Silver Creek & Mondeaux River

State Natural Area (No. 465)

Location: Within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Taylor County. T33N-1W, Sections 1-4. 541 acres.

Access: The site can be accessed from the County Highway D dam over the Mondeaux River 8.5 miles west of Westboro. Canoe downstream 2 miles to the site.

Description: The primary feature of Silver Creek and Mondeaux River is the old-growth floodplain forest located at the junction of Mondeaux River and Silver Creek. The entire site represents a community and moisture gradient from river floodplain to upland dry-mesic pine and maple forest. Large diameter trees provide a closed canopy over the slowly meandering rivers and associated backwaters and oxbow lakes. The bottoms of these two river systems flow through old-growth silver maple, red maple, bur oak, with black ash, hemlock, and basswood. There are numerous large diameter trees (18-26” diameter) in and across the rivers. The river basin is scoured by seasonal floodwaters maintaining an open understory rank with ferns, sedges, and forbs. Clumps of shrubs are scattered and localized; mainly ironwood, speckled alder, hawthorn, and maple saplings. A rich herbaceous flora includes dutchman’s breeches, cut-leaved toothwort, wild leek, wild ginger, wood nettle, ostrich fern, trout lily, and marsh marigold. Nearby uplands contain a dry-mesic community dominated by white pine, red pine, red oak, red maple, and sugar maple. Some areas include large super-canopy trees over 26 inches in diameter. The shrub layer is heavy with hazelnut, and young maples. The ground flora consists of club-mosses, bracken fern, maidenhair fern, hepaticas, early meadow-rue, blood-root, and rosy twisted stalk. Also included in this site are small areas of black ash swamp, hemlock forest (TMC), northern mesic forest (ATM), open sedge meadow, and shrub carr. Also notable is a block of mature, second-growth white pine (16-26”) isolated on the forest boundary by a curve of Silver Creek. Here large woody debris from a windstorm, while of recent origin, provides that character common in old-growth and unmanaged forests. Birds include pileated woodpecker, wood thrush, hermit thrush, blue-headed vireo, eastern wood-pewee, scarlet tanager, chestnut-sided warbler, Nashville warbler, ovenbird, and Baltimore oriole. Silver Creek and Mondeaux River is owned by the US Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.