Lima Bog

State Natural Area (No. 219)

Location: Within Lima Marsh Wildlife Area, Rock County. T4N-R14E, Sections 9, 10, 16. 124 acres.

Access: From the intersection of State Highway 59 and County Highway KK, about 4 miles east of Milton, go north on Hwy KK 2.5 miles, then east on Bowers Lake Road 0.8 mile to a parking area north of the road. Walk due north along an access easement 0.3 miles into the site. Or continue north on KK another 0.54 miles to its intersection with E. Godfrey Road. Park along the road and walk due east 0.5 mile on the access easement running along a fencerow into the site.

Description: One of the largest bogs in south central Wisconsin, Lima Bog is four-acre hard water bog lake surrounded by more than 100 acres of northern wet forest and containing a flora more typical of northern, not southern bogs. A dense mat of swamp loosestrife, cat-tail, sedges, and rushes encircles the open lake where pond-lily dominates the aquatic macrophyte flora. The forest contains many tamarack, which are reproducing well. Poison sumac is prevalent in the understory along with bog birch, red-osier dogwood, winterberry, and willows. Near the lake and within the denser areas of tamarack forest are hummocks carpeted with sphagnum moss and typical bog plants such as pitcher plant, sundew, small cranberry, and several species of orchids. To the east, between the tamarack and the uplands, is a sedge meadow dominated by sedges and blue-joint grass. The bird fauna is typical of southern Wisconsin wetlands but northern species such as black-throated green warbler and white-throated sparrow occasionally spend the summer here. Lima Bog is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1988.