Franklin Savanna contains the bones of an oak savanna within the decidedly urban Milwaukee County. It is one of just 3 SNA’s found within the county. It can be found on Oakwood Road, south of the city of Franklin, in the southeast corner of the county. Parking here is dicey at best. The road is…
Tag: Oak Savanna
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…
Karner Blue Meadow (264/679)
Karner Blue Meadow comprises a block of prime habitat for the federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). The site is easily reached by parking on the side of the road on 22nd Avenue midway between CTH A and CTH H. A DNR gate and sign mark the site. There are no official trails,…
Wedde Creek Savanna (249/679)
Wedde Creek Savanna features an oak savanna located in northern Marquette County. The site is easily accessed from a parking area on the south side of Deerborn Avenue, just east of CTH Y. There are no trails, but the open landscape is easy to explore. Though the rain had abated by the time I reached…
Fair Meadows, SNA #416 (224/675)
Fair Meadows encompasses a variety of habitats including oak woodland and savanna, wet prairie, and sedge meadow. It is home to the federally threatened and Wisconsin endangered eastern prairie white-fringed orchid. A privately owned natural area, Fair Meadows is generally only open to the public on field trips through conservation organizations and that is how…
Romance Prairie, SNA #418 (213/675)
Romance Prairie features a dry prairie remnant and overgrown oak savanna and forest overlooking Cox Creek and the nearby town of Romance. The site is located nearly 6 miles east of Genoa on STH 56 and approximately 1/2 mile east of the North Fork of the Bad Axe River. The DNR site references an access…
Hogback Prairie (208/675)
The focus of Hogback Prairie is a ridge with a narrow crest and steep slopes of equal gradient. Dry prairie is found on the eastern and western slopes, while oak woods and an overgrown oak savanna are found to the south. The natural area is composed of 5 separate parcels accessible by local roads. Three…
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…
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…
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…
Page Creek Marsh, SNA #330 (159/675)
Page Creek Marsh features a variety of wetland natural communities surrounding Page Creek in central Marquette County. A parking area for the largest of three parcels is located off of CTH K, southwest of Montello. From there, a trail leads through the forest and to the creek. The remaining two parcels involve roadside parking. Page…
Observatory Hill, SNA #223 (152/675)
Observatory Hill is an rock outcropping rising 300 feet above the surrounding landscape and forming the highest point in Marquette County. A parking area is found on Gillette Avenue and a trail winds from there to the summit. The trail can be uneven in some places with exposed rock and tree roots. Observatory Hill presents some…
Chub Lake Oak Savanna, SNA #607 (143/675)
Chub Lake Oak Savanna features, appropriately enough an oak savanna on the southwest shore of Chub Lake. It borders Chub & Mud Lake Riverine Marsh SNA on its northern edge and quite frankly, I do not know why it was designated as a separate natural area. Its size (21 acres) pales in comparison to its…
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….
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 