Wyalusing Walnut Forest

State Natural Area (No. 89)

Location: Within Wyalusing State Park, Grant County. T6N-R6W, Sections 17, 18. 140 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highways 18 and 60 in Bridgeport, go east on 18 1.3 miles, then west on County Highway C 3.5 miles, then west on County Highway X 1.1 mile, then north into Wyalusing State Park on the park road 1.7 miles to the nature center parking lot. Get a park map at the visitor center. The Bluff (open to Treasure Cave), and Old Immigrant trails provide access to the natural area.

Description: Wyalusing Walnut Forest lies on the north face of a steep, 500 foot-high bluff overlooking the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. It features a continuum of forest types from wet, floodplain forest of silver maple and cottonwood at the bluff's base to dry oak woods with white and black oak at its summit. The mid-slope and rich soils around the cliff base are forested with southern mesic forest of red oak, sugar maple, hackberry, butternut, and a high number of black walnuts. Two areas contain nearly pure stands of black walnut. On the vertical cliffs above the Wisconsin River are a variety of species including Canada yew, Sullivant's cool-wort, and jeweled shooting-star (Dodecatheon amethystinum), a rare Driftless Area plant. Spring wildflowers abound with large populations of such uncommon species as dragon sage-wort (Artemsia dranunculus), narrow-leaved spleenwort (Diplazium pycnocarpon), and Goldie's fern (Dryopteris goldiana). The site supports numerous rare animals and a diverse avifauna with over 250 species recorded including state-threatened species red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea), and Kentucky warbler (Oporornis formosus). Wyalusing Walnut Forest is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1971.