Tellock's Hill Woods

State Natural Area (No. 101)

Location: Waupaca County. T24N-R13E, Section 13 S½NE¼. 54 acres.

Access: From the junction State Highways 22, 110, and 161 just west of Symco, go east on 22 about 4 miles, then north on Shady Lane Road 1.8 miles to a parking area at the bottom of the hill and west of the road.

Description: Tellock's Hill Woods is an old-growth northern mesic forest on the north-facing slope of a drumlin. The drumlin, a hill with a streamlined ovoid shape formed by advancing glacial ice, has an unusual sandstone core exposed in a deep ravine. On the gentle north-facing slope is a relatively undisturbed beech-maple forest with a nearly complete canopy cover. Other species include hemlock and basswood. The groundlayer is rich with an abundance of spring ephemerals and woodland wildflowers such as spring beauty, Dutchman's-breeches, blue cohosh, large-flowered trillium, nodding wake robin, downy yellow violet, maidenhair fern, false rue anemone, and rosy twisted stalk. The steeper northern slope is strewn with large boulders and wooded with nearly pure hemlock although sugar maple and an occasional yellow birch are present. The understory is sparse due to the near complete shading of the hemlock. The lower and more level bottomlands at the hill's base contain ash and elm with irregularly spaced, low wet areas. Red-backed and blue spotted salamanders, yellow-throated vireo, ovenbird, wood thrush, pileated woodpecker, and broad-winged hawk are common inhabitants of the forest. Tellock's Hill Woods is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1972.