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| Large-flowered trillium can be found at Haskell Noyes Woods. |
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| Haskell Noyes Memorial Woods topo map. Click map for larger version. |
The trail at the state natural area runs no more 275 feet one-way or 0.1 miles round trip, but a number of small paths cross the open forest understory, so the hike can be extended. Be sure to stay on a pathway, though, as the forest floor can be fragile.
To reach the trailhead, from Campbellsport take Wis. Hwy. 67 northeast. Turn right/south onto County Road SS then right/southeast onto County Road GGG. A small parking area is the historical marker on the road’s right/west side.
Old forest
From the parking lot, head down the steps to the trail. To the trail’s north is a swamp hardwoods and tamaracks.
The trail soon enters a textbook example of southern dry-mesic forest, common in southern Wisconsin. Sugar maple and red oak are most common, but basswood, white ash, bitternut hickory, and ironwood also are present.
The woods sit on an interlobate moraine, or a spot where two glacial lobes made contact during the last ice age. The lobes when retreating leave large amounts of debris at such locations, so there the terrain is hilly. A lot of gravel also is found in the soil and on the slopes, making the area susceptible to erosion.
While some of the forest was logged in the 1800s, it was never clear-cut while the moist soils prevented forest fires for the last several hundred years. Because of that, the red oaks here date to the 1860s-70s and so are enormous. It also means the forest understory has only a few shrubs, allowing ferns – such as cinnamon, maidenhair and lady ferns – and plenty of wildflowers to flourish.
First to bloom
Among the first wildflowers to bloom is the sharp-lobed hepatica. It keeps its leaves through the winter, and when spring arrives quickly blooms before the trees above it have a chance to grow leaves that shade it out. Its flowers consist of five to nine petal-like sepals that range from pale blue to lavender, pink or white. Each flower is just a half-inch to an inch wide. Sharp-lobed hepatica grows across Wisconsin but is more common in the southern half; its cousin, the round-lobed hepatica, is more common in the northern half.
Skunk cabbage is one of the earliest wildflowers to bloom in spring, and can actually melt the surrounding snow and ice. It prefers wet areas, so look for it in depressions. Its flower shaped like a shell and usually is brown to purple, though it also can be a quite attractive yellow, that grows three- to six-inches tall. Unfortunately, it has gives off a strong odor of carrion, which attracts insects who then unwittingly pollinate flowers. Skunk cabbage is found in the southern half of the state.
Large-flowered trillium, aka white-flowered trillium, also is among the first flowers to bloom in spring. Among the state’s prettiest wildflowers, its blossom consists of three white, wavy petals that are two- to four-inches wide. The flower turns pink with age. Ants carry their seeds to underground homes but strangely enough don’t eat them, allowing the wildflower to spread. The large-flowered trillium is found all across the state and is a protected species.
Red trillium blooms from mid-April until June. The dark red flower has three petals and three sepals about an inch across. It is a common trillium of southern oak savannas so is rare in Wisconsin.
Another pretty spring wildflower here is wild geranium. Lavender to purple in color, it has heavily veined five petals about one- to two-inches wide. Colonies in natural woodland openings are formed from long-lived clones of an individual plant. Wild geranium grows all across the state.
More spring wildflowers
The wood anemone, also known as the mayflower, also blooms in spring here. It bears a single white flower, about an inch wide, with five petal-like sepals rising above the leaves. Wood anemones with flowers are older than those without; sometimes the plant doesn’t flower until it reaches five years old. It grows throughout Wisconsin.
Another spring wildflower in the woods is the mayapple. Its waxy white flower consists of six to nine petals. It’s sometimes called the umbrella plant because the leaves form an umbrella shape that shades the flower. The mayapple grows in the southern half of the state.
Large-leaved bellwort, also called merrybells, blooms in spring as well. Its drooping bell-shaped yellow flower is about one- to two-inches long with up to six petals. The long-leaved is one of two bellworts that grow in Wisconsin; four other species grow in eastern North America. Its found throughout the state.
The two-leaved miterwort, also known as Bishop’s cap, blooms from spring to summer. Its tiny white to cream flower measures only one-sixth of an inch wide and is arranged in a spike-like pattern on its stem. The petals are strangely fern-like. Miterwort grows mostly in the western part of the state, so it’s a rare find for eastern Wisconsin in Haskell Noyes.
Summer wildflowers
Clustered black snakeroot also blooms in summer. It bears three to five clusters of white flowers, each a half-inch to an inch wide, per stem. The plant once was thought to have healing powers. It is common all across Wisconsin.
The large-leaved shinleaf blooms June to August. Its white flower is five-parted and very small, only a quarter to a third of an inch long. The petals often have green veins while the leaf is pear-shaped. It appears in almost every Wisconsin county.
Most of these wildflowers would not exist in the woods today if not for a strong conservationist effort to preserve it. A land purchase in 1947 prevented imminent logging, and it has been a state natural area since 1952.
After taking in the sites, retrace your steps back to the parking area.
