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Monona

San Damiano Park

San Damiano Park

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    October 9, 2025

    San Damiano Park in Monona, Wisconsin is a peaceful 10-acre lakefront property with over 1,000 feet of shoreline on Lake Monona, offering stunning views of the Madison skyline. Once the historic Frank Allis estate and later a Franciscan retreat, it’s now a public park blending nature, history, and quiet relaxation. You’ll find picnic tables, bike racks, and walking paths beneath big old trees, plus a few interpretive signs about its Indigenous and cultural past. The city’s long-term plan includes improved trails, native plantings, and better lake access, but even now it’s a perfect low-key stop for cyclists or anyone wanting a calm scenic break along the lake.

      October 9, 2025

      Lake Monona ( mih-NOH-nə) is a freshwater drainage lake in Dane County, Wisconsin, surrounded on three sides by the city of Madison, Wisconsin, and on the south east side by the city of Monona, Wisconsin. It is the second-largest of a chain of four lakes along the Yahara River (also including Mendota, Kegonsa, and Waubesa) in the area and forms the south shore of the isthmus that forms downtown Madison. The name 'Monona' is a word believed to mean 'beautiful', although the lake was originally named by the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) 'Tchee-ho-bo-kee-xa-te-la' or 'Teepee Lake'.

        October 9, 2025

        Long before it became the Frank Allis estate, the San Damiano site was a gathering and ceremonial place for Indigenous peoples, especially the Ho-Chunk Nation. The land sits along a natural rise overlooking Lake Monona—part of a sacred landscape once lined with effigy and burial mounds. One of those mounds still remains within the park today, protected and marked off from foot traffic. It stands as a quiet but powerful reminder that this shoreline was not just scenic, but spiritual ground long before Monona existed.

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          Elevation 260 m

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          Monday 20 October

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          Location: Monona, Dane County, Wisconsin, United States

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