Owl Creek Fen Savanna

State Natural Area (No. 521)

Location: Within the Wood County Forest. T22N-R3E, Sections 12, 13, 14. T22N-R4E, Sections 7, 18. 814 acres.

Access: No direct access. From the intersection of Highway 80 and Main Street in Pittsville, go east on Main Street (Lincoln Road) 3.1 miles, then south on Hemlock Road 1.5 miles. Park where the road turns east. Walk southwest 1.3 miles into the site.

Description: Owl Creek Fen Savanna is a large peatland complex that supports a diversity of natural features including central poor fen, tamarack swamp, alder thicket, and upland islands of pine and oak. Of note are unique savanna-like stands of open-grown aspen situated in a wet meadow dominated by blue-joint grass. Central Poor Fens are acidic, low nutrient wetlands dominated by sedges including Carex oligosperma, C. lanuginosa, and C. utriculata. Found within the Central Sand Plains of Wisconsin, they often intergrade with Tamarack Swamp. Other characteristic species include three-way sedge, fowl manna grass, swamp-candles, cotton-grass, bog goldenrod, swamp milkweed, bulblet water hemlock, and blue-flag iris. Birds include sandhill crane, purple finch, black-and-white warbler, and golden-winged warbler. Owl Creek Fen Savanna is owned by Wood County and was designated a State Natural Area in 2006.