Newport Conifer-Hardwoods

State Natural Area (No. 90)

Location: Within Newport State Park, Door County. T32N-R29E, Sections 28, 29. 140 acres.

Access: From Ellison Bay, go east on State Highway 42 about 2 miles, then south and east on County Highway NP about 3 miles to the Newport State Park entrance. The natural area is accessible via the Newport and Ridge hiking trails (get a map at the park contact station). A Wisconsin State Park sticker must be displayed on all vehicles entering the park.

Description: Newport Conifer Hardwoods features a mix of northern forest types along Lake Michigan near the northern tip of the Door Peninsula. The cool, moist influence of the lake has allowed a forest composed of white birch, sugar maple, beech, and ash to develop. Elsewhere, boreal-like forest of Eastern hemlock, balsam fir, white spruce and white cedar predominates. A 3-to-8-foot-high wall of dolomite blocks traverses the site from the northeast to the southwest. This ledge is the former shoreline sculpted during the Lake Nippissing stage of Lake Michigan. Above the ledge, hardwoods are found growing on a jumbled boulder substrate. In the south and east, the hardwood forests stabilize low sand dunes where large colonies of club-moss can be observed. About ¼ mile of frontage on Lake Michigan is included in the natural area. Rare plants found here include western fescue (Festuca occidentalis), variegated scouring-rush (Equisetum variegatum), round-leaved orchid (Platanthera orbiculata), long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata) and the federally-threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris). Two bird species of concern are also present: common goldeneye and black-and-white warbler. Newport Conifer Hardwoods is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1971.