Marshall’s Point is a secluded piece of splendor in Door County. A relic boreal forest and northern mesic forest untouched for more than a century lie within the protections of a gated community and neither its location or the method by which I obtained permission will be disclosed here.
I was fortunate to be guided on our exploration of this Wisconsin gem by one of the residents of the community. I would have loved to spend more time here, but wanted to be respectful of my host’s time. As such, macro shots of plants were not a luxury time afforded and I stuck to mostly landscape photographs of the beautiful forest. Footpaths meandered through the woods, often along the old shoreline now composed of limestone. The shoreline afforded views of bald eagles and American white pelicans, always a curious sight, no matter how many times I am fortunate enough to view them. Lilies dotted the landscape in sunnier locales, while mosses and liverworts found a home in shadier spots. This area was once slated to become a golf course and evidence is still found in the form of the old clear-cut fairways. While a sad reminder of destruction, those narrow swaths cut through green splendor represent hope that conservation can be victorious every now and then and ecologically wonderful areas such as this can be preserved for the future.
More of my photos (and full-res) from Marshall’s Point 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 # | 204 |
| County | Door |
| Natural Communities / Geology | Boreal Forest, Northern Mesic Forest |
| Size (Acres) | 122 |
| Parking | n/a |
| Trails | Yes |
| Easy to Find | No |
| Best Seen By | Foot |
| Marked Boundaries | Yes |
| Ownership | Private; More info: Wisconsin DNR |
| Located Within | n/a |
| Dates Visited | 7.14.13 |
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Location not disclosed |
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State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 
I was just looking at the site via Google Earth because the clear-cut areas caught my eye. As I thought, the area was once being developed as a golf course. I don’t think that project has been abandoned, but simply postponed. Regardless of what the local residents may say, no one is going to spend that much time and effort, not to mention equipment expense, to keep those projected fairways clear of new growth forest. I don’t know how Wisconsin politics work, but if this were Maryland where I live and a developer wanted to restart that golf course project, a few well-placed Dollars with some folks down in Annapolis would do the trick. It’s going to be interesting watching what “develops” with Marshall’s Point in the coming years.
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I totally appreciate what you’re doing, blogging all of WI SNAs. I’m a big fan of SNA’s myself. I live in Door County and know exactly what Marshall’s Point is all about. I gotta say, isn’t it nice (and ironic) that a multi-millionaire private real estate development has its own ‘private’ state natural area? Yeah, I bet the tax breaks are amazing, but can we the citizens of WI visit this mythical place? Interesting bedfellows the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation has chosen on this one. On a side note, I was in the Peninsula State Park office inquiring about this property a few years ago and by chance a Marshall blood relative was standing beside me. She told me to just go out there and explore for myself. I have too much respect for private land owners so I didn’t, but I’ll soon be kayaking the shores to see for myself. At any rate, keep up the good work. I’d love to see all of WI SNA’s for myself too.
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