Exploring State Natural Areas

Despite all the news about heat domes and following the warmest winter on record in Wisconsin, this summer so far has been mostly cool and wet, at least in the northern half of the state.

Water levels around the Wisconsin River weren’t at flood stage this week, but they sure were high and fast for summer. Much of my camping trip in the Star Lake area was wet and dreary, but that’s pretty typical of late May. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me from checking out a couple of easily accessed state natural areas just down the road.

I’m a fan of Wisconsin’s State Natural Areas program. These areas are set aside by the Department of Natural Resources due to a number of features including habitat, natural community and geological or archeological features. Private landowners are also an important element of the SNA program. Many of them can be pretty challenging to access — which is OK with me since the whole idea is to protect and preserve as well as study them — but the two areas close to Star Lake are easy to find and access.

My first real exposure to this program was 25 years ago on a DNR field trip through the Dells of the Wisconsin River SNA. This was a stunning journey through canyons, rock formation and rare plant communities that at times felt more like the Pacific Northwest than the Midwest. The proximity to the tourist madness of the Dells (which has metastasized considerably since then — how do they put so much Mount Olympus on so little land?) was jarring and made clear the importance of preserving these tracts.

I’ve written about a few of these areas in the past. Ashland and Bayfield County have nearly 50 SNAs, many tucked into popular areas like Houghton Point and many hard to find from a public access point. Last summer’s visits to the Spread Eagle and Moquah Barrens was a chance to see how a managed area like Spread Eagle compares to a control plot like the one in Moquah. And the Copper Falls and St. Peter’s Dome areas are ones that I visit several times a year and never get tired of.

Near Star Lake, the Lake Laura Hardwoods SNA is one I just happened upon walking down Highway K just east of the general store and railway museum. It has a small parking area and a well-developed trail and portage that leads downhill to Salsich Lake, a high-quality seepage lake that the DNR reports has freshwater sponges. The trail winds through old-growth and very mature northern mesic forest that also supports young balsam fir. At least in early summer, it also supports a number of mosquitos, although not in the numbers you see in the similarly forested Sylvania Wilderness. The lake is ringed by ancient hemlocks and is worth taking some time to appreciate even if you didn’t carry a boat down.

The other SNA by Star Lake isn’t marked from the road. You turn in on a small dirt road (Hook Road) just a couple hundred feet south of the East Star Lake campground (look for the stop sign) and park at the dead end. This is the Star Lake Tramper’s Trail, another Eric Hansen-approved hike that takes you through the Plum Lake Hemlock Forest SNA.

This was established as an SNA all the way back in 1953. It’s a near-virgin stand, with some evidence of forest fire and some selective pine harvesting. The trail is slow going thanks to roots and rocks, but the views of the lake are lovely and I’ve never seen hemlocks that size anywhere else. A cross-section of a downed hemlock shows just how dense the wood is in an old-growth tree. At one point, what was probably the same storm that devastated the East Star campground created a maze of twisted downed trees and an opportunity for new plants and trees to colonize the natural clearing. There were some areas with new hemlocks coming in, and others that have been pastured out by overwintering deer. Notable birdsong was provided by a winter wren and northern parulas, which surprised me since it didn’t appear to be the parula’s favorite habitat.

So now you can go find a state natural area near you! The DNR’s website provides a list by county and directions on how to find them. You won’t see a lot of other people and you might see something rare or surprising.

Sarah Morris is a bird-watcher and outdoorswoman who explores northern Wisconsin from her home base in the town of Gingles. She can be reached at morrisoutside@gmail.com.