Borah Creek Prairie features dry prairie remants on land surrounding Borah Creek in eastern Grant County, south of Fennimore. Park on the side of Mt. Ridge Road and walk in on the access lane heading west. This was the last stop on my latest weekend excursion to southwestern Wisconsin. As such, fatigue had set in…
Tag: Grant County
Adiantum Woods (210/675)
Adiantum Woods features a gradient of forest types from mesic to dry on a slope overlooking the Wisconsin River across from Wauzeka. An access road leads north from CTH C to a parking area. Walk 1 mile north and then west on an old two-track logging road through a field to the southern boundary of…
Woodman Lake Sand Prairie & Dead Lake (209/675)
Woodman Lake Sand Prairie & Dead Lake features a sand prairie and barrens complex and the very shallow Deep Lake, all part of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. Access is via Woodman Lake Road north of STH 133 and the town of Woodman. A parking area is located on th east side of Woodman Lake…
Wyalusing Walnut Forest (204/675)
Wyalusing Walnut Forest encompasses several forest types from wet to dry on and below a bluff overlooking the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. It is found within Wyalusing State Park, easily in my top 2 Wisconsin State Parks. Great views, wonderful natural areas, and outstanding birding can all be found here. Though a…
Cassville Bluffs – Roe Unit (203/675)
Cassville Bluffs – Roe Unit features dry prairie remants and oak savanna along a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in southwestern Grant County. Parking is at the end of the cul-de-sac on Sand Lake Lane. From there, a trail leads through the forest, across a stream, up the backside of the bluff before petering out…
Dewey Heights Prairie (202/675)
Dewey Heights Prairie features a dry prairie on a bluff 800 feet above the Mississippi River. Found within Nelson Dewey State Park, a lesser known site in Grant County, this gem is easily reachable and explorable for most. Several parking areas are located along and at the end of the long park road and a trail…
Chase Creek (201/675)
Chase Creek features a rare algific talus slope natural community in Grant County. Parking is on the side of Dugway Road, followed by a squirrelly climb up the side of the bluff. At the time I visited Chase Creek, it had not yet reached the DNR’s website and I was essentially going in blind. The…
Gasner Hollow Prairie (200/675)
Gasner Hollow Prairie features a dry prairie and oak savanna on a bluff overlooking several sloughs of the Mississippi River. It is located in Grant County, just south of Wyalusing State Park, wedged between CTH X and Gasner Hollow Road. Parking is a bit easier on the latter which is much less travelled, but there…
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…
Ipswich Prairie, SNA #195 (165/675)
Ipswich Prairie encompasses a narrow, 1.2 mile long stretch of mesic prairie straddling the Lafayette-Grant County line along Ipswich Road southeast of Platteville. Park anywhere along the road. I don’t recall the width of the shoulder in this area, but the road was not a very busy one. Much of the area in this part…
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…
Blue River Sand Barrens, SNA #69 (81/674)
Blue River Sand Barrens features oak barrens and sand dunes on an old alluvial plain of the Wisconsin River. The site is easy to reach with parking along Wightman Road, a sandy/gravelly access lane. Blue River Sand Barrens is another of my all-time favorite sites. The presence of moving sand dunes is similar to Spring…
Blue River Bluffs, SNA #316 (80/674)
Blue River Bluffs is one of my favorite sites. Easy to find, easy to access, great views, a wide variety of species; all in all, just a great SNA. There are two parcels for Blue River Bluffs; both can be accessed by parking along the road, either Old County C Road for the west parcel…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 