Picture yourself on a high cliff, enjoying a panoramic westward view over the waters of Green Bay, Lake Winnebago or Horicon Marsh. That cliff, called the Niagara Escarpment, is a geologic formation that runs hundreds of miles through our state and beyond, forming a great circle all the way to Niagara Falls at the New York-Canada border.

Along the escarpment you can explore crevasses, caves, and rockfalls, see beautiful rock formations, or search for fossils, Indian artifacts, rare plants and animals. You can hunt deer along this cliff, sometimes seeing them below you or above you; fish the deep waters near its wall; or hike paths that climb from the cool springs at the bottom, through huge tumbled blocks of limestone, to the smooth high ground above.

The Ledge, as this escarpment is often called, is where I do many of these things. From my home, I overlook more than 20 miles of the Ledge winding north toward Fond du Lac and up the east shore of Lake Winnebago. Let me point out many of its secrets that you may enjoy too.