The 26 mile lakeside trail around Geneva Lake was used by several Indian cultures starting as early as 2500 B.C. and continuing up to 1836 A.D. Chief Big Foot's Potawatomi Tribe walked the trail between their villages at present Fontana, Williams Bay, and one at Lake Geneva, which is located in this park. Later, the trail became the workmen's path from Lake Geneva to summer estates of wealthy Chicago families.