Beulah Bog encompasses two bog lakes surrounded by a northern wet forest in northeastern Walworth County. A parking area is located on Stringers Bridge Road, south of CTH J. From there, a trail leads east over undulating glacial terrain before turning south to reach a boardwalk, which in turn leads to one of the bog…
Tag: Walworth County
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…
Clover Valley Fen, SNA #213 (130/675)
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…
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….
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…
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 