Mazomanie Barrens

    I'm lucky to have a view of the Wisconsin River from my living room window. There's another treasure just a short walk across Highway Y. First I cross a small piece of prairie to get access to a trail that leads to the east. About a quarter mile down that path I come to the beginning of the Mazomanie Oak Barrens (also known as the Mazomanie Sand Barrens). Both names are appropriate as the photo demonstrates. Under the blanket of snow are rolling sand dunes which support the diverse growth of prairie plants and many types of trees, including oaks. When I first moved here a buddy/neighbor and I co-owned a snowmobile and made use of the groomed trail that runs through it. Later I took up cross country skiing. Unless you follow the well-traveled trials, walking through the snow that drifts into deep pockets, you can soon wear out. For visitors to the area there's a parking lot (not always plowed out) or a long driveway at the end of which once stood several farm buildings. If you choose to start from the parking lot there’s a stand of large white pines planted years ago to hold the sand in place. When you travel around the Sauk Prairie area you'll see this method was used on both sides of the river. From here there's clearly a path to follow.

   The wooded area opens to a wild mixture of prairie, hardwoods, wetlands and desert-like habitat. A word to the wise; an adult naturalist can get caught up in the scenery and walk for a few miles. I once took my dog with me (a short-legged Scottish terrier). He loved checking out all the smells of the wildlife that had crossed the path. Maybe an hour into it I noticed he had sat down and no longer wanted to walk. Needless to say that ended our hike and I carried him about halfway back.

   This sand terrace was created as the ice age glaciers melted some 10,000 years ago. It's believed that the sand and gravel left behind may be as deep as three hundred feet in some areas. This process left us with the great river valley in which we live. Over the thousands of years this barren has changed to give us a small taste of the many different terrains in our area.

The walk beyond the pines opens with a dry prairie to the left and a bog/peat type wetland to the right. The prairie has a wide range of native plants including big and little blue stem, side oats and other grasses that send their roots deep through the sand to find water. The prickly pear with its pale yellow flowers and small red fruit are there, as well as large patches of spiderwort that look like small ponds when they sport their blue blooms. In the summer many song birds call this home. From the prairie you enter into a hardwood forest of black cherry, and black, white and bur oak and few others. Mixed in the underbrush is hazelnut. Where I grew up we'd pick these as kids. We thought we had hit the jackpot, but after waiting for them to dry there seldom were any nut meats in the pods.

    Next comes part of the Mazomanie Marsh where the ponds are home to the migrating ducks in the spring and a few wood ducks during the summer. During the green summer months the cattails and reeds are filled with the actions of wetland birds.

    The wildlife is as diverse as the vegetation. During the night the coyote howls blend with the hoots of the great horned owls. In the summer this chorus is joined by the call of the whip-poor-will. When hiking, with luck you'll spot wild turkey; white tail deer; fox, red pine, or gray squirrels; rabbits and maybe the more elusive red fox.

If you complete the hike you'll pass through patches of these habitats a couple of times. The trail loops around to join the eastern parking area down the long driveway. During a visit this time of year you'll probably hear that the black-capped chickadee has started to mix its call of the usual “chick-a-dee-dee” with “Hi sweetie!” Meanwhile, the hawks sit high in the bare branches waiting for some hapless creature to make a run across the white snow.