Explore Wisconsin’s Beautiful Dry Sand Prairies | Spring Green, WI

Did you know that a unique desert ecosystem exists in the state of Wisconsin? Located just 38 miles northwest of the capitol city of Madison, WI, you’ll find a unique region of the state that is considered to be the desert of Wisconsin. Home to unique plant communities not found elsewhere in the state, Spring Green Preserve is open year-round from dawn to dusk. This beautiful 1,362 acre preserve is a beautiful location for a long hike, bird watching, observing wildflowers native to the Great Lakes region, or exploring the three unique ecosystems found here. This preserve is well worth a visit!

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Spring Green Preserve | Location & Directions

Located on Pearl Road in Spring Green, Wisconsin, the preserve is easy to find. Plant communities featured here include black oak barrens, sand prairies, and dry bluff prairies, all unique in the plants that thrive within them. I’ve included some photos of a few of the unique plant species found in each of these ecosystems.

• Black oak barrens are home to prairie grasses, shrubs, and fire-adapted oaks and pines. Common native trees are black, white, bur, and northern pin oak, in addition to Jack pine, cherry and quaking aspen. Wildflowers include rough blazing star, leadplant, birdfoot violet, and bastard toadflax, the most unique name I have heard for a plant! If you’re lucky, you may observe the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. This tiny butterfly depends upon the wild lupine found in barrens.
• Sand prairies are home to drought-adapted native plant species that thrive in sandy soils. Native plants commonly found here are prickly-pear cactus, prairie smoke, dwarf dandelion, rough blazing star, large-flowered penstemon (Beardtongue) false-heather, blue toadflax, and silky prairie clover. Native bird species found here include dickcissel and meadowlarks.
• Dry bluff prairies are also known as “goat prairies”, due to their steep west or south facing slopes fit for a goat to traverse. Goat prairie are home to unique native plants like pasque flower, bird’s foot violet, leadplant, and silky aster in the late summer and early fall. Various oak species are found throughout, and the hazelnut shrub is common here as well as sumac.

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Spring Green Preserve | Hiking

The hiking trail within the Spring Green Preserve is located in the eastern half of the preserve. To get to the trailhead, enter the preserve on Jones Rd., accessed via the intersection of Highway 14 and State Highway 23 in Spring Green. The trail is 3.4 miles out-and-back, winding through the sand prairie, into oak woodland, and up to scenic bluffs. The views from the bluffs provide an expansive view of the Wisconsin landscape. For more information and a detailed map, see the Nature Conservancy map of Spring Green Preserve here.

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Spring Green Preserve | Native Plants

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Spring Green Preserve | Butterflies and Moths

During my last visit to the preserve in early June, butterfly activity was low, but I did spot one beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, one of the most familiar (and the most beautiful, in my opinion!) butterflies in the eastern United States. The Mournful Thyris Moth, pictured below, is less than one inch across, and often commonly mistaken for a butterfly. It is part of the day moth family, active during the daytime rather than at night.

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Devil’s Lake State Park & Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area

Two gorgeous hikes located under 35 miles from Spring Green are Devil’s Lake State Park and Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Read more about hiking opportunities in these two beautiful spots in my recent articles: Experience Baraboo, Wisconsin’s Scenic Bluffs | Devil’s Lake State Park and Visit Beautiful Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area | Baraboo, Wisconsin.

Experience Baraboo, Wisconsin’s Beautiful Scenery | Devil’s Lake State Park

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Ride the Historic Merrimac Ferry

While you’re in the Baraboo area, be sure to ride the historic Merrimac Ferry. Read more here. 7 Minutes on the Historic Merrimac Ferry | Lake Wisconsin.

7 Minutes on the Historic Merrimac Ferry | Lake Wisconsin

Enjoy your visit to this beautiful Nature Conservancy site! Explore some of my recent Great Lakes adventures linked in the carousel below. As you’re inclined, share a comment or subscribe below. I’ll send my most recent adventures to your inbox.

-Erin

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