Spaulding Fen is a beautiful, seemingly endless expanse of fen and sedge fen within the Jackson County Forest in central Wisconsin.  The site is located just south of STH 54 at its intersection with Spaulding Rd.  My access was via Lone Pine Rd on the west side of the natural area.  As with previous posts on Jackson County Forest SNA’s, not that the roads in the Forest are extremely sandy and akin to driving on the beach.

Though the botanical diversity was not the highest at the time of my visit, this is still one of my favorite SNA’s.  The mesmerizing vistas of sedges waving in the wind all of the way to the horizon with puffy white clouds floating above were sights to behold.  Cranberries, cotton-grass, steeplebush, and tamaracks were the other most common species observed.  I look forward to the chance to visit this site a bit earlier in the summer to see what botanical treats it has to offer at that time.  I suspect the ground will be a bit wetter then, so rubber boots will likely be a safe option.  Also, my friend noted that a bear was observed in the vicinity on his previous visit, so be excited or worried, depending on your sensibilities. 🙂

Fen

Fen

Fen

Cranberries

Cottongrass

Fen

More of my photos (and full-res) from Spaulding Fen 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!

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