*experimenting with post format; bear with me* Karcher Springs contains wetland and upland natural communities in southern Kenosha County. Located within Karcher State Wildlife Area, the SNA can be easily accessed from a Wildlife Area parking lot on the north side of CTH JB/31st St just west of STH 83. The west side of the…
Tag: Calcareous Fen
Bass Lake Fen (248/679)
Bass Lake Fen encompasses an area that is much as it sounds, a fen along the shore of Bass Lake. A parking area is located on the south side of CTH YY east of STH 22. From there, walk approximately 3/4 mile due south to the north shore of the lake. The fen is primarily…
Lunch Creek Wetlands (247/679)
Lunch Creek Wetlands is comprised of a large sedge meadow and areas of calcareous fen straddling the meandering Lunch Creek in Waushara County. This site can be accessed from a DNR parking area on the east side of CTH Y. Alternatively, it appears access is possible from the northeast and southeast corners of the site…
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…
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…
French Creek Fen, SNA #546 (154/675)
French Creek Fen features three fen areas embedded with a semi-open wetland complex. A wet prairie, sedge meadow, and springs are also present. Found within the French Creek Wildlife Area in northern Columbia County, there are several parking areas around the periphery, though the easiest access is probably via the parking area at the end…
Springvale Wet Prairie, SNA #547 (151/675)
Springvale Wet Prairie includes a wet prairie, sedge meadow, and small fen on a site bisected by Duck Creek east of Pardeeville. There are no great parking options as even the roads here have narrow shoulders and steep ditches on the sides. Luckily for me, CTH I was closed at the time and so I…
North Bay, SNA #381 (110/675)
North Bay features a long list of natural communities including various forest and wetland types (see table below) and certainly is more diverse than its name implies. Such is the case sometimes with SNA names. At times a site may be named X Lake and it really is just the lake. Other times it is much…
White Cliff Fen & Forest, SNA #383 (103/675)
White Cliff Fen & Forest features a calcareous fen and mixed forest between the Niagara Escarpment and Green Bay. The trailhead is found on White Cliff Road with limited parking available on the roadside there. Additional parking can be found just east of the trailhead at a public boat launch. This was my first visit…
Lulu Lake, SNA #138 (86/674)
Lulu Lake is an amazing mosaic of natural communities straddling the Walworth-Waukesha County line. Several parking areas are located around the property including on CTH E, Lulu Lake Road, and Nature Road. Trails lead throughout the site. The SNA is owned approximately 2/3 by the DNR and 1/3 by The Nature Conservancy. Both entities own…
Snow Bottom, SNA #262 (82/674)
Snow Bottom certainly packs a punch in terms of natural community diversity in a small area. Though there are 3 parcels to this site, only 2 are accessible as one is landlocked. The western parcel is accessed off of Cedar Rock Road, while the eastern parcel can be reached from a parking area on Bowers…
Mud Lake Fen & Wet Prairie, SNA #604 (78/674)
Mud Lake Fen & Wet Prairie is exactly what it sounds like, although the fen is much smaller than the wet prairie. It can be reached from a parking area off of Conservation Road south of Lake Mills. One parking area is directly on that road and another is 1/4 mile north on an access…
Waterloo Prairie, SNA #63 (61/674)
Waterloo Prairie consists of four prairie parcels east of Waterloo, home of Trek bicycles. The southernmost parcel is the easiest to access with a large gravel parking area off of Blue Joint Road. A smaller parcel is just to the west and can be reached via other DNR lands between the two. A parcel to…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 