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Quincy Bluff and Wetlands

Quincy Bluff and Wetlands

Quincy Bluff and Wetlands
© Harold E. Malde

Why You Should Visit
Coming here is akin to stepping into a time machine, traveling back some 300 years to experience the once vast Wisconsin wilderness.  

The view from the top of Quincy Bluff and the picturesque, 200-foot-high sandstone mesa of Lone Rock reveals not a trace of human habitation. As far as the eye can see in every direction, there are only wooded ridges, steep bluffs, open cliffs and wetlands.

Location
South Central Wisconsin, in Adams County, 20 miles north of Wisconsin Dells

Hours
Open year round, dawn to dusk

Conditions
Quincy Bluff is a great place to hike - the scenic views from the top of the bluff are well worth the climb. In the winter, the wide trails are ideal for cross-country skiing.

See the informational kiosk in the parking area for more information.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Please see "Preserve Visitation Guidelines"

Directions
From Wisconsin Dells:

  • Take Hwy 13 north for 14.4 miles to County H. 
  •  Turn west (left) and proceed 2.4 miles through White Creek. 
  •  Turn north (right) onto 16th Avenue.
  • Turn left onto Evergreen Avenue.
  • Turn right onto 16th Drive. 
  •  Continue for 2.2 miles; the Quincy Bluff parking lot is on the right.

What to See: Plants
One of Wisconsin's rarest natural communities, the pine-oak barren, is found here. (Barrens are sandy open areas of grasses and low shrubs that are sparsely timbered with pine and "scrub" oak.)

What to See: Birds, Butterflies
Characterized by sedge meadows and shrubby wetlands, the open areas provide excellent habitat for sandhill cranes and northern harrier hawks.

Because wild lupine grows in the area, this is a good potential habitat for the Karner blue butterfly.  We are hoping to attract this rare species in the future. 

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site

Quincy Bluff and Wetlands

Quincy Bluff and Wetlands
© Harold E. Malde


For three reasons:

  • large size - big enough to provide habitat for mammals such as the bobcat
  • relatively undisturbed condition
  • diversity of habitats, including rare oak-pine barrens, forests, cliffs and wetlands.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Nature Conservancy staff and volunteers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Natural Areas staff, are working to restore these barrens communities. 

Depending on the era, barrens were maintained in one of three ways: natural fire, fires set by Native Americans to rejuvenate the grassland, and fires that were purposely set following logging.

Because these barrens have not been burned in many years, they are overgrown with shrubs. Through controlled burns, the Conservancy hopes to create a gently rolling landscape covered only with a light growth of open-grown oaks and pines.

Acquisition
In the winter of 1992, The Nature Conservancy's Wisconsin Chapter acquired more than 3,298 acres in the Quincy Bluff and Wetlands area. Since then it has transferred 1,633 acres to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to establish the Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area. Today, the Conservancy owns and manages 1,665 acres.