Peat Lake State Natural Area is headlined by its 42-acre namesake lake. Haboring mainly non-native carp, the lake is not known for it fishery and is not particularly accessible for those purposes. Such access is somewhat precluded by the extensive surrounding wetlands, composed of sedge meadow and cattail marsh. Located on the WI-IL border and…
Author: joshuamayer
Silver Lake Bog (319/693)
Silver Lake Bog contains a bog and northern wet forest situated in the far southeastern corner of the state in Kenosha County. The site is owned by the Silver Lake Sportsmans Club and permission is required before visiting. The description of “open bog” refers to having <10% tree cover, per the WDNR's description of this…
Kingston Pines (318/693)
Kingston Pines features northern dry to dry-mesic forests as well as bog/fen areas situated on a rolling, sandy moraine near the Kingston Flowage. Access to the site is via Cranberry Rd to 4th St SW, the latter becoming a two-track into the forest. I recall pulling off into a clearing and then walking further into…
Hog Island Tamaracks (317/693)
Hog Island Tamaracks is much as it sounds, islands of tamaracks within a sea of wetlands, minus the hogs, of course. This Wood County-owned natural area consists of three parcels arranged in a loose N-S line in southwestern Wood and northwestern Juneau Counties. Though the DNR website does not note this, the western portion of…
Spaulding Fen (316/689)
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…
Deer Island (315/689)
Deer Island in the Jackson County Forest contains the rare maple swamp natural community. It is located amidst sandy, backcountry roads and cranberry bogs more or less right along Deer Island Rd south of City Point. My friend and I continued our tour of Jackson County SNA’s with a stop at 2 of the 4…
Bear Bluff (314/689)
Bear Bluff features a mixture of wet and dry forests and open wetlands in the Jackson County Forest. Situated within the basin of the former Glacial Lake Wisconsin, Bear Bluff can be accessed via Goodyear Road north of CTH HH. Note that at the time of my visit in 2013, this stretch of road was…
Meadow Valley Barrens (313/689)
Meadow Valley Barrens is aptly described in its name. It is simply put, a barrens within the Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area. The site exists in two parcels, both of which can be accessed via CTH H. Further interior access to the larger southern parcel can be had via Eisefeldt Rd and 15th St SW….
Blueberry Trail (312/688)
Blueberry Trail preserves a floodplain forest along the slow, wide turns of Beaver Creek within the Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area in Juneau County. The site can be accessed from Mulloney Road. No parking areas are present, so this was another pull the car as far off the gravel road as possible situation. There are…
Suk Cerney Peatlands (311/687)
Suk Cerney Peatlands is a massive complex of meadow, bog, swamp, and pine barrens covering over 3600 acres (11th largest SNA) in Juneau County’s Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area. The site is located west of Necedah and can be reached by taking North 6th Avenue north from CTH H to Bewick Trail which runs along…
Bear Creek Cave (310/687)
Bear Creek Cave is exactly what its name describes, a cave. It is closed to the public and its location is not disclosed due to the sensitive nature of the site and past vandalism issues. This ninth-largest cave in the state is home to several bat species and a number of cave-preferring and endemic invertebrate…
Nipissing Swamp (309/687)
Nipissing Swamp is a remnant from the time of the glaciers when a sandbar blocked the outlet of Glacial Lake Nipissing and turned the area into a lagoon. Today, a northern hardwood swamp and sand dunes persist. Found within the boundaries of Point Beach State Forest, the area can be accessed from the northeast by…
Marshall’s Point (308/687)
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…
Sister Islands (307/687)
Sister Islands comprises two small, rocky islands approximately 1 1/2 miles off the Door County coast in the Green Bay waters of Lake Michigan. A rudimentary kayak launch is found at the terminus of Waters End Road, just east of STH 42 north of Sister Bay. My brother and I rented kayaks from an outfitter…
Alvin Creek Headwaters (306/687)
Alvin Creek Headwaters encompasses several natural communities centered around, appropriately enough, Alvin Creek and its headwaters in north-central Forest County. The site lies southwest of the intersection of STH 70 and STH 55. Access can be made directly from west on FR 2175 and from the east on FR 2427. Both lightly traveled (and lightly…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 