Ghost Lake

State Natural Area (No. 434)

Location: Within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Sawyer County. T42N-R5W, Sections 19, 30. T42N-R6W, Sections 25, 31. 394 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highway 77 and FR 191 in Clam Lake, go south on 77 about 7 miles, then west of FR 175 to the site.

Description: Ghost Lake Cedars features a high quality upland hardwood forest, which still contains a significant hemlock and yellow birch component. Also notable are extensive high quality conifer swamps dominated by medium to large white cedar that contain a diverse and lush groundlayer. Bordering Ghost Lake is a mature, wet-mesic forest dominated by medium to large sized white cedar. Canopy associates include balsam fir, black ash, and paper birch. Most trees are 9-15” in diameter but some are 15”+. Thickets of sapling fir are common. Cedar saplings are rare and all noted were of sprout origin. Seedlings were locally common on well-rotted moss covered downed trunks. Blowdowns are frequent. The groundlayer is lush and diverse with numerous orchid species present. Spring seeps and muck holes are scattered throughout. Browse damage from white-tailed deer and snowshoe hare is less severe here than in other older cedar stands. The surrounding uplands consist of large, second-growth hemlock hardwoods with hemlock and white pine re-establishing along the lakeshore. Sugar maple is also a dominant canopy species. Ghost Lake is a 372-acre soft-water drainage impoundment on the lower end of Ghost Creek with a maximum depth of 12 feet. Common fish species include muskellunge, largemouth bass, walleye, bluegill, perch, black crappie, pumpkinseeds, and bullheads. A number of migratory and local nesting ducks use the area. Also within the site is Ghost Creek, which originates in Bayfield county and flows south into Ghost Lake and then into the West Fork of the Chippewa River. Other features include a black spruce-tamarack bog with a pine forested esker, important aquatic resources including undeveloped lake frontage on Ghost Lake dominated by long lived conifers, free-flowing, medium to large, fast and slow gradient stream segments and associated riparian habitats. Ephemeral ponds and glacial erratics are also present in localized areas. Bird species include sharp-shinned hawk, hermit thrush, magnolia warbler, Canada warbler, Nashville warbler, northern parula, and rose-breasted grosbeak. Ghost Lake Cedars is owned by the US Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.