Gobler Lake

State Natural Area (No. 115)

Location: Oneida County. T36N-R5E, Sections 5, 6. 470 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highways Y and 8 in Bradley, go north and west on County Highway Y 4.4 miles, then west on Old 8 Drive 1 mile, then north on Kelly Dam Road 0.9 mile, then northwest on Kelly Firelane Road 5.8 miles, then northeast on Gobler Lake Road 0.4 mile to the southern boundary of the site.

Description: Gobler Lake contains a large open bog and a soft water bog lake and includes a geologically significant esker within the natural area. Gobler Lake is a 20-acre, muck-bottomed bog lake with slightly acidic water of moderate transparency and a maximum depth of 8 feet. Surrounding the lake is an open bog (muskeg) dominated by sphagnum and sedges with scattered stunted black spruce and white pine. The muskeg contains dwarf mistletoe, a parasite on black spruce, several ericaceous shrubs, pitcher plant, sundews, sedges, three-way sedge, beak rushes, and cotton grasses. Bird life includes such uncommon nesters as black and white, Canada, and Connecticut warblers and Lincoln's sparrow. To the south and west is an esker wooded with white pine. The wild character is reduced only by the road, which follows the esker to the south of the lake. Gobler Lake is owed by Oneida County and was designated a State Natural Area in 1974.