Border Lakes, or the Catherine Wolter Wilderness Area as The Nature Conservancy calls it, encompasses 15 undeveloped lakes in northwestern Vilas County. A parking area is located on East Bay Road, southeast of Presque Isle. Numerous trails that are more like access roads, loop through the site. As my mother and I pulled into the…
Tag: The Nature Conservancy
Pickerel Lake Fen, SNA #209 (170/675)
Pickerel Lake Fen (not to be confused with Pickerel Lake SNA – subject of a future post) features a large alkaline fen around the namesake lake in northern Walworth County. There are two main access points: parking along Pickerel Lake Road and walking east or west into the southern parcel or parking in the small…
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…
Summerton Bog, SNA #42 (158/675)
Summerton Bog contains a mixture of wetland communities including bog, fen, and sedge meadow northwest of Endeavor. A parking area is located off of Freedom Road on the west side of the natural area. This is another site that requires a more detailed exploration in the near future. Here, the weather precluded any significant exploration,…
Quincy Bluff & Wetlands, SNA #272 (133/675)
Quincy Bluff & Wetlands is a massive natural area with a great variety of natural communities. Originally acquired by The Nature Conservancy, the property was transferred in recent years to the DNR. It has been the site of intensive restoration activities as well as land acquisition over the years and will continue to be in…
Toft Point, SNA #57 (115/675)
Toft Point contains a wide range of natural communities on a peninsula between Moonlight Bay and Baileys Harbor. To reach the site, take the access lane off of Ridges Road, about 1.5 miles east of the intersection of STH 57 and Ridges Road. A parking area and trailhead can be found there. Alternatively, continue on…
North Bay, SNA #381 (110/675)
North Bay features a long list of natural communities including various forest and wetland types (see table below) and certainly is more diverse than its name implies. Such is the case sometimes with SNA names. At times a site may be named X Lake and it really is just the lake. Other times it is much…
Mink River Estuary, SNA #218 (109/675)
Mink River Estuary features one of the most pristine freshwater estuaries in the country as well as associated wetland communities including marsh and conifer swamp. Land access is availabe from two spots: a large parking area off of CTH NP where it turns sharply north and off of Mink River Road. This site is best…
Kangaroo Lake, SNA #355 (104/675)
Kangaroo Lake features forest and wetland communities surrounding the north end of Kangaroo Lake. The site is owned partly by the Door County Land Trust and by The Nature Conservancy. The bulk of the SNA land is owned by TNC with a smaller portion owned by the DCLT. Both organizations give the Kangaroo Lake name…
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…
Waubesa Wetlands, SNA #114 (69/674)
Waubesa Wetlands features a sedge meadow, fen, and shrubb-car habitat in an old lobe of Lake Waubesa. Overland access is available from a small (2-car) parking area on Lalor Road (aka Rustic Road 19). From there, a access trail along a fenceline leads to the site. Further south on the same road the site boundaries…
Honey Creek, SNA #91 (21/674)
Originally protected as a bird sanctuary by the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology (WSO), Honey Creek actually protects an array of habitats including a class II trout stream, rocky outcroppings, upland ridges, and boggy areas. Over 80 species of birds nest at this site including rareities such as veery, blue-gray gnatcatcher, yellow-throated vireo, blue-winged warbler, Louisiana…
Pine Hollow, SNA #45 (19/674)
A deep quartzite gorge is the prominent feature at Pine Hollow, which is a large, more diverse version of nearby Pan Hollow. The gorge rises 300′ in places. There are a variety of other habitats present here ranging from a prairie opening to moist cliffs to a sedge meadow. Also present are rockshelters used by…
Pan Hollow, SNA #545 (18/674)
A wide, flat-bottomed gorge is the dominant feature at Pan Hollow. Sans GPS, this is not the easiest site to find as there were no markings or signage of any kind on the lonely country road where it is located. Parking on the roadside and walking across a field leads you into the forest and…
Spring Green Preserve, SNA #102 (16/674)
Known as the “Wisconsin desert”, plants you might not think exist in the state actually thrive in the arid, shifting sands of Spring Green Preserve. The site is easy to find amidst a row of houses just north of US14 in Spring Green. A gravel parking area provides ample room for 10 or so vehicles…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 