Rush Lake features three wetland parcels scattered about the south and east sides of Rush Lake in southwestern Winnebago County. Sedge meadow, wet prairie, shrubb-carr, and cattails provide a wetland habitat millieux for a variety of birds and waterfowl. The northeastern parcel is accessible from Mountain Road, east of CTH M and the central parcel…
Ripon Prairie (265/679)
Ripon Prairie formerly featured dry prairie remnants on a small, triangular parcel in northwestern Fond du Lac County. Owned by Ripon College, the parcel was neglected over the years and woody species encroached and effectively cancelled out the prairie. Ripon Prairie’s status as a State Natural Area was mutually dissolved by a memorandum of understanding…
Karner Blue Meadow (264/679)
Karner Blue Meadow comprises a block of prime habitat for the federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). The site is easily reached by parking on the side of the road on 22nd Avenue midway between CTH A and CTH H. A DNR gate and sign mark the site. There are no official trails,…
Buena Vista Prairie Chicken Meadow (263/679)
Buena Vista Prairie Chicken Meadow comprises another parcel of Greater prairie chicken habitat, just 2 miles north of Buena Vista Quarry Prairie. Both sites are part of the the Buena Vista Wildlife Area located in southwestern Portage County. The meadow is bound by 130th Street on the east and Griffith Avenue on the south and…
Buena Vista Quarry Prairie (262/679)
Buena Vista Quarry Prairie provides habitat for the the state-threatened Greater prairie chicken (Tympanachus cupido). Parking areas in the form of a gravel cul-de-sacs can be found at the end of 130th Street, 2/5 mile south of CTH W and 120th Street 2/5 mile east of CTH F. Truth be told, I did not find this…
Oshkosh-Larsen Trail Prairies (261/679)
Oshkosh-Larsen Trail Prairies encompasses a series of four wet-mesic prairie remnants located along the Wiouwash State Trail in Winnebago County just east of USH 45. Park on the roadside at any one of several intersections with county and local roads including CTH G near Allenville (then head north), Oak Ridge Road (then head south), or…
Holland Red Maple Swamp (260/679)
Holland Red Maple Swamp encompasses a northern hardwood swamp and northern wet-mesic forest within Holland Wildlife Area in southern Brown County. One of only two SNA’s within the county, Holland Red Maple Swamp can be accessed via a parking area south of the T-intersection of Refuge Road and Mill Road southeast of the town of…
Cherney Maribel Caves (259/679)
Cherney Maribel Caves features a limestone bluff indented with what could loosely be described as caves (and more accurately referred to as cracks, crevices, and the like). The natural area is found within the namesake park, located on the east side of CTH Z south of Cooperstown in northern Manitowoc County. A large parking area…
Two Creeks Buried Forest (258/679)
Two Creeks Buried Forest features a unique record of Wisconsin’s glacial history in the extreme northeastern corner of Manitowoc County. A parking area is located on the east side of the T-intersection of STH 42 and CTH BB. Walk toward the lake and find a shallow place to amble down and see the profile of…
Wilderness Ridge, SNA (257/679)
Wilderness Ridge is a T-shaped area of forested ridges and wet swales marking former shorelines of Lake Michigan. Located within Point Beach State Forest, the site is easily accessed from the parking area at the entrance station and following the trail south. A GPS is recommended to know exactly when you are within the boundaries…
Point Beach Ridges (256/679)
Point Beach Ridges encompasses a series of 11 ridges and swales representing former shorelines of the Nippissing Great Lakes, a term for Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron which were all connected after the glaciers receeded but with much higher water levels than at present. A small pull-off is located on the east side of CTH…
Woodland Dunes, SNA (255/679)
Woodland Dunes featuers a series of forested ridges and swales that represent former shorelines of Lake Michigan. The site is owned by the Woodland Dunes Nature Center which has a headquarters/nature center building just north of the natural area on STH 310/Hawthorne Avenue. Trails lead from the nature center north, but none head south into the…
VanderBloemen Bog (254/679)
VanderBloemen Bog features an open bog and hardwood swamp in Manitowoc County. Owned by Silver Lake College, this site requires permission from the College for visitation. Its location is not described by the DNR and will not be described here, though it is not difficult to find. My lasting memories of VanderBloemen Bog are the…
Stockbridge Ledge Woods (253/679)
Stockbridge Ledge Woods encompasses a mature forest with a nice groundlayer in central Calumet County. Parking areas are located on either side of Ledge Road approximately 3/4 mile north of CTH F. An informal trail passes through the site more or less in an east-west orientation. The groundlayer was past peak during my visit with…
Rhine Center Bog (252/679)
Rhine Center Bog includes a bog lake surrounded by a southern wet-mesic forest in north-central Sheboygan County. A large gravel parking area is located on the east side of STH 57 just northwest of Rhine Center and just south of the intersection of STH 57 and CTH EH. From the parking area, an informal trail…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 