Rice Lake is a decently large 122 acres, but only 3 feet at its maximum depth. It is a drainage lake, meaning it has both an inlet and an outlet, with a stream as its main water source (more fascinating lake information at the DNR’s website here). Rice Creek and Burnham Creek meet Rice Lake at its northwest and southwest points, respectively. Additionally, a drainage ditch and two unnamed streams are found on the east side of the lake. Rice Creek always has struck me as odd, in that, it has two channels in places, as if it were either once a drainage channel and/or dammed by beavers.

Most of my exploration on this day was on the east side of the lake amidst the sedge meadow. The blooming species diversity was fairly low, not being helped of course by the timing of my visit (August). I very much plan to revisit this SNA for a few reasons. First, I would like to explore a bit further the fen and upland areas at a more botanically interesting time of year. I would also like to drop a kayak in, which, in addition to exploring the lake itself, may provide easier access to the other shores of the lake. Lastly, I would like to visit the adjoining One Stone Lake Hemlocks SNA to the north and one possible access route is to paddle Rice Lake to Rice Creek to Columbus Lake to the SNA.

On my personal revisit scale, I would place this one at a 4 of 5. I need to revisit this SNA for both completeness and for botanical reasons.

Additional photos can be found on Flickr.

SNA #	40
County	Oneida
Natural Communities / Geology	Lake, Poor Fen, Creek, Sedge Meadow, Northern Mesic Forest
Size (Acres)	1242
Parking	Parking Areas
Trails	No
Easy to Find	Yes
Best Seen By	Foot + Kayak
Recommended Footwear	Knee boots
Marked Boundaries	No
Ownership	Wisconsin DNR
Located Within	Thunder Lake State Wildlife Area
Date(s) Visited	8.31.13