Ferry Bluff

State Natural Area (No. 217)

Location: Within the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, Sauk County. T9N-R6E, Sections 19, 20, 30. 400 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highways 60 and 12 west of Sauk City, go west on Highway 60 4.4 miles then south on Ferry Bluff Road 1.1 miles to a parking area and canoe landing at the end of the road. A trail leads to the top of Cactus Bluff. The southern portion is accessible by canoe. THE AREA IS CLOSED FROM NOVEMBER 15-APRIL 1 TO PROTECT ROOSTING BALD EAGLES.

Description: Ferry Bluff and the adjacent Cactus Bluff tower more than 300 feet above the confluence of Honey Creek and the Wisconsin River. The sandstone bluffs, capped with dolomite harbors undisturbed open cliff vegetation, prairie remnants, and steep wooded slopes of white and red oaks with with basswood, hackberry, elm, hickory, and ironwood. Although the forest on the summit and north-facing slopes is relatively young, the groundlayer is rich, with many ferns on the slopes and a diverse spring flora throughout. Prairie species remain especially on the dry south-facing slopes and include the rare round-stemmed false foxglove (Agalinis gattingeri). The moist shaded cliffs contain a diversity of species including many ferns such as fragile and bulbet fern. Rare animals include Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), and black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta). Ferry Bluff is the site of a former peregrine falcon eyrie and continues to be an important winter roosting site for the federally threatened bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The base of the Ferry Bluff also housed a Civil War era ferryboat landing. Ferry Bluff is owned by the DNR and the Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and was designated a State Natural Area in 1988.