Dwight's Point And Pokegama Wetlands

State Natural Area (No. 300)

Location: Within the Superior Municipal Forest, Douglas County. T48N-R14W, Sections 4, 5, 6. T49N-R14W, Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. 3,153 acres.

Access: From the junction of U.S. Highway 2 and State Highway 35 in Superior, go south on 35 (Tower Ave.) one mile to 28th Street, then west on 28th Street about 1.75 miles until it becomes Billings Drive. Access is from any number of points along Billings Drive. Several hiking, biking, ski, and snowmobile trails wind through the natural area. The natural area is also accessible by water.

Description: Located at the confluence of the Pokegama and St. Louis Rivers near Lake Superior, Dwight's Point and Pokegama Wetlands features boreal forest, emergent marsh, and wet clay flats supporting shrub swamp and wet meadow. The natural area borders the St. Louis River estuary, which dissects the uplands into a series of narrow, steep-sided ridges, the largest of which is Dwight's Point. Although the boreal forest was cut over at the turn of the 20th century, it remains today as one of the best examples of its type in the Lake Superior area. The presence and unusual composition of the boreal forest is due to the influence of cool breezes off Lake Superior and the level topography with underlying red clay soils which prevent timely drainage. White pine, paper birch, balsam poplar, white spruce and balsam fir dominate the forest. In some stands, red pine and black ash are important canopy trees. The forest floor is likewise boreal in nature, with yellow blue-bead-lily, three-leaved goldthread, American starflower, shining club-moss, and numerous ferns predominating. Two uncommon plants, northern bluebells and rabbit-berry, are also found here. Resident birds include many species associated with mature conifer forests, such as Blackburnian, black-throated green, Cape May and pine warblers. Extensive deep and shallow marshes border the Pokegama River. Dominant species in the shallows are bur-reed, cat-tail, bulrushes, wild rice, and arrowheads. Deeper waters harbor coon's-tail, pondweeds, and water-lilies. Virginia rail, sora, and marsh wrens are common resident birds in the marsh. The perched wetlands on the clay plain are a community found in Wisconsin only in the Superior area. The slightly undulating topography is vegetated with a mosaic of shrubs (willows, alder), sedges and grasses. Rare plants found here include the threatened sweet colt's-foot (Petasites sagittatus) and endangered clustered bur-reed (Sparganium glomeratum) and small yellow water crowfoot (Ranunculus gmelinii). Dwight's Point and Pokegama Wetlands is owned by the City of Superior and was designated a State Natural Area in 1994.