Catfish Eddy Terraces is comprised of northern dry-mesic forest and various gorges and wet terrain along the eastern bank of the Black River in Jackson County.  There are no trails or parking areas here, so I found it easiest to park along Clinton Road and walk approximately 1/3 mile west into the natural area.

After walking in from the road through the trees, the land begins to slope down moderately toward the river.  Upon leveling out, the area had a bit of a Jurassic Park-feel to it with chest-high ferns and a generally spongy texture to the ground.  In certain areas, the slope ended more abruptly with 5-10-foot rock outcrops.  The last vestiges of spring ephemerals were hanging on in these areas, in particular nodding trillium and Canada mayflower.  Continuing towards the river, the conditions dried out a bit.  Great views of the river were not possible along the southwestern portion of the natural area due to the trees overhanging the Black River.  I found Catfish Eddy Terraces to be a small, though fascinating natural area and one that I hope to revisit, particularly the northern half which I did not explore on this date.

Nodding Trillium

Rocky Terrace

Jurassic Park

Black River

Jurassic Park

Anemone

Canada Mayflower

More of my photos (and full-res) from Catfish Eddy Terraces can be viewed here.

400 more blog posts to go!  Well, actually a few more than that remain; counting SNA’s delisted since I started and a few SNA’s to be designated, the current total is 687, though hopefully, that will increase!

If you would like to help support this project, please consider a donation.  There are many SNA’s yet to visit and even more to revisit and I ultimately plan to write a book about my adventures.  Thank you!

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