Upper Buckatabon Springs encompasses a variety of wetland habitats including springs, ponds, alder thickets, northern sedge meadow, fen, and tamarack swamp across two parcels in central Vilas County. Access to the western parcel is available directly from CTH K on the south side or 3 Springs Road on the west side. The eastern parcel appears accessible from West Stormy Lake Road but I have not attempted that approach.
Upper Buckatabon Springs was a very picturesque site on the day of my visit. Brilliant blue skies overlayed the greenery below and the creek was resplendent with lily pads. Around the fringes of the wetlands were a variety of species including bunchberry, twinflower, and Labrador tea. A neat highlight was finding and photographing the sweet fern underwing moth caterpillar on its host plant, sweet fern. This site would be great to explore with waders, which was I did not have on this day, or kayak,which would allow the quickest access to the interior. Upper Buckatabon Springs is definitely on my list of places to revisit so that I can explore it in much greater detail.
More of my photos (and full-res) from Upper Buckatabon Springs can be viewed here.
Just under 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 689, 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!
Additional Information
| SNA # | 609 |
| County | Vilas |
| Natural Communities / Geology | Spring, Pond, Alder Thicket, Northern Sedge Meadow, Fen, Tamarack Swamp |
| Size (Acres) | 279 |
| Parking | Roadsides |
| Trails | No |
| Easy to Find | Yes |
| Best Seen By | Foot/Kayak |
| Marked Boundaries | No |
| Ownership | Wisconsin DNR |
| Located Within | n/a |
| Dates Visited | 7.5.13 |
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State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 