimage loosely based on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The American Camino features Wisconsin shrines, monasteries and European style churches along portions of the Ice Age Trail through the Kettle Moraine Forest and picturesque landscapes of rural farmland, offering an unforgettable alternative to an overseas pilgrimage.
The route was started by Fr. Andrew Kurz, the founder of the Wisconsin Way. In 2013 he felt the Lord calling him to establish the pilgrim route. There are several shrines and chapels along the way, referred to as spiritual "Hot Spots".
Pray with Mary, walk with Jesus
Two sections, one Way
Champion to Elkhart Lake
The Farm Section
Mainly road walking through dairy country, past Belgian roadside chapels, Czech- and German-built churches, a cheese store or two, and a monastery welcoming pilgrims for the night.
Elkhart Lake to Holy Hill
The Forest Section
Much of it follows the Ice Age Trail through the Kettle Moraine State Forest, with nights in the woods at group camps, before the final climb to Holy Hill.
Stops along the Way
These highlights come from the journal of the June 8-20, 2025 Wisconsin Way pilgrimage with Wisconsin Way Pilgrim Tours, walked north to south from Champion to Holy Hill.
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Day 1 · 9.6 miles
Our Lady of Champion
Our Lady of Champion is the only Marian apparition site in the United States approved by the Catholic Church. In 1859, Mary appeared to Adele Brise, a Belgian peasant girl, with the message to teach the children.
Ready to walk at Champion -
Day 1
Belgian roadside chapels
The Belgian immigrants who settled in the area built small shrines along the road on their farms, where the public are invited to stop and pray.
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Day 1
The Wisconsin Way Albergue
Currently the only albergue on the Wisconsin Way, started by Fr. Andrew Kurz. The albergue contains a furnished kitchen, showers, chapel and living room.
Sofas and bunks at the albergue -
Day 2 · 12.4 miles
Krohn Cheese and a Rogation Shrine
Stops include Krohn Cheese store, a fun, full-service shop serving dairy products for over 125 years, and a Rogation Shrine.
Such shrines were visited on Rogation Days, three days prior to Ascension Thursday. Rogation means "to ask". After Mass, the priest would lead parishioners to a Rogation Shrine. Along the way, prayers are said asking God to bless the fields and provide a bountiful harvest.
Krohn Cheese Store 
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Day 2
St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Stangelville
Built by Czech immigrants. Czech influence can be seen in the sanctuary created by Bohemian-born woodcarver Joseph Swoboda, the painted murals and symbols, and the baptismal font with a scripture verse in Czech. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Joseph Swoboda's carved sanctuary -
Day 3 · 11.2 miles
Curran Spiritual Center
Completed in 2015, this charming Devotional Chapel and Rosary Prayer Garden in Curran is open year-round and free to all religions. It was built by retired Catholic priest Father Bill O'Brien on the farm property of his great grandparents. The cross inside the stone chapel was carved from their old homestead.
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Day 4 · 11 miles
Lumen Christi Farm
After a brief walk on the Devil's River State Trail, pilgrims spend the evening at Lumen Christi Farm in Reedsville, a Catholic family farm retreat center with a working sheep and goat farm. Lodging includes a yurt or a shepherd's wagon.
The shepherd's wagon -
Day 5 · 9.3 miles
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
The Way passes the monument in Clarks Mills memorializing the founding site of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, then continues to their current motherhouse, Holy Family Convent in Manitowoc.
Holy Family Convent, Manitowoc -
Day 6 · 10.7 miles
St. Nazianz and Holy Resurrection Monastery
St. Nazianz is a quaint historic town settled by German immigrants hoping to establish a utopian Catholic community under the leadership of Fr. Ambrose Oschwald. The colony built a church, a convent and a Franciscan monastery. The town is named after one of the great Eastern saints: St. Gregory Nazianzen.
Pilgrims spend the night at Holy Resurrection Monastery, an Eastern Catholic monastic community dedicated to prayer, hospitality and work.
Holy Resurrection Monastery -
Day 6
Fr. Oschwald and Our Lady of Loretto Chapel
The utopian Catholic community disintegrated after Fr. Oschwald's death in 1873. A Salvatorian seminary was later established there, and a Catholic high school used the site from 1968 until 1982. It is now privately owned.
Fr. Oschwald's mausoleum is at Our Lady of Loretto Chapel. It is reported that when he was exhumed, his remains were found to be incorrupt.
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Day 7 · 11.7 miles
Lax Chapel and Queen of Hearts Chapel
Lax Chapel near Kiel holds a statue of Our Lady of Loučim with a sword through her head. She became a symbol of devotion when, during the Hussite wars of the 1400s, a zealot attacked the village's statue, plunging his sword into her head. It bled, even when thrown into a pond, thereby converting him.
The next stop is Our Lady Queen of Hearts Chapel in Steinthal, built in 2008 by Mary Ann Ristow to honor Our Lady's healing of her brother and herself.
Our Lady of Loučim 
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Days 8-12
Into the forest on the Ice Age Trail
Up to this point the walking is mainly on roads. Around Elkhart Lake, home of Road America, the Way joins the Ice Age Trail and the Forest Section begins.
Nights are spent in the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest at Greenbush Group Camp and Mauthe Lake, then the Way passes the historic St. Matthias Catholic Church in Auburn, Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Kewaskum and the Eisenbahn State Trail on the way to West Bend and Pike Lake State Park. From the observation tower at Pike Lake you can see the Way's end at Holy Hill.
On the Ice Age Trail 
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Day 13 · 8 miles
Holy Hill
The final day follows mostly the Ice Age Trail, up the hill and stairs to the end of the Wisconsin Way: Holy Hill Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians. Pilgrims get their Wisconsin Way passports stamped and receive their Wisconsin Way patches.
A full pilgrim passport
Walk it yourself
Recommended for pilgrim preparation and as a useful reference is today's most complete guidebook for walking the Wisconsin Way from the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion near Green Bay to Holy Hill Basilica outside of Milwaukee: The Wisconsin Way guidebook by Stacy Wittig, available at the Champion and Holy Hill shrine bookstores and Amazon.com. For more on the route's history, see wisconsinway.com.
