Wulff was a master of horticulture and when it came to his vision of Seven Bridges Trail, he held nothing back. The trail is a master class in urban landscaping, from the diversity of plantings to the construction of the pathway, the bridges and man-made natural features the 2.5-mile walk is one breathtaking view after another, is it any wonder so many have chosen it as their spiritual jumping off point, many who seem to have remained even after breaking their earthly constraints.
Visitors will find, as the entrance states, a wild wood and the haunts of nature around every bend in the walkway. Those who walk the tail twilight have reported seeing apparitions among the trees while others have spoken of hearing footsteps and heavy breathing coming up behind them, only to turn around to a vacant pathway. Some who have experienced this say that the footsteps grew heavier and quicker as the sound of breathing became more distressed, all while gaining on them. No matter how fast they quickened their pace the phantom walker kept pace until in an instant it passed them leaving a feeling a dread and despair in their wake.
Along the path is a stone bench where those who have stayed past dark have heard the terrified screams of a woman from deep withing the empty wood, while others claimed to hear the cries of young children calling for help. Sometimes it’s just a disembodied giggle or even a random “hello” from out of the dark, with no signs or reasoning for a child in the pitch-black night.
Seven Bridges
Grant Park, Milwaukee, WI
Enter this wild wood and view the haunts of nature is inscribed in golden lettering over the bridge that marks the entrance of Seven Bridges Trail in Grant Park Milwaukee. The park is one of Milwaukee’s oldest, established in 1911 and designed by Frederick C. Wulff, Milwaukee County Parks first Superintendent of Horticulture.
Wulff was a master of horticulture and filled Grant Park with native plants and trees. An immigrant from Germany Wulff quickly fell in love with all that Wisconsin’s native habitat offered. In 1917 the parks commission allowed Wulff and his family to build a home that is still standing atop one of the ravines at the edge of Seven Bridges Trail, in fact it’s still in use by youth organizations for overnight stays in the park.
The trail itself was not constructed until the 1920s and 30s through the WPA and CCC. Wulff of course directed the project which included the Bavarian style entrance, about 2.5 miles of paths, natural rock stairways, a waterfall, dams and ponds and not seven, but 10 wooden footbridges. When completed the trail was a showplace for native plantings, trees and of course a diverse population of wildlife and birds.
With all this quiet and beauty, nature and well, long drops from sturdy structures it wasn’t long before Seven Bridges became a location where people chose to make a peaceful exit from their earthly existence. It’s rumored that most suicides at the park took place right at the bridge that marked the entrance to the trail and it’s here that people have reported hearing disembodied voices and seeing a misty apparition coming up the pathway towards the bridge and in some cases appearing next to them as they cross. There have also been reports of cold spots and sudden overwhelming feelings of despair.
From the main bridge it’s just over a half mile to the shores of Lake Michigan, a body of water that has claimed on average 30 lives a year, from its shore. This doesn’t account for the souls lost from sinking ships or simply lost in the depths of the deadliest Great Lake.
The path to the lake was constructed by a WPA crew in the Great Depression in the 1920s and is an assembly of limestone pavers quarried at the nearby Lannonstone Quarry. During it’s inaugural year thousands flocked to the newly built trail to view the wonders of the Wisconsin natural habitat. There were days when the habitat couldn’t handle the numbers of people who visited. With no lifeguards the number of those who entered the water and did not return is unknown, specifically small children who escaped their parents’ observation.
Many a visitor to Seven Bridges Trail have spotted the apparition of a woman, dressed in white, seeming to search for her children. Her forlorn wails and cries indiscernible yet filled with sorrow. It’s rumored her children were lost long ago, drowned in Lake Michigan’s cold waters off the unpaved trail near the beach.