White River Sedge Meadow encompasses the largest southern sedge meadow in Wisconsin. Located just one mile south-southeast of White River Prairie/Tamaracks and also a part of the larger White River Marsh State Wildlife Area, this natural area can be accesses by numerous parking areas scattered around its perimeter. The most direct access is from parking…
Tag: Wisconsin State Wildlife Area
White River Prairie / Tamaracks (277/681)
White River Prairie/Tamaracks features sizable wet prairie and tamarack bog communities along the White River in northwestern Green County west of Berlin. Found within the White River Marsh State Wildlife Area, there are ample parking areas in the general vicinity. The two nearest this natural area are located on the south side of CTH E…
Germania Wet Prairie (276/681)
Germania Wet Prairie includes a wet to wet-mesic prairie with sedge-meadow- and fen-like areas in central Marquette County, just north of the subject of yesterday’s blog entry, Comstock B0g-Meadow. A DNR parking area is found east of Eagle Road and is accessible via an access lane just north of the intersection of Eagle Road and…
Buena Vista Prairie Chicken Meadow (263/679)
Buena Vista Prairie Chicken Meadow comprises another parcel of Greater prairie chicken habitat, just 2 miles north of Buena Vista Quarry Prairie. Both sites are part of the the Buena Vista Wildlife Area located in southwestern Portage County. The meadow is bound by 130th Street on the east and Griffith Avenue on the south and…
Buena Vista Quarry Prairie (262/679)
Buena Vista Quarry Prairie provides habitat for the the state-threatened Greater prairie chicken (Tympanachus cupido). Parking areas in the form of a gravel cul-de-sacs can be found at the end of 130th Street, 2/5 mile south of CTH W and 120th Street 2/5 mile east of CTH F. Truth be told, I did not find this…
Holland Red Maple Swamp (260/679)
Holland Red Maple Swamp encompasses a northern hardwood swamp and northern wet-mesic forest within Holland Wildlife Area in southern Brown County. One of only two SNA’s within the county, Holland Red Maple Swamp can be accessed via a parking area south of the T-intersection of Refuge Road and Mill Road southeast of the town of…
Pine Island Savanna (244/679)
Pine Island Savanna encompasses one the largest floodplain savanna in the state. Located along the Wisconsin River and spanning the Columbia-Sauk Counties border, portions of the site are accessible from land, while the highest quality savanna is located on an island. A boat launch and parking area are both found along Levee Road between CTH…
Tamarack Creek Bog, SNA #60 (235/679)
Tamarack Creek Bog features bog, marsh, and forest communities with several species more often found further north. Located within the Tamarack Creek Wildlife Area in southern Trempealeau County, the natural area is composed of two parcels with parking for the southern parcel on the roadside of CTH F and a parking area adjacent to the…
Van Loon Floodplain Savanna (234/679)
Van Loon Floodplain Savanna is, as its siter site Van Loon Floodplain Forest, found within the Van Loon Wildlife Area along the Black River in La Crosse County. The access directions as described on the DNR site, are not recommended to put it mildly. They describe walking 1 mile along the Seven Bridges trail and then north…
Van Loon Floodplain Forest, SNA #568 (233/679)
Van Loon Floodplain Forest is comprised of two parcels of floodplain forest amidst sloughs and channels on the eastern shore of the Black River on either side of STH 35. It can be reached from a boat landing on the south side of STH 35. The southern parcel lies just 200 feet further south while…
Kickapoo Wild Woods (207/675)
Kickapoo Wild Woods encompasses forest types ranging from dry to mesic and floodplain strecthing from ridgetops down to the Kickapoo River 350 feet below. The site is comprised of two parcels north of Wauzeka with parking areas available from STH 131 and Badger Lane. Well, the rain that had begun at my previous stop, Wauzeka…
Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow, SNA #120 (172/675)
Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow contains a southern sedge meadow, as well as northern wet forest, tamarack bog and surrounding uplands. A parking area for the encompassing Honey Creek Wildlife Area is located on CTH W midway between Waterford and Burlington. I started off from the parking area by following one of several foot-trails that wander…
Springvale Wet Prairie, SNA #547 (151/675)
Springvale Wet Prairie includes a wet prairie, sedge meadow, and small fen on a site bisected by Duck Creek east of Pardeeville. There are no great parking options as even the roads here have narrow shoulders and steep ditches on the sides. Luckily for me, CTH I was closed at the time and so I…
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…
Waterloo Quartzite Outcrops, SNA #605 (141/675)
Waterloo Quartzite Outcrops features two outcrops approximately 6.5 miles apart in southern Dodge County. The northern outcrop is within the Waterloo Wildlife Area while the southern outcrop is within the Mud Lake Wildlife Area. Both are within the boundaries of the Glacial Heritage Area. The northern outcrop is accessible via an access lane from a parking…
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin 