Peninsula Park Beech Forest is the second of two SNA’s found with Peninsula State Park (the other being Peninsula Park White Cedar Forest). Several parking areas are found near the observation tower (which is closed indefinitely) and from there, the Sentinel trail leads across the road toward the northern edge of the SNA. The Eagle…
Peninsula Park White Cedar Forest, SNA #13 (100/675)
100th blog post!
Midway Railroad Prairie, SNA #18 (99/674)
Midway Railroad Prairie is, as its name implies, a prairie along a former railroad right-of-way. What makes this site different is that it encompasses substantially more land away from the trail compared to most other former railroad prairies which tend to be thin strips of land. The Great River State Trail runs along the site’s…
Holland Sand Prairie (98/674)
Holland Sand Prairie features, of course, a sand prairie that was once part of a massive sand terrace above the Mississippi River. Now, Holland Sand Prairie is the only sizable remnant. The site can be accessed from CTH Mh (McHugh Road). A parking area and information kiosk are present. Informal trails lead throughout the site….
Great River Trail Prairies, SNA #357 (97/674)
Great River Trail Prairies consists of two sand prairie parcels located approximately 7 miles apart in La Crosse and Trempealeau Counties. The Trempealeau County unit is adjacent to Perot State Park and can be accessed via Prairie Road. The La Crosse County unit is best reached from a canoe landing parking area at the end…
Brady’s Bluff (96/674)
Brady’s Bluff features a dry prairie and oak woodland on a bluff with stunning views overlooking the Mississippi River. Found within Perot State Park, this is definitely in my top 10 SNA’s visited. The SNA can be reached from several trailheads, though the most common are the East Brady’s and West Brady’s parking areas. From…
Tiffany Bottoms, SNA #30 (95/674)
Tiffany Bottoms features a floodplain forest as part of one of the largest river deltas in the Midwest. There are 3 parking areas on the east side of the SNA, reached via short access lanes off of Hwy 25 north of Nelson. I visited Tiffany Bottoms and the encompassing Tiffany Wildlife Area as part of…
Kewaskum Maple-Oak Woods, SNA #135 (94/674)
Kewaskum Maple-Oak Woods features southern mesic and southern dry-mesic forests split between two parcels located southeast of Kewaskum. A parking area is located on South Mill Road from which a snowmobile trail heads west and bisects the non-SNA land between the two parcels. I have visited Kewaskum Maple-Oak Woods twice and am not very happy…
Kettle Hole Woods, SNA #254 (93/674)
Kettle Hole Woods features southern mesic and southern dry-mesic forests on a hillside with numerous ephemeral ponds scattered throughout. Continuing with the theme, this is one of 11 SNA’s found within the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. This is your standard park on the road (Forestview Road) and ‘jump in’ site, though…
Milwaukee River Tamarack Lowlands & Dundee Kame, SNA #256 (92/674)
Milwaukee River Tamarack Lowlands & Dundee Kame features a variety of wetland communities and several glacial kames surrounding a stretch of the Milwaukee River in the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is one of 11 SNA’s found with this forest unit. There are several ways to access this SNA and I would…
Milwaukee River & Swamp, SNA #93 (91/674)
Milwaukee River and Swamp features a mixture of wet-mesic forests of the northern and southern varieties as well as a conifer swamp along the shores of the Milwaukee River and Mauthe Lake within the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. It is one of 11 SNA’s within this forest unit. The Ice Age…
Spruce Lake Bog, SNA #59 (90/674)
Spruce Lake Bog features a hard-water seepage bog northwest of Dundee in one of the many kettles characteristic of this region. It is one of 11 SNA’s within the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. A parking area is located on Airport Road as denoted by ‘Wildlife Viewing Area’ signs. Cross the grass…
Butler Lake & Flynn’s Spring, SNA #257 (89/674)
Butler Lake features the namesake lake and spring, as well as a short segment of the Parnell Esker. It is one of 11 SNA’s found within the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Access is easy via a large parking area at a bend in Butler Lake Road. There is a boat landing…
Haskell Noyes Memorial Woods, SNA #11 (88/674)
Haskell Noyes Memorial Woods protects a typical southern dry-mesic forest on rolling terrain within the Northern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, one of 11 SNA’s found there. It is easy to find this SNA, with a glorified gravel pull-off from CTH GGG. A large SNA sign is noticeable from the road and a…
Johnson Hill Kame, SNA #258 (87/674)
Johnson Hill Kame contains northern and southern dry-mesic forests on the slopes of a conical moulin kame deposited during the last glaciation of Wisconsin. Parking here is the very narrow roadside along Shamrock Road. Walk across the agricultural field to a tree line, an area which can be quite wet with ephemeral ponds and quite…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 