Tomahawk Lake Hemlocks

State Natural Area (No. 510)

Location: Within the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest, Oneida County. T38N-R7E, Sections 4, 5, 8, 9. 244 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highway 47 and County D in Lake Tomahawk, go south on 47 0.6 miles, then west on County D 1 mile, then north on Two Lakes Road 0.7 miles, then west on Rainbow Road 0.7 miles. The site lies east and west of the road between Little Carr Lake and Tomahawk Lake.

Description: Situated on gently rolling pitted outwash, Tomahawk Lake Hemlocks features a northern mesic forest of mature hemlock and yellow birch with hemlock dominant in kettle depressions. The canopy varies from nearly pure hemlock with occasional yellow birch, sugar maple, and paper birch to mixed hemlock-hardwoods with exceptional hemlock reproduction. A few supercanopy white pine are present and white pine saplings are common on a steep southwest-facing slope. The sparse understory contains shining club-moss, intermediate wood-fern, Canada mayflower, twisted stalk, partridgeberry, and sedges. Small groves of red pine can be found along the lake shore. Other features include small stands of open bog and black spruce swamp, small bog pond, and approximately one mile of undeveloped lake shoreline. Tomahawk Lake Hemlocks is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.