Esther Beach Park is located on the south shore of Lake Monona in Madison. It has a nice beach and a new shelter house (constructed in 2018) and a pretty amazing view of downtown Madison across the lake. The official address of the park is 2802 Waunona Way.
There’s not much to say about the park itself; it’s really a pretty small park and it’s all about the beach. It’s kind of like Spring Harbor Beach Park on Lake Mendota.
Here is my usual walking route:
Walking route in the Esther Beach area on 2020-12-07
I park in the small lot at Esther Beach when possible, but sometimes it’s just easier to park on Esther Beach Road. I head up Esther Beach Road towards the Beltline and then turn right onto Nana Lane. I continue on Nana Lane past Ethelwyn Road, and which point Nana Lane magically becomes Harriman Lane. I have no idea why the name changes at this point. I follow Harriman Lane to the intersection with Waunona Way. I usually will turn left and walk to the end of Waunona Way and then onto the Capital City Bike Path for a bit. Then I turn around and head back to Esther Beach on Waunona Way.
The total walk is about 1.2 or 1.3 miles. It is uphill on Esther Beach Road and the first part of Nana Lane, but otherwise it’s mostly rolling hills along Waunona Way.
Note that Thut Park is located close to this route; it’s along Nana Lane and east of Esther Beach Road.
- Esther Beach Park (City of Madison web site)
- Esther Beach (City of Madison)
- Thut Park (City of Madison)