Mud Lake - Radley Creek Savanna

State Natural Area (No. 224)

Location: Within Radley Creek Fisheries Area, Waupaca County. T21N-R11E, Section 21. 100 acres.

Access: From Rural go south on State Hwy. 22 three miles to Radley Road, then east on Radley Road 0.5 mile to a DNR access road, then north 0.25 mile to a parking area. Walk east on state-owned fisheries land 0.25 mile to the west boundary.

Description: Mud Lake is a shallow, hard water lake in a wilderness setting - having no access or human-made developments. The lake covers nearly eleven acres and is only three feet deep. The water is clear and quite fertile, with the major sources being seepage and springs. There is no inlet, but the lake does have a short outlet to Radley Creek. Wild rice dominates the emergent aquatics. Surrounding the lake is a forest of tamarack and poison sumac. The absence of black spruce makes this site very unusual for this locality. The understory is rich in northern wet forest herbs; sundew and pitcher plant are especially numerous. To the north the land rises into an open forest dominated by white and bur oaks, which has several groundlayer species that are more typical of prairie. Mud Lake-Radley Creek Savanna is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1989.