Hardscrabble Prairie features a dry prairie and oak openings near Hazel Green in southwestern Lafayette County. Park near the end of the cul-de-sac on Crawford Lane near the sewage treatment plant and walk along the fence on the west side of the plant. Walking along the fence brought me to what seemed to be an…
Tag: Oak Opening
Muir Park, SNA #96 (153/675)
Muir Park features a variety of natural communities within the boundaries of Muir County Park in Marquette County. A parking area and boat ramp are available off of Fox River Road. The Ice Age Trail forms a loop around Ennis Lake. The prairie was in full force during my mid-June visit. Butterfly milkweed, spiderwort, prairie…
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….
Genesee Oak Opening & Fen, SNA #153 (125/675)
Genesee Oak Opening & Fen is well-described by its name. An bur oak opening and fen are found at the site, just north of North Prairie. An access lane leads west from STH 59 to a small pull-off for parking. Continue walking west into the site. I have visited Genesee Oak Opening & Fen twice,…
Eagle Centre Prairie, SNA #349 (122/675)
Eagle Centre Prairie is one of the smaller SNA’s and contains a dry prairie remnant and oak opening next to a subdivision. Park at the end of the cul-de-sac on Clover Court and walk through the trees to the site. This was one of the visits where I was thinking to myself, ‘am I supposed…
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…
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…
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…
Rocky Run Oak Savanna, SNA #220 (76/674)
Diverse topography is the dominant feature at Rocky Run Oak Savanna. Undulating terrain is found on a south-facing slope overlooking Rocky Run Creek. As part of the Rocky Run State Fishery Area, a parking area is located off of Hwy 22, south of Wyocena. A narrow access lane opens up to an old agricultural field…
Rose Lake, SNA #538 (64/674)
Rose Lake is a shallow seepage lake in Jefferson County surrounded by rich wetlands and prairie/savanna in the process of restoration. Rose Lake SNA overlaps with Dorothy Carnes County Park and vice versa. The main access point is via Radloff Lane which leads to a large parking lot and picnic area. A trailhead is also…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 