Mukwa Bottomland Forest

State Natural Area (No. 159)

Location: Within Mukwa Wildlife Area, Waupaca County. T22N-R14E, Sections 15, 16. 160 acres.

Access: The natural area is located 3 miles west of New London. Access is by boat or canoe upstream from a boat landing in NE 1/4 of Sec. 21. To reach the landing from New London, go southwest on County W 0.75 mile, then west on Dey Road 1.5 miles to the Wolf River and boat launch.

Description: Located along the lower Wolf River, Mukwa Bottomland Forest is a diverse southern wet-mesic forest in the floodplain of the Wolf River. Although dominated by silver maple and swamp white oak, small numbers of American elm persist. The trees vary in size from saplings to an occasional specimen more than 30 inches in diameter at breast height. Areas with smaller trees appear quite natural with no evidence of past logging or grazing. Additional tree species include red elm, black ash, green ash, basswood, bur oak, hackberry, cottonwood, willows, and red maple. The understory has mostly buttonbush and prickly ash as shrubs; the herbaceous layer is dominated by wood nettle but also has Canadian honewort, moneywort, northern bugleweed, tall coneflower, woodland phlox, carrion flower, and bristly greenbriar. The topography is uneven, the site having been dissected by many old channels and fluctuating water levels. Mukwa Bottomland Forest is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1980.