Carver-Roehl Woods, the subject of this, my 300th blog post, features a southern mesic forest on and around the hillside and rocky overhangs along Spring Brook Creek in Rock County’s Carver-Roehl Park. The park entrance is found on South Carver’s Rock Road just north of East Creek Road. The park road eventually forms a loop…
Tag: Cliff
Castle Mound Pine Forest (294/681)
Castle Mound Pine Forest is a forested butte rising nearly 200 feet above the surrounding landscape. Found within the Black River State Forest, access is easy from the Castle Mound Campground unit of the forest on USH 12 south of Black River Falls. Park in the picnic parking area. Trails wind up and around the…
Catfish Eddy Terraces (293/681)
Catfish Eddy Terraces is comprised of northern dry-mesic forest and various gorges and wet terrain along the eastern bank of the Black River in Jackson County. There are no trails or parking areas here, so I found it easiest to park along Clinton Road and walk approximately 1/3 mile west into the natural area. After…
Upper Black River (290/681)
Upper Black River features a variety of natural communities along stretches of the Black River and a few of its tributaries. Floodplain forest, mesic forest, and dripping cliffs line these waterways. As one would expect with a property this large containing several parcels, there are numerous ways to access it. A DNR parking area and…
Eagle Eye (282/681)
Eagle Eye, so named for a slit in the rocky ridge, features a mosaic of natural communities including dry prairie remnants, oak woodland, oak savnna, and a trout stream, all occurring on a narrow, curving ridge that rises 250 feet above the surrounding landscape in eastern Vernon county, northwest of Viroqua. The site is located…
Magnolia Bluff (243/679)
Magnolia Bluff includes southern dry-mesic forest and a small dry prairie on a rocky ridge overlooking eastern Rock County. Found within the eponymous county park, Magnolia Bluff can be reached on Croak Road, south of STH 59. Lower and upper parking areas provide access to the site. Trails lead from the parking areas and loop…
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,…
Coon Creek Cliffs, SNA #201 (218/675)
Coon Creek Cliffs encompasses a series of north-facing and seeping cliffs rich in mosses, liverworts, and ferns. Park along Jore Road, east of CTH P. The natural area lies south of the road. Take care in moving through the site as conditions are typically slick at any time of the year. Water was freely dripping, seeping, and…
Tunnelville Cliffs, SNA #542 (217/675)
Tunnelville Cliffs features a series of sandstone cliffs above the East Fork of the Kickapoo River southwest of La Farge. Access is via Tunnelville Road where the road bends sharply north. Park on the roadside near, but not blocking, the DNR access gate. Walk west into the site. From the road, the access lane passes…
Limery Ridge Savanna (205/675)
Limery Ridge Savanna features savanna and dry prairie communities on one of the last remaining undeveloped bluffs in Wisconsin along the Mississippi River. Below the bluff is a southern mesic forest. The site is located along STH 35, aka the Great River Road, but there is no designated parking area. Additionally, it turns out that…
Wyalusing Hardwood Forest (199/675)
Wyalusing Hardwood Forest features a mixture of southern forest types (wet-mesic, mesic, dry-mesic, and dry) near the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers in Wyalusing State Park. The closest parking area is a pull-off from the main park road near the Paul Lawrence Interpretive Center with room for 3-4 cars. From there, take the…
Bass Hollow (198/675)
Bass Hollow encompasses a southern mesic forest amidst a cliff-lined coulee, or hollow, in southern Juneau County. It is found on both sides of Cowan Road east of CTH K. A parking area for the adjacent Bass Hollow County Park is found on the south side of Cowan Road. I have visited Bass Hollow twice…
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…
High Cliff Escarpment, SNA #176 (176/675)
High Cliff Escarpment features a more than one-mile long exposure of the Niagara Escarpment, a limestone cliff that extends from Waukesha County through Door County and then on into Canada and New York. This natural area is found within High Cliff State Park along the northeastern shore of Lake Winnebago and is accessible via the…
Oakfield Ledge, SNA #190 (175/675)
Oakfield Ledge features a substantial exposure of the Niagara Escarpment in southern Fond du Lac County, south of Oakfield. Two parcels, each with their own parking area, are accessible form CTH Y and Breakneck Road, respectively. I have visited the southern parcel twice. A trail leads from the parking area along the edge of the…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 