Clover Valley Fen features a series of peat mounds with characteristic fen flora just northwest of the Whitewater Lake Campground in the Kettle Moraine State Forest – Southern Unit. To reach it is not the easiest endeavor. Park either on Hi-Lo Road near the campground entrance or you could risk parking in a campsite to…
Tag: Kettle Moraine State Forest – Southern Unit
Young Prairie, SNA #132 (129/675)
Young Prairie features a wet-mesic prairie amidst a mixture of degraded lands straddling the Jefferson-Walworth County line. It can be reached via a DNR access lane north of Bluff Road or just to the northeast via a parking area off of Young Road. I have visited this site three times and have yet to explore…
Clifford Messinger Dry Prairie & Savanna Preserve, SNA #230 (128/675)
Clifford Messinger Dry Prairie & Savanna Preserve is composed of 13 separate parcels of dry prairie and oak savanna scattered across 11 miles in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. Over the years, the number of parcels has varied as parcels were acquired, delisted as SNA’s, or subsumed into an existing SNA….
Scuppernong Prairie, SNA #6 (121/675)
Scuppernong Prairie contains a wet prairie just southeast of Kettle Moraine Low Prairie. The property consists of 2 parcels on either side of CTH N approximately 1/5 mile apart. A large parking area is found on the west side of CTH N, across from the southernmost parcel, but with no road shoulder here to speak…
Kettle Moraine Low Prairie, SNA #88 (120/675)
Kettle Moraine Low Prairie features an array of prairie types with upland islands near Eagle in the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. There is an access lane and parking area located north of Eagle on the west side of STH 67 (Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive). Beyond the parking area, the access lane…
Ottawa Lake Fen, SNA #128 (119/675)
Ottawa Lake Fen features a picturesque fen and marl flat complex between Ottawa Lake and another, unnamed lake. Found within the Ottawa Lake Campground area of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, ample paved parking is available. One option is to park at the boat ramp and canoe/kayak across the lake to…
Eagle Oak Opening, SNA #66 (85/674)
Eagle Oak Opening, protects, as does the previous post’s Kettle Moraine Oak Opening, one of the rarest natural communities in Wisconsin, the oak opening. Once covering over 5.5 million acres (~15% of the state), oak openings have all but vanished as fire supression and reduced grazing have allowed the openings to fill in with younger…
Kettle Moraine Oak Opening, SNA #229 (84/674)
Kettle Moraine Oak Opening features oak openings amidst an oak woodland with dry prairie remnants. Access is easy with a large parking area on CTH H. From there, the Bald Bluff hiking trail leads throughout the site and doubles as a segment of the Ice Age Trail (IAT). This is one of 7 SNA’s in…
Bluff Creek, SNA #271 (83/674)
Bluff Creek is another one of my favorite SNA’s and another smorgasboard of natural communities. It consists of two parcels and can be accessed via several points including a pull-off on CTH P, typically populated by fisherman, off of Hi-Lo Road (bring your rubber boots), and off of Esterly Road. The Ice Age Trail (IAT)…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 