Sander’s Park Hardwoods features a southern dry-mesic forest on two swells flanking a swale. It is found in the center of Sander’s County Park on Wood Road in Racine County and is bounded by the main park loop, Exculpating Road. Two parking areas are found near the northwest corner of the site. A network of…
Chiwaukee Prairie (190/675)
Chiwaukee Prairie features a variety of prairie and wetland natural communities bordered by Lake Michigan on the east and Illinois on the west. Through the cooperative efforts of The Nature Conservancy, the Wisconsin DNR, and the Chiwaukee Prairie Preservation Fund, a large portion of this landscape has been preserved. What once was intended as a…
Beaver Creek (189/675)
Beaver Creek State Natural Area is the prototypical State Natural Area found in Northern Wisconsin. It contains northern wet forest, northern dry-mesic forest, open bog, and a creek located just northwest of Eagle River in Vilas County. The most direct access is via Forest Road 2178 along the northern boundary of the site, with additional…
Haymeadow Creek, SNA #479, (188/675)
Haymeadow Creek encompasses nearly 1000 acres within the Chequameon-Nicolet National Forest in eastern Vilas County. The creek courses through a meadow surrounded by northern wet and dry forested lands. Access is available from numerous roads including Blong Road, FS 2567, and CTH E. All except the later are gravel roads and all involve parking on…
Kentuck Lake, SNA #442 (187/675)
Kentuck Lake (note: that spelling is correct; there is no ‘y’ at the end of ‘Kentuck’) encompasses two long, sandy ridges and the swale in between them on the north shore of the lake. Found within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in far southeastern Vilas County, one can reach the site by heading north from STH…
Mayville Ledge Beech-Maple Woods, SNA #143 (186/675)
Mayville Ledge Beech-Maple Woods features a half-mile long exposure of the Niagara Escarpment topped by a mixed forest consisting of primarily maple and beech, the latter of which is rare in the area. Previous posts on the Niagara Escarpment include: Bayshore Blufflands, Oakfield Ledge, Red Banks Alvar, Ellison Bluff, and High Cliff Escarpment. The only parking…
Oakfield Railroad Prairie, SNA #328 (185/675)
Oakfield Railroad Prairie features mesic and wet-mesic prairies along two portions of the Wild Goose State Trail, a 34-mile long trail with one terminus in Fond du Lac and the other in Clyman Junction. Park on the road near one of several trail intersections: CTH D, Lost Arrow Road, River Road, or Willow Lawn Road….
Cave Point-Clay Banks, SNA #559 (184/675)
Cave Point-Clay Banks features a variety of wetland and forest natural communities spread across 3 named units consisting of 4 total parcels of land. The three units are known as the Sturgeon Bay unit, the Shivering Sands unit, and the Kellner Fen unit. All three are described on the DNR page, but there is no…
Little Lake, SNA #554 (183/675)
Little Lake is the only inland lake on Washington Island and is a literal stone’s throw away from Lake Michigan, with a 250-foot cobblestone ridge separating the two bodies of water. The DNR says that Little Lake requires permission to visit from the owner, the Door County Land Trust, but the DCLT’s own information makes…
Rock Island Woods, SNA #382 (182/675)
Rock Island Woods features several forest types and cliff communities on Rock Island off the tip of Door County. As it is an island accessible only by boat, there is no parking. Many people take the ferry from the tip of Door County to Washington Island, drive their car across the island, and then take…
Big & Little Marsh, SNA #391 (181/675)
Big & Little Marsh features marsh, fen, and northern wet-mesic habitats on the eastern side of Washington Island in Door County. Take the ferry from mainland Door County and then park along any of several roads including: Deer Lane Road, Michigan Road, Town Line Road, Wickman Road, or North Hemlock Drive. I would classify my…
Coffey Swamp, SNA #276 (180/675)
Coffey Swamp features a seepage pond surrounded by a fen and northern wet-mesic forest on Washington Island in Door County. As mentioned in prevous posts on Detroit Harbor and Jackson Harbor Ridges, the most common access to the island is via ferry. This natural area consists of two parcels, one of which is found along…
Jackson Harbor Ridges, SNA #110 (179/675)
Jackson Harbor Ridges features a series of sand dunes and swales on the northeastern corner of Washington Island in Door County. As previously discussed in the Detroit Harbor post, the customary way to reach the island is to take the ferry at the end of STH 42 which will take you to Detroit Harbor. Then…
Detroit Harbor, SNA #413 (178/675)
Detroit Harbor contains a mixture of wetlands and a northern mesic forest on Washington Island in Door County. A car/passenger ferry leaves from Gils Rock at the northern tip of Door County and arrives a stone’s throw from the natural area on Washington Island. As I recall, it is not cheap as you must pay…
Red Banks Alvar, SNA #332 (177/675)
Red Banks Alvar features a rare natural community in Wisconsin known as an alvar. This natural area consists of three parcels near Benderville in Brown County. Two parcels are found on either side of STH 57, just southeast of the town, with a parking area accessible from the northbound lanes. The second parcel is found to…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 