The Wetland Gems® of Western Wisconsin
Explore the map below to learn more about the twelve Wetland Gems® sites in the West Region of Wisconsin!
Big Swamp
County: Buffalo
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
This Wetland Gem® comprises about 850 acres within the Big Swamp State Wildlife Area in Buffalo County between Mondovi and Durand and includes Big Swamp Tamarack Fen State Natural Area. These wetlands drain into Bear Creek, a tributary to the Chippewa River that runs along the southwest portion of the site. The site features a relatively large coniferous swamp, a wetland type that is rare in this region. Other wetland types include sedge meadow and shrub carr. While little biological survey work has been done at this site, Big Swamp is recognized as an important wetland site by the state, The Nature Conservancy, and Wisconsin Wetlands Association because it is a rare intact example of the coniferous swamp in the western region of the state. The main wetland type present is coniferous swamp dominated by tamarack and red maple growing on deep organic soils. The shrub layer is thick and dominated by poison sumac. Groundwater inputs in some areas provide minerals and influence the composition of herbaceous plants in the ground layer. Other wetland habitats include sedge meadows with a variety of sedges and flowering plants like spotted joe-pye weed and shrub carr dominated by dogwoods. These wetland community types typically support a variety of wildlife species including many songbirds and small mammals. The Big Swamp State Wildlife Area is a popular public hunting ground and is managed for pheasants and deer.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Big Swamp page of the State Natural Areas Program website .
Fort McCoy
County: Monroe
Property Owner: Department of Defense – U.S. Army
This Driftless Area Wetland Gem® features high-quality riverine wetlands associated with Clear Creek and Silver Creek within the Fort McCoy Military Installation in Monroe County. Forming the headwaters of the La Crosse River, these pristine streams are coldwater, spring-fed, and exceptionally clear and support healthy populations of native brook trout. Groundwater seepages throughout the floodplain corridors provide important microhabitats that support a diversity of plants, invertebrates, amphibians, and reptiles. The location of the site in the vegetation tension zone, a transitional zone between southern and northern flora in Wisconsin, also contributes to the site’s considerable plant diversity. Wetlands at Fort McCoy are surrounded by high-quality and diverse uplands, including sand prairie and one of the least disturbed oak barrens remaining in the state. This matrix of wetland and upland habitats at Fort McCoy supports more than 800 plant species as well as diverse and abundant wildlife. Floodplain areas at the site are characterized by lowland hardwood swamp and coniferous swamp dominated by white pine and red maple. The site also supports several rare plants, including tufted hair grass and Massachusetts fern. More than 260 species of birds use the high-quality wetland and upland habitats of Fort McCoy. Bald eagle, osprey, common loon, sandhill crane, ruffed grouse, barred owl, whip-poor-will, and pileated woodpecker are just a few species commonly found here. Gray wolf, deer, beaver, rabbit, squirrel, and furbearers like fisher, otter, and beaver are some of the mammals that use Fort McCoy wetlands.
Access to Fort McCoy Training Areas is restricted due to military training requirements and resulting safety concerns. Contact the Public Affairs Office for details.
Kickapoo Valley Reserve
County: Vernon
Property Owners: Ho-Chunk Nation, State of Wisconsin
The Kickapoo Valley Reserve in the heart of the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin comprises more than 8,500 acres of protected habitats including 1,450 acres of riverine wetlands. Sandstone cliffs and forested bluffs tower over the valley and the meandering Kickapoo River. The floodplain of this low gradient, warm water river features a complex of high-quality wetland habitat types. This Wetland Gem® is exceptionally scenic and provides a wide variety of recreational opportunities including canoeing, birdwatching, hiking, biking, fishing, and hunting. On the floor of the Reserve valley, the Kickapoo River floodplain features a rich mosaic of wetland habitats. Groundwater seepages are commonly associated with bedrock outcroppings on the valley hillslopes and support a number of rare plants. With one of the most diverse collections of wetland and upland plant communities in the state, the Kickapoo Valley Reserve supports abundant and diverse wildlife, particularly birds. More than 25 rare plant species have been documented at the Reserve, which also provides a habitat for more than 100 species of birds. A variety of reptiles and amphibians also use the site, including snapping turtle, painted turtle, eastern spiny softshell turtle, bullfrog, green frog, leopard frog, chorus frog, spring peeper, and Cope’s gray tree frog.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Visitor Center website .
Lower Chippewa River Delta
County: Buffalo/Pepin
Property Owners: Wisconsin DNR, USFWS
The Lower Chippewa River Delta is the most extensive river delta with the largest contiguous floodplain forest in the Midwest. This Wetland Gem® features high-quality riverine wetlands along the final miles of Wisconsin’s second-largest river before its confluence with the Mississippi and includes three State Natural Areas: Lower Chippewa River, Tiffany Bottoms, and Nelson Trevino Bottoms. Within this vast, flat corridor are a maze of floodplain forest, sloughs, oxbow meanders, and ephemeral ponds. Adjacent upland areas feature expanses of high-quality prairie. Floodplain forest is the key wetland habitat at this site. The remoteness and highly productive nature of the delta system present at the site make it a haven for wildlife. Furbearers like mink, otter, and beaver as well as many reptiles and amphibians use this site, though the site is best known for its birdlife. A wide diversity of bird species thrive in these extensive floodplain forests including numerous rare and uncommon species. The site also supports significant concentrations of migratory waterfowl and waterbirds including herons, egrets, and bitterns.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Lower Chippewa River , Tiffany Bottoms , and Nelson-Trevino Bottoms pages of the State Natural Areas Program website.
Lower St. Croix River Corridor
County: Polk/St. Croix
Property Owners: National Park Service, Wisconsin DNR
This riverine Wetland Gem® features a corridor of high-quality floodplain wetlands within the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway from Cedar Bend near the town of Osceola to the St. Croix Islands Wildlife Area where the Apple River meets the St. Croix. This stretch of the river has little development and features some of the best examples of floodplain forest in the region with many sloughs, oxbows, and backwaters. The corridor has patches of other wetland habitat types, including marsh, fen, alder thicket, and forested seeps. Human visitors also flock to this popular destination for canoeing, fishing, rock climbing, and hiking along the scenic shoreline. Silver maple dominates the canopy of floodplain forest in this corridor. Rare plants include Assiniboine sedge and the state-endangered bog bluegrass. More than 240 species of birds have been documented in the St. Croix Scenic Riverway. These floodplain forests provide critical habitat for several rare bird species. Numerous amphibians and reptiles are found here, including spotted salamander, Cope’s gray treefrog, green frog, northern leopard frog, painted turtle, snapping turtle, map turtle, and softshell turtle. Mammals using these wetlands include beaver, muskrat, otter, and black bear.
This area is best seen by canoe. For information about how to access this site, visit the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway website .
Lower Wisconsin River & Wyalusing State Park
County: Crawford/Dane/Grant/Iowa/Richland/Sauk
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
This Wetland Gem® comprises floodplain wetlands of the Lower Wisconsin River as it flows unimpeded by dams for its last 92 miles from Sauk City to its confluence with the Mississippi River at Wyalusing State Park. This wild and meandering river corridor features extensive public lands including numerous State Natural Areas; more than 79,000 acres of land in this corridor are targeted for protection through the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. Wetland habitats include extensive floodplain forest, marsh, sedge meadow, shrub carr, and low prairie. These floodplain wetlands are critical to maintaining a healthy river and support a variety of rare and sensitive species. This site has tremendous wildlife value and is a popular destination for paddling as well as hunting, fishing, birdwatching, and hiking. High-quality floodplain forests of different compositions are found throughout this corridor. Avoca Prairie, an example of open wetlands in the river corridor, features low prairie with more than 200 plant species including rattlesnake master, Michigan lily, prairie blazing star, big bluestem, prairie cordgrass, Indian grass, various sedges, sweet flag, yellow water buttercup, and two rare species: tall nut rush and prairie Indian plantain. The extensive floodplain forests of the Lower Wisconsin support a diversity of birds, including numerous rare and uncommon species. Other more common birds include pileated woodpecker, blue-gray gnatcatcher, brown creeper, yellow-bellied sapsucker, and hooded merganser. The corridor also provides habitat for many amphibians and reptiles. The Lower Wisconsin Riverway was designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 2020.
Wyalusing State Park’s canoe trail offers a unique way to see these riverine wetlands. For information, visit the DNR’s parks section of the website . Check out the "Paddle Planner Tool" on the Friends of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway website . To learn more about many natural areas within this large site, visit this StoryMap created by Wisconsin DNR .
Learn more about the international significance of this site on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands website .
Oak Ridge Lake
County: St. Croix
Property Owners: USFWS, Wisconsin DNR
Oak Ridge Lake is a large prairie pothole lake located three miles east of the town of Star Prairie in St. Croix County. While the lake itself is only 150 acres, more than 3,000 acres of protected uplands make this Wetland Gem® one of the few true prairie pothole lakes in Wisconsin with some level of permanent protection. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are continuing to restore more land in surrounding uplands to prairie and other native habitat types, providing a more fully-functioning ecological landscape. Expansive marshes are the primary wetland habitats at Oak Ridge Lake. The site features a variety of submergent, floating, and emergent aquatic plants with extent and abundance that vary based on water depth. The marshes of Oak Ridge Lake support a variety of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, but the site is best known for its rich birdlife. The site is managed by USFWS as a Waterfowl Production Area and is a major stopover site during migration for a variety of waterfowl, waterbirds, and songbirds. Bird species using the site include trumpeter swan, tundra swan, mallard, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, short-eared owl, bald eagle, willow flycatcher, sedge wren, and marsh wren.
For information about how to access this site, visit the USFWS St. Croix Wetland Management webpage (look for "Oak Ridge WPA.")
Snow Bottom
County: Grant
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
This Driftless Area Wetland Gem® features an extraordinarily scenic valley with the meandering Blue River flanked by fens, forested seeps, and other wetland habitats. Sandstone cliffs bound the valley and hold snow in the bottoms well into the spring, giving the site its name. The Blue River and its tributaries are high-quality trout waters that flow into the Wisconsin River in northeast Grant County. While the valley is perhaps better known for its geological formations and upland habitats, including the most significant remaining pine relicts in Wisconsin, the valley’s wetlands are also significant because calcareous fens are uncommon in this region of the state. WDNR plans to expand protection efforts in the valley to preserve these native plant communities and water quality in the Blue River system. Numerous groundwater seeps spring from the base of the valley’s sandstone cliffs and flow through oak-dominated forests underlain with ferns and mosses. With a mosaic of high-quality wetland and upland habitats, Snow Bottoms supports many rare species and diverse wildlife. More than 50 species of birds have been documented in the Snow Bottom State Natural Area. The forest interior supports species like barred owl, pileated woodpecker, wood thrush, scarlet tanager, and several warblers and vireos. Fen vegetation supports a variety of butterflies. Aquatic insects that hatch from the wetlands and stream channels support thriving trout populations in the Blue River and its major tributaries.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Snow Bottom page of the State Natural Areas Program website .
Trempealeau River Sedge Meadow
County: Buffalo/Trempealeau
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
This relatively small Driftless Area Wetland Gem® features a complex of high-quality riverine wetlands on the border of Buffalo and Trempealeau Counties. While the Trempealeau River headwaters are cold trout streams, the section of the river that meanders through this site is wide and supports a productive warm water fishery. The river’s frequent flooding nourishes extensive and diverse sedge meadows and other wetland habitats. Old oxbows within the Trempealeau River channel harbor deep-water marshes characterized by a variety of submerged aquatic plant species. These undisturbed wetlands are unusual because of the absence of invasive species and as such support an abundance and diversity of wildlife. Trempealeau River Sedge Meadow provides excellent habitat for many reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. The meadow provides nesting habitat for large numbers of grassland birds, which are declining in Wisconsin. Species include savannah sparrow and sedge wren. Other rare birds using the site include redheaded woodpecker, great blue heron, and bald eagle.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Trempealeau River Meadow page of the State Natural Areas Program website .
Upper Mississippi & Trempealeau River National Wildlife Refuges
County: Pierce/Trempealeau/Pepin/Buffalo/La Crosse/Vernon/Crawford/Grant
Property Owner: USFWS
This vast riverine Wetland Gem® is a multi-state site comprising more than 246,000 acres of floodplain in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa alongside more than 260 miles of the Upper Mississippi River. The corridor’s complex structure of islands, braided channels, oxbows, and sloughs includes more than 51,000 acres of floodplain forest and 48,000 acres of marsh. More than 600 species of plants are found at this site. Marsh habitats of the refuges feature various species of pondweeds and duckweeds, American lotus, water lily, broad-leaved arrowhead, common bur-reed, cattail, common horsetail, spike rush, several species of bulrushes, pickerelweed, and wild rice. Numerous species of sedges grow here, including tussock sedge, woolly sedge, beaked sedge, bottlebrush sedge, lake sedge, meadow sedge, and nutsedge. Wildlife habitat values are what this site is best known for. These refuges protect a significant portion of the Mississippi Flyway, which is used during migration by 40% of waterfowl in the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, songbirds, and raptors use these refuges as stopovers and migratory corridors. Reptiles and amphibians found at the site include map turtle, painted turtle, spiny softshell turtle, the state threatened Blanding’s turtle, blue-spotted salamander, green frog, northern leopard frog, pickerel frog, and the state-endangered Blanchard’s cricket frog. Humans also flock to this natural treasure; more than 3.7 million visitors explore these refugees annually and enjoy recreational offerings like hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, boating, and camping. The Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Wetlands were designated a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 2010.
For information about how to access this large site, visit the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge and Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge pages of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service website.
Learn more about the international significance of this site on the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands website .
Van Loon Bottoms
County: La Crosse
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
This riverine Wetland Gem®, located within the Van Loon State Wildlife Area in La Crosse County, features a high-quality wetland complex in the delta of the Black River where it meets the Mississippi River just upstream of Lake Onalaska. Two State Natural Areas are encompassed in the site: Van Loon Floodplain Forest and Van Loon Floodplain Savanna. Extensive and mature floodplain forests flank the many channels, sloughs, and oxbow lakes of the delta in this a state-owned portion of the Upper Mississippi River corridor. Shallow marshes are common; pockets of shrub carr and low prairie are also present. The canopy of the site’s floodplain forests is dominated by large silver maple, swamp white oak, and green ash. Van Loon Bottoms provides excellent habitat for birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. Wetland habitats of the delta are critical to supporting a healthy, diverse warm water fishery with high-quality fishing opportunities. Thousands of waterfowl and waterbirds use these wetlands as stopover habitats during migration each year. Several rare and uncommon bird species are found here, along with pileated woodpecker, wood duck, green heron, eastern wood-pewee, yellow-throated vireo, blue-gray gnatcatcher, ovenbird, American redstart, blue-winged warbler, and indigo bunting. Recreational activities popular at the site include fishing, hunting, canoeing, hiking, bird watching, and wildlife viewing.
For information about how to access this site, visit the Van Loon Floodplain Forest page of the State Natural Areas Program website or the Van Loon Wildlife Area page of WDNR's website .
Whitman Bottoms
County: Buffalo
Property Owner: Wisconsin DNR
Whitman Bottoms, a state-owned portion of the Upper Mississippi River corridor within the Whitman Dam State Wildlife Area in Buffalo County, comprises six miles of sloughs and backwaters stretching north from Merrick Park. Indian Creek meanders through this Wetland Gem®, which features the best floodplain forest in the region and extensive marshes. The mature floodplain forests at Whitman Bottoms have canopies dominated by silver maple and river birch. Marsh habitats of the refuges feature various species of pondweeds, water lily, broad-leaved arrowhead, pickerelweed, common bur-reed, cattail, common horsetail, spike rush, and various species of bulrushes. Like other backwater areas of the Upper Mississippi River, Whitman Bottoms provides excellent bird habitat, including one of the state’s largest heron rookeries and excellent stopover habitat for migratory birds. More than 500 nests have been established here, making this one of the state’s largest heron and egret rookeries. Many species of lowland forest birds, such as black-billed cuckoos and woodpeckers, thrive here. Bald and golden eagles have been documented at the site. Thousands of waterfowl, including tundra swan, canvasback, ring-necked duck, and scaup, use these wetlands each fall and spring as stopover habitat during migration. These wetlands also support a healthy fishery in Indian Creek with more than 60 species.
Visitors can access the site by canoe or by walking on the levees. For information about how to access this site, visit the Whitman Bottoms Floodplain Forest page of the State Natural Areas Program website .
