Atkins Lake

State Natural Area (No. 238)

Location: Located (in part) within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Forest & Oneida Counties. T37N-R11E, Sections 25, 36. T37N-R12E, Sections 7, 8, 17-20, 30, 13. 2,644 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Yellow Birch Road (FR 2186) and Highway 32 in Hiles, go west on Yellow Birch Road 0.85 miles, then southwest on Atkins Road (FR 2186) 2.9 miles to the Soo Line railroad tracks. Then walk west and south on a logging road to the east shore of the lake.

Description: Atkins Lake is a soft-water drainage lake lying within a vast conifer swamp (Hiles Swamp) on the Oneida/Forest county line. The lake is unusual in that the entire basin supports moderate to dense growths of emergents and floating-leaved aquatic vegetation including wild rice. Other aquatic macrophytes include pickerel weed, cat-tail, several pond weeds, and an abundance of water-shield, the inflorescence of which gives the lake a red color. These open communities are surrounded by the vast Hiles Swamp, a 1,700 acre complex of muskeg, dense wet forest of black spruce and tamarack, wet forest of tamarack alone, and open bog. Together the area forms perhaps one of the largest and most diverse northern wet forest communities on the Chequamegon-Nicolet. The swamp is home to several boreal plant and bird species uncommon in Wisconsin, including Carex tenuiflora, dragon’s-mouth orchid, boreal chickadee, and gray jay. Several islands of pristine white and red pine are known to support eagle and goshawk nesting sites. The surrounding uplands are forested with red and white pines, aspen, and balsam fir. Other noteworthy breeding birds are common loon (Gavia immer), American bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), black tern (Chlidonias niger), and ring-necked duck, palm warbler, and Lincoln's sparrow. Atkins Lake is owned by the DNR and the US Forest Service. Atkins Lake (DNR) was designated a State Natural Area in 1990 and later expanded to include the Hiles Swamp complex (USFS) in 2007.