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| The compass plant usually is the tallest wildflower on the prairie. |
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| Ice Age National Scenic Trail - Scuppernong Prairie segment topo map. Click map for larger version. |
The 1.3-mile round trip touches the Scuppernong Prairie State Natural Area in the Kettle Moraine State Forest’s Southern Unit. The natural area protects 173 acres of prairie in Waukesha County. Though some of the wildflowers here grow in the central part of Wisconsin, almost none of them can be in the Northwoods, and most are limited to just the southern third of the state.
To reach the trailhead, from Eagle, take Wis. Hwy. 59 – aka Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive – west. Turn right/north onto County Road N. When the road curves west, watch for the pullout on the road’s right/north side. Park there.
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail crosses the road. Take the route going north.
Initially, the trail skirts the border between the prairie and a woodlands then passes between the latter and a tree plantation. The trees mostly are burr oaks, so the area looks a lot like it would have before Euro-American settlement.
Around 0.23 miles, the trail curves west and enters the prairie, which sits on the east side of the 3000-acre Scuppernong Marsh. The large, open site offers excellent habitat for a variety of birds and butterflies more common in grasslands than Wisconsin’s maple-basswood forests.
After passing through another small wooded area, the trail curls north. At 0.46 miles, it crosses a boardwalk over the a wetlands. Stretching to the west is the Scuppernong Prairie State Natural Area.
Spring wildflowers
A variety of grasses cover the prairie, including big blue-stem, blue-eyed grass, blue-joint grass, Indian grass, needle grass, and prairie drop-seed. Growing amid them are a number of wildflowers.
Among the first to bloom there in spring is prairie smoke. A member of the rose family, its pink to mauve-colored bell-shaped flowers with a feathery plume droop, making for a fantastic display. When the plume waves in the wind, it looks like smoke, hence its name. The flower grows in the southern two-thirds of the state.
The shooting is another common prairie spring wildflower. Growing between 10-20 inches tall, up to five flowers can appear per stalk. Each flower has fived backward-curved purple petals rising out of a yellow center. Euro-American settlers called them “prairie pointers.” They mainly are found in the southeastern part of the state.
Cream wild indigo blooms from May to June. The white to yellow, five-parted flower is about three-quarters to an inch in size. The plant itself grows from 10 inches to nearly 2.5-feet tall. It is found primarily in a line south of Burnett to Milwaukee counties
During spring and summer, the lead-plant blooms. A 1- to 3-foot high shrub, it boasts a spiky cluster of small blue-purple flowers. Its roots dig deep into the ground, up to 10 feet, and the plant can live for centuries. The lead-plant can be grows across southern half of the state. It so named because when lead ore deposits were found, the plant grew on the dry soils overlaying them, but there is no relationship between the location of lead ore and where the plants grow.
The tall prairie blazing-star also blooms in summer. Growing 2-5 feet tall, it offers a spiky purple cluster of flowers. The spike can grow up to 18 inches tall and is loved by deer and butterflies. It grows in the southern third of the state.
Summer to fall wildflowers
The compass plant blooms in summer and fall. Each flower can have as many 25 yellow petals with the whole blossom up to 3-inches wide. Usually the tallest wildflower on the prairie, it usually grows between 5-10 feet high. It’s a favorite of finches, who love their seeds, and common across southern third of state.
Blooming July to September is Virginia mountain mint. White flowers crown the plant, which can grow up to three feet high. Though hardly the showiest flower on the prairie, it is sweetly aromatic. They’re common in the state’s southern two-thirds and are found mostly in the southeastern part and a few spots north of that.
From late summer to early fall, the prairie dock yields a bright yellow flower that can be up to 2.5 inches across and consists of 15-30 ray florets. Each flower sits atop a stalk that can rise up to 10 feet tall from the plant’s leafy portion. Its taproot can reach 12 feet down.
The boardwalk is a short 100 feet, and from there enters a woodlands at the edge of the state natural area.
Upon reaching Wilton Road, at 0.65 miles, turn back and retrace your steps back to the parking lot.
