The Ridges Sanctuary

State Natural Area (No. 17)

Location: Door County. T30N-R28E, Sections 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 20. 1,070 acres.

Access: From the junction of State Highway 57 and County Highway Q on the north side of Baileys Harbor, go northeast on Q 0.1 miles and follow the signs to The Ridges Sanctuary entrance east of the road. Several hiking trails wind through the natural area. Detailed maps are available at the office. A donation is requested for use of the trails.

Description: The Ridges Sanctuary encompasses a diversity of unusual habitats, resulting in one of the greatest concentrations of rare plants in the Midwest. The preserve, recognized as a National Natural Landmark, was established in 1937 as Wisconsin's first area set aside to protect native flora. The natural area consists of about 30 narrow, crescent-shaped sandy ridges and recent research has correlated the ridge formation with the cyclical changes in Lake Michigan water levels which have occurred during the past 1400-1500 years. Each ridge represents a former beach line of Lake Michigan and took an average of 30-50 years to form. The narrow ridges are forested with black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, and white pine with wet swales between the ridges. Swamp conifers occupy some of the swales; others are filled with marsh and bog flora. Sections of the forest can be classified as boreal and are similar to, but far disjunct from the northwestern Wisconsin boreal forests near Lake Superior. The cool waters of Lake Michigan heavily influences the local climate, allowing many northern species to thrive. Some areas of the ridges are open, wet, and calcareous. The list of rare species found at The Ridges is long and includes dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) in addition to 25 species of orchid. The largest known population of the federally-endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) is found here. The Ridges Sanctuary is owned by the private conservation organization The Ridges Sanctuary, Inc. and was designated a State Natural Area in 1953.