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Shawano County has a lot of beautiful natural scenery to admire anytime of year.  But, have you heard about the barn quilts there?  Originally introduced to the county in 2010, there are currently 331 barn quilts.  (What exactly is a barn quilt?  Learn details of how they’re made here)

Shawano county is Wisconsin’s barn quilt capital!

Going along the theme of fall & winter day trips and getaways in Wisconsin, a barn quilt driving tour in Shawano county can be done any time of year.  Personally, I feel like there’s a different type of charm doing the drive in each season.  I may have to look into a return visit later in the year!

Shawano County Tourism has great little pamphlets with driving routes and addresses to see the barn quilts.  Since I was hoping to stop and take pictures, I chose to go to the barns that weren’t on the busier highways.  Driving around the county was a lot of fun, especially when you’d spot a barn quilt along the way that you weren’t looking for!

Shawano is located ~45 min from Green Bay, ~2.5 hrs from Milwaukee, ~2 hrs 40 min from Madison, and a little less than 4 hrs from Chicago.

The driving route I took:

My first stop was at:

Then I made my way to Gresham

There were so many barn quilts on Main Street in Gresham, that I parked and spent awhile walking around the Village.  I’ll share pictures of what I saw there in a future post.

After Gresham, I drove back to Shawano and saw:

I drove past “Sunburst Cross of Hope” (Quilt #118) [N6070 Maple Avenue] and missed it.  When I looped back around, I saw the quilt, but it was a little less obvious from the roadside than the others.

“Southern Star” could be seen from Maple Avenue as well (partly why I think I drove past “Sunburst Cross of Hope” since they are very close to each other).  The picture above is the view from Maple Avenue, and I used a zoom lens.  I also drove past the barn from Hazel Drive, and the view there was much closer.  Both locations are pretty!

I tried driving past “School Days” (Quilt #191) [W8393 Oak Avenue] but couldn’t find it.  Maybe my phone/GPS was being weird?  I’m not sure.  I didn’t circle around too much over there though.

Then, the final barn quilt on my loop to photograph:

TL;DR, Recap:

• Shawano County is the Barn Quilt Capital of Wisconsin.
• With (currently) 331 barn quilts in the county there is a lot to explore.
• Shawano County Tourism has nice pamphlets with suggested driving tour routes.
• Fun day trip for any time of year!
• Since there are so many barn quilts, you could easily pick a different route and plan a return visit.

Stay tuned for more adventures from my recent trip to Shawano County!

Edit: More posts from my adventures in Shawano County – Walls of Wittenberg (WOW), Gresham barn quilts, Hotel & Restaurant review

Disclaimer: I received some “Chamber bucks” to spend on food etc. at local businesses while on my trip to Shawano County, and had a discounted rate for overnight accommodations.  I picked my own itinerary based on suggestions from Shawano Country Tourism.  All opinions are my own.