Landscape
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Pollys Lake, Autumn
Page Creek Marsh is a State Natural Area consisting of over 500 acres of oak savanna, sedge meadows, prairie fens, tamarack swamps, bogs, and three lakes including Polly’s Lake. A staging area for Sandhill Cranes, blazing tamaracks and oaks can be seen here reflected in still waters as sunset approaches. Located in Marquette County, Page Creek Marsh is owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy.
Parfreys Autumn
Pitted sandstone walls frame young trees blazing with fall colors at the top of Parfrey’s Glen. The glen is a special jewel tucked away in the Baraboo Hills east of Devil’s Lake State Park. It was designated Wisconsin’s first State Natural Area in 1952. A walk through the water-carved gorge reveals ancient rocks, a babbling brook, and natural beauty year round.
Maple Swirl
An eddy formed by this stepped waterfall creates a swirl of autumn leaves. This is Pewits Nest State Natural Area, one of several intimate canyons found in the Baraboo Hills. The dreamy look of the flowing water and the swirling pattern are the result of a 30 second exposure late in
the afternoon on a bright fall day.
Smalley Falls
Smalley Falls lies upstream of Long Slide Falls, on the North Branch of the Pemebonwon River north of Pembine, WI. Here, volcanic rock forces the cascading water into a narrow chute, with the stream opening up again below the plunge pool. Feeling wet?
Bluffs - Lower Wisconsin Riverway
Prominent throughout the year, the bluffs of the Lower Wisconsin River take on a striking appearance when the landscape is blanketed in snow. This quiet scene of limestone outcrops is Casel’s Bluff, located on the north side of the river between Sauk City and Spring Green, WI.
Parfeys Winter
Pitted sandstone walls frame a single pine tree, adding color at the head of Parfrey’s Glen. Located a few miles east of Devil's Lake State Park, near Merrimac, Wisconsin, the feel of the Glen varies by the season. Winter is an ideal time to focus on the fascinating rocks in the canyon. A large chunk of conglomerate, pebbles and rocks cemented by sandstone, is highlighted by snow near the center of this image.
Hemlock Cathedral
The combination of streaming rays of sunlight, the high canopy, and sparse undergrowth here give rise to the feeling of being in a cathedral. A stand of mature hemlock dominate this hillside in
the Lake Laura Hardwoods State Natural Area, in Wisconsin’s Vilas County. The “cathedral’s” floor is blanketed here by club moss and wood fern. Lake Laura Hardwoods became the state’s 500th designated Natural Area when it was dedicated in 2007.
Winter Dogwood, Muir Park State Natural Area
Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) is the most eye-catching element in winter of the fen that surrounds the outlet stream for Ennis Lake. Located in southern Marquette County, Muir Park and the State Natural Area within feature sedge meadows, bogs, prairie, northern wet forest, and southern dry forest visible here beyond the fen. This site offers a profusion of native and rare plants, here covered by a deep blanket of snow.
Springtime Parfreys Glen
Ancient sandstone walls and mossy conglomerates frame the new season's leaves in the upper reach of Parfrey's Glen. This gorgeous canyon stays cool and moist through spring and summer, nurturing the moss and ferns, and an assortment of plants and trees commonly not found in southern Wisconsin. The first State Natural Area, Parfrey's Glen is part of Devil's Lake State Park, between Merrimac and Baraboo.
Pewits Nest
The last glaciers to visit Wisconsin diverted the course of Skillet Creek, a tributary of the Baraboo River on the north side of the Baraboo Hills. Meltwater from the glaciers then cut through layers of fine Cambrian sandstone creating the gorge known as Pewits Nest (locally, Pee Wees Nest). A State Natural Area, it is named for a crude dwelling built in the gorge by an early settler. The dwelling is said to have resembled a Phoebe’s nest, a bird then known as a peewit.
Gibraltar Rock, Autumn
Just west of Lodi, Wisconsin, is a limestone outcrop that rises several hundred feet above the surrounding area. Capped by a layer of sandstone, this outcrop is known as Gibraltar Rock. It’s a steep climb to the top, but well worth the effort. This is a view of the Wisconsin River Valley looking northwest from atop the Rock, with Lake Wisconsin and the Baraboo Hills visible in the distance.
Misty Passage
Morning fog moistens rocks and leaves near the upper end of Parfreys Glen. The fog and deep shadows add a touch of mystery to this image, more suggestive of the Misty Mountains and Middle Earth than the Baraboo Hills. Then again, it is but a short distance to Devils Lake! Parfreys Glen was the State’s first Natural Area, and is a favorite stop for earth science and geology field trips.
Autumn Light – Durwards Glen
Soft light illuminates the heart of this intimate on the south slope of the Baraboo Hills near Merrimac, Wisconsin. Durwards Glen is on property settled by Bernard and Margaret Durward in 1862. Following years of being operated by a religious order, the Glen is being protected today through private funds.
Tamaracks, Ennis Lake
These blazing tamaracks (Larix laricina) border Ennis Lake, in the John Muir Memorial Park. Located in southern Marquette County, the park is adjacent to the boyhood farm that John Muir cleared
as a teenager, newly arrived from Scotland. The 30-acre glacial lake is spring fed with hard water, and is bordered by bogs and fens giving way to a wet prairie and sedge meadows, along with sandy uplands dominated by oaks. A total of 150 acres including Ennis Lake has been designated a State Natural Area.
White Trillium – Dells of the Eau Claire River
The showiest plant of the understory during spring in the Northwoods is the White (Large-flowered) Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum). In places like this it blankets the forest floor. These trillium were found in the Dells of the Eau Claire River State Natural Area, in Marathon County, WI. The canopy here consists of hemlock, sugar maple, mountain maple and yellow birch.
Reflections – Autumn at Devils Lake
The West Bluff at Wisconsin’s Devils Lake State Park is partially covered by oak trees, seen here in their fall splendor and reflected on the surface of the park’s
namesake. Devils Lake is nestled on the south side of the Baraboo Hills and is the most visited park in the state.
Snow Falls Creek
This high gradient, boulder studded trout stream in Wisconsin’s Northwoods is fed by two spring ponds. This scene is found in the Snow Falls Creek State Natural Area in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (Oconto County). Here, the creek is overshadowed by balsam
fir, white cedar and black ash. Amidst the shrub layer can be found witch hazel,
alternate-leaved dogwood and mountain maple, along with club mosses which
may appear to be miniature pine trees.
Prairie View: Lower Narrows
The Baraboo River exits the North Baraboo Range at the Lower Narrows between Baraboo and Portage. This is a late-summer view of that 900 foot gap as seen from the south overlooking
Hwy. 33. The prairie and the wetland below it are being restored by the landowners in conjunction with the Baraboo Range Preservation Association. A large part of the west bluff was designated a State Natural Area in 2006.
White Pines at Trout Lake
This scene of young white pines under the canopy of mature pine trees is increasingly rare. Throughout northern Wisconsin, browsing whitetail deer keep natural pine regeneration to a minimum. Trout Lake is a few miles south of Boulder Junction and is a popular destination for anglers of all sorts, as well as campers, hikers, and bicyclists.
American Lotus
These flowers are the American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea), a member of the Water Lily family. The large yellow flowers grow up to 10 inches across. The fruiting bodies, looking like garden sprinklers, develop from the round structure in the middle of the flower, with each hole containing a single pistil ready to produce
a seed-like fruit. This scene is on Mud Lake, adjacent to Fish Lake in northwest Dane County, Wisconsin.
Club Moss and Canopy White Pines
One of the few plants that thrive in the shade of a mature hemlock and white pine forest are the club mosses (Cl: Lycopodiopsida). Dating back to the Carboniferous period when they reached the size of trees, now they are diminutive plants sometimes mistaken for tiny pine trees. Here we see them beneath hemlock and canopy white pines in the Scott Lake-Shelp Lake State Natural Area in Forest County, a few miles east of Three Lakes, Wisconsin.
Three Seasons, Parfreys Glen
Pitted sandstone walls and boulders made from conglomerate frame a gap in the upper reaches of Parfreys Glen. Each season brings a different look and feel, emphasized by differences in the lighting and vegetation. This Midwestern canyon is a special jewel tucked away in the Baraboo Hills east of Devil’s Lake State Park. It was designated Wisconsin’s first State Natural Area in 1952.
Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest
Door County Peninsula’s unusual climatic conditions give rise to a number of remarkable plant communities, including this fragment of boreal forest far south of its normal range. This forest is dominated by balsam fir and white spruce. The forest floor is rocky and covered in thick layers of moss. Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest was designated a State Natural Area in 1995.
Muir’s Mirror
This reflecting pool is found in the John Muir Memorial Park, in Marquette County. Contained within the Muir Park State Natural Area, the “mirror” is surrounded by a sedge meadow and bordered by a thicket of Red-osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera). Among the trees reflected in the pool are leafless birch, yellowing tamarack, and mature oaks glowing in the rays of a setting sun.
Moon Over Madeline Island
A nearly full moon rises over Madeline Island, the largest of the Apostle Islands on the south shore of Lake Superior. One day before the Flower Moon, silvery moonlight limns the clouds and shimmers across the surface of the North Channel. This view, featuring
a white spruce in the foreground, is from a campground just north of Bayfield, Wisconsin
South Point, Louis’ Bluff
Bedded layers of fine sandstone cap Louis’ Bluff, the highest point in the Wisconsin Dells. Named for Loius Dupless who settled here in 1847, the bluff has a rich history of use by
Native Americans. Indeed, in early times natives occupied the “spirit village”
Haywakashunk (Sacred Mound) here, just a little ways upstream of the
ceremonial grounds at Stand Rock.
Long Slide Falls
Long Slide Falls tumbles 50 feet through of a fault in the volcanic basalt underlying this site north of Pembine, WI. This gorgeous waterfall was carved by the North Branch of the Pemebonwon
River, and is the tallest waterfall in Marinette County. This view showcases the falls and its surrounding environment, with the dreamy nature of the flowing water a function of the half-second exposure.
Skillet Creek
A typical Wisconsin stream winding through cow pastures, Skillet Creek is transformed as it passes through the Pewits Nest State Natural Area near Baraboo. Access to the canyon floor is difficult. Most people view the stream from a path over the ridge bisected by the creek on its way to the Baraboo River.
Spring Pond, End of Season
The spring ponds of North Central Wisconsin, though less well known that the spring creeks of the Driftless Area, are a gem in their own right. With fishing similar to that found behind beaver
dams, these ponds often hold native brook trout or, in other cases large brown trout. The clarity of the water, seen here, is just one of the things that make fishing spring ponds a challenge. This is Sunshine Spring Pond, east of Antigo,
just three days before the close of trout season.
Autumn, Catherine Wolter Wilderness Area
The CatherineWolter Wilderness Area, also designated the Border Lakes State Natural Area, is a pristine example of a Northwoods ecosystem. Part of the Sylvania Wilderness, the preserve
has 15 unspoiled lakes including this one, Knife Lake. Owned by the Nature
Conservancy, the Wolter Wilderness Area and its unbroken forest cover functions as a critical wildlife corridor in an increasingly fragmented landscape. It is located north of Boulder Junction in Vilas County.