Bear Caves

State Natural Area (No. 286)

Location: Langlade County. T32N-R14E, Section 29. 50 acres.

Access: From the intersection of State Highways 64 and 55 in Langlade, go north on 55 3.5 miles to a town road on the east and an unimproved access road on the west. Park at the town road/highway intersection and walk west along the unimproved access road 0.2 mile. The site lies north and south of the road. Disregard any "private road" signs as this is a legal public access.

Description: Bear Caves State Natural Area is an outstanding geologic feature composed of a boulder train with a complex maze of ridges that contains a diverse lichen and bryophyte community. Located between the Chippewa and Green Bay Lobes of the Wisconsin Glacier, the constant movement and jousting between these two lobes may have resulted in fierce runoff causing a concentration of material to be deposited in the maze of ridges that we see today. Formed from pitted gravel outwash and flanked by several swamps, the southern portion has steep slopes with large, very well rounded boulders of pink granitic gneiss piled up on the steep esker-like ridges. The glacial ice and runoff that transported them to the site shaped the round boulders, which average about 4-6 feet in diameter. They are the largest rocks known in Wisconsin to have been concentrated by glacial action. The northern portion is now forested with second-growth sugar maple, birch, and aspen while the southern area is covered with hemlock, sugar maple, and yellow birch. The entire area is covered with a rich blanket of ground vegetation and the boulder train along the southern edge encloses a small sphagnum-tamarack bog. The name "bear caves" stems from local legend which maintains that bears live in the small "caves" found scattered through the boulder train. Bear Caves is owned by the Langlade County and was designated a State Natural Area in 1995.