Trempealeau River Meadow is a large sedge meadow and marsh complex in Buffalo County. Park on Wolfe’s Dugway Road and walk east into the site. There is a small degraded prairie before a short forested drop in elevation leading to the sedge meadow. This was another site where rubber boots would have come in handy. Most…
Tamarack Creek Bog, SNA #60 (235/679)
Tamarack Creek Bog features bog, marsh, and forest communities with several species more often found further north. Located within the Tamarack Creek Wildlife Area in southern Trempealeau County, the natural area is composed of two parcels with parking for the southern parcel on the roadside of CTH F and a parking area adjacent to the…
Van Loon Floodplain Savanna (234/679)
Van Loon Floodplain Savanna is, as its siter site Van Loon Floodplain Forest, found within the Van Loon Wildlife Area along the Black River in La Crosse County. The access directions as described on the DNR site, are not recommended to put it mildly. They describe walking 1 mile along the Seven Bridges trail and then north…
Van Loon Floodplain Forest, SNA #568 (233/679)
Van Loon Floodplain Forest is comprised of two parcels of floodplain forest amidst sloughs and channels on the eastern shore of the Black River on either side of STH 35. It can be reached from a boat landing on the south side of STH 35. The southern parcel lies just 200 feet further south while…
Trempealeau Mountain, SNA #356 (232/679)
Trempealeau Mountain is a 425-foot tall forested rock in the Mississippi River, just offshore from Perrot State Park. The formal method of reaching the site, one of only three islands composed of solid rock along the Mississippi River, is to kayak or canoe from the state park boat launch. Canoes and kayaks are available for…
Northeast Coulee Oak Woodland, SNA #597 (231/679)
Northeast Coulee Oak Woodland comprises a southern dry-mesic forest on a north-facing slope within the Coulee Experimental Forest in La Crosse County. It is directly adjacent to the north boundary of the Billy Goat Ridge unit of Berg Prairie & Billy Goat Ridge SNA. I reached this site by continuing north through the latter natural area…
Berg Prairie & Billy Goat Ridge, SNA #596 (230/679)
Berg Prairie & Billy Goat Ridge features dry prairie and dry-mesic forest in two disjunct parcels within the Coulee Experimental Forest. Berg Prairie is the largest dry prairie remnant left in Wisconsin and is found on CTH II just south of Anthony Road. There are a couple of DNR parking areas in the general vicinity,…
La Crosse River Trail Prairies, SNA #184 (229/679)
La Crosse River Trail Prairies includes 2 segments of dry-mesic and dry pairie along the La River State Trail straddling the La Crosse-Monroe county line. The trail can be accessed at numerous points including from Bangor to the west, Sparta to the east, or Rockland in the center. I parked on E May Street in…
Eureka Maple Woods, SNA #222 (228/679)
Eureka Maple Woods features a primarily maple-basswood forest on the slopes above Timber Coulee Creek in far southwestern Monroe County. It is directly across Oboe Avenue from Portland Maples SNA and both are part of the Coon Creek Fishery Area. Park along the road and you can visit both sites without even moving your vehicle….
Portland Maples, SNA #372 (227/675)
Portland Maples encompasses a southern mesic and floodplain forests on sloped terrtain in the southwestern corner of Monroe County. Part of Coon Creek Fishery Area, the natural area lies along Rutlands Coulee Creek and can be reached by parking on the side of Oboe Avenue for the larger west parcel or Oakdale Avenue for the smaller…
Faville Prairie, SNA #3 (226/675)
Faville Prairie features a low prairie surrounded by sedge meadow and shrub-carr in Jefferson County. Owned by the UW System and managed by the UW Arboretum, permission is required to visit the site. As denoted by its number (3), Faville Prairie was one of the first SNA’s and was designated in 1952. The fluctuating water…
Allen Creek Wetlands, SNA #641 (225/675)
Allen Creek Wetlands includes a complex of wetlands including sedge meadow, wet-mesic prairie, and fen. The natural area consists of two parcels, one of which is privately owned and closed to the public and the other which is DNR-owned and open to the public. I have visited only the former, but the directions given…
Fair Meadows, SNA #416 (224/675)
Fair Meadows encompasses a variety of habitats including oak woodland and savanna, wet prairie, and sedge meadow. It is home to the federally threatened and Wisconsin endangered eastern prairie white-fringed orchid. A privately owned natural area, Fair Meadows is generally only open to the public on field trips through conservation organizations and that is how…
Tomahawk Lake Hemlocks, SNA #510 (223/675)
Tomahawk Lake Hemlocks features a northern mesic forest with hemlock and yellow birch on rolling topography betwen Tomahawk and Little Carr Lakes. Kettle depressions are found throughout the site. Park on Rainbow Road, near the intersection with Robin Road and beyond the entrance to the Macnaughton Correctional Center. Hemlock forests are one of my favorite…
Finnerud Pine Forest, SNA #31 (222/675)
Finnerud Pine Forest encompasses an old-growth red pine forest, bog, and lake shoreline. The site is owned by the University of Wisconsin System via the Board of Regents and is managed by the UW Arboretum. Visits require advanced permission. I am grateful to the UW Arboretum for allowing me to visit the several natural areas…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 