Otter Creek Oak Barrens

State Natural Area (No. 240)

Location: Dunn County. T30N-R12W, Section 16 NE¼. 120 acres.

Access: From the junction of Highways 25 and 170 in Wheeler, go east on 170 1.8 miles, then north on County S 4.5 miles, then east on Forest Lane (1150th Avenue) 1.2 miles and park. Walk south 0.6 mile on an access lane into the natural area.

Description: Otter Creek Oak Barrens contains a 28-acre oak barrens dominated by large and small black oaks and several bur and Hill's oak grubs. The large black oaks are at least 120-years-old, probably 175- to 200-years-old. The smaller oaks, 8 to 20 inches in diameter, are 50- to 90-years-old. The groundlayer is composed of typical oak barrens species such as lead-plant, puccoon, field wormwood, flowering spurge, American hazelnut, bastard-toadflax, false Solomon's seal, bird's-foot violet, June grass, prairie coreopsis, and little blue-stem. The surrounding southern dry forest has a high density of oaks, the canopy trees mostly single-stemmed on the slopes and multiple-stemmed on the upper slopes and ridges. On a few north-facing slopes the dominant tree is red maple with an open understory and a groundlayer dominated by interrupted fern. The soils are sandy and sandy loams. Otter Creek Oak Barrens is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1990.