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| prickly pear cactus is native to Wisconsin and grows at the Spring Green Preserve |
Belying the name Spring Green, the Spring Green Preserve and State Natural Area is a rare slice of arid desert ecosystem in southwest Wisconsin. Indeed, the prickly pear cactus, three awn grass, lizards, snakes, and shifting sand dunes are native to this sandy prairie with a southern exposure.
A 1.6-mile hiking trail cuts through this sundrenched prairie and then into shaded black oak barrens as the trail climbs a massive bluff. The trail is an ambitious climb for hikers of better-than-moderate athletic fitness, but the beginning of the trail, where the prickly pear cactus communities are found, is accessible to hikers of all fitness. The round trip mileage on this out-n-back is 3.2 miles.
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| View of Spring Green from atop the bluff at the Spring Green Preserve |
Mid-June is the prime time for visiting the Spring Green Preserve and I missed it by 1 week. Around June 15th you'll easily find the prickly pear cacti by the bright red flowers they push up. I was worried that I wouldn't know where to look for the famed prickly pears and might miss them entirely. Well, not to worry, there are so many covering the ground in the first mile of this hike that I nearly stumbled right onto one no further than 1 foot off the trail.
True to its famous reputation as the Wisconsin Desert, it was a roasting afternoon walk. It's as though this land had a special ability to absorb the sun and radiate it back out. Well, as a matter of fact, the sandy soil here is particularly good at holding both heat and cold. It also sheds rainwater quickly making it a less comfortable place for more typical Wisconsin prairie plants to set down roots, but of course, the cacti love it.
I made it to the top of the bluff after a quick climb and a few hair-raising snake encounters. The views of driftless area hilly terrain and fertile green river valley were well received at a couple of outstanding overlooks at the top of the bluff. Sadly, though, this is where the trail abruptly ends.
For a quick 1-hour side trip, visit Spring Green Preserve to witness this hard-to-believe-exists-in-Wisconsin ecosystem. It's not the Grand Canyon or Joshua Tree, but from some cropped views you might be able to temporarily fool yourself into believing you are immersed in a vast exotic landscape.
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| Spring Green Preserve |
Spring Green Preserve Trail
COUNTY: Sauk
COMMUNITIES: Spring Green
TOTAL MILES: 1.6 mile linear (3.2 mile out-n-back)
DIFFICULTY: Moderate
Directions and Trail Map
Click Map Image to load the full interactive map.
If viewing on a mobile device, open the trail map above to load into Google Maps App by touching the expand rectangle in the upper right corner.
Address for your GPS: 1 Angelo Ln Spring Green, WI 53588
| coordinates: 43.197757, -90.059047 |
| From Milwaukee | 2 Hours |
| From Madison | 50 minutes |
| From Green Bay | 3 Hours |
| From Wausau | 2.5 Hours |
| From Minneapolis | 4 Hours |
| From Chicago | 3.5 Hours |
Photos
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| Spring Green Preserve |
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| Spring Green Preserve |
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| Spring Green Preserve |
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| Spring Green Preserve |