High Cliff Escarpment

State Natural Area (No. 176)

Location: Within High Cliff State Park, Calumet County. T19N-R18E, Sections 1 NW¼, 2 SE¼. 125 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highways 10 and 114 in Menasha, go east on 10/114 3.4 miles, then southeast on Highway 114 1.6 miles, then south on State Park Road 2.3 miles, then southwest on Spring Hill Road 0.2 mile to the Park office. Get a park map. The Lime-Kiln hiking trail provides access into the natural area. A STATE PARK STICKER IS REQUIRED.

Description: High Cliff Escarpment features both shaded and exposed cliff habitats along the Niagara escarpment, talus slopes supporting wet-mesic forest, more than a mile of Lake Winnebago shoreline, and outstanding examples of conical and effigy mounds in the level woodland above the escarpment. High Cliff gets its name from the limestone cliff of the Niagara Escarpment, which parallels the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago. This ledge extends northeasterly to the Door County peninsula and on to Niagara Falls, New York. At the escarpment summit are vertical cliffs up to 25 feet high that contain fragile fern, bulblet fern, leaf cup, cliff stickseed, and long-beaked sedge. The talus slope below the cliff is composed chiefly of small, flat rocks, although some areas of large limestone boulders occur, and many seepages emanate from the rocks. The undisturbed forest on the slope is composed of sugar maple, basswood, white ash, green ash, elm, hackberry, and butternut. Closer to the lake, willows and cottonwood gradually appear. A rich herbaceous layer includes wild ginger, great water-leaf, false rue anemone, squirrel-corn, toothwort, and Canada violet. High Cliff Escarpment is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1982.