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| Quincy Bluff rises more than 200 feet above a sand plain in Wisconsin. |
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| The Quincy Bluff Trail follows an old logging road. |
The unmarked Quincy Bluff Trail heads to its namesake at Wisconsin’s Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area. Reaching the other side of a saddle in the bluff comes to about 1.9 miles round trip, but the hike easily can be extended given the unmarked dirt trails at the top.
To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship, take Wis. Hwy. 13 south. Turn right/west onto County Road H. After crossing White Creek, go right/north onto 16th Avenue then left/west onto Evergreen Avenue. Next, turn right/north onto 16th Drive. About a third of a mile north of Elk Avenue is a parking lot on the road’s right/east side.
Look east. Quincy Bluff rises 200 feet high and extends for approximately two miles north-south. From the parking lot’s northeast corner, follow the dirt trail east for about 400 feet. Once you reach an old logging trail, go right/south.
Located in Wisconsin’s Central Sands region – made famous by Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac – the state natural area is quite unique. This is the northernmost range of the state’s oak barrens and the southernmost range of its pine barrens, so the two mix here.
Making their home in this unusual amalgam are coyotes, bear, wolf, white-tailed deer, fisher, otter, bobcat, jumping mouse, and even slender glass lizards, which look like a snake but is a legless lizard. Frogs and muskrats can be found in the wetlands near the bluff.
Passenger pigeon paradise
The state natural area is a well-recognized birding area. Golden eagles, sandhill cranes and ducks live here from spring through autumn while pileated woodpeckers, blue jay, chickadees stay year-round. Each fall, sandhill cranes roost in large numbers across the natural area’s fields.
Unfortunately, the one bird that once nested here by the millions is gone. In 1871, more than 100,000 people descended upon Quincy Bluff, killing millions of passenger pigeons in what is among the worse slaughters ever recorded of the now extinct species.
About 0.4 miles from the parking lot, the logging trail climbs Quincy Bluff and then heads straight south along a cliffside. The bluff is made of Cambrian sandstone, laid down a little more than 500 million years ago when rivers wandered across a plain. The sandstone once covered all of what we now call the Central Sands region but over the eons has eroded away except for isolated rock formations such as Quincy Bluff.
Waves from an ice age-era lake and since then wind have weathered the bluffs into the steep, castellated formations seen today.
Bluff top views
Around 0.75 miles in, the logging road crosses a saddle in the bluff. Northern dry forest and open cliff ecosystems cover the bluff, allowing for pretty views framed by woodlands. From the saddle and all along the bluff, great views abound; a vast wetlands stretches to the east, while the Wisconsin River flowing through Castle Rock Lake can be seen to the west.
The trail is best hiked in spring and early summer on dry days. By mid- to late-summer, the trail can be overgrown, and in winter snow and ice often makes the route to the bluff’s saddle impassable. Autumn marks another great time to hike the bluff, as the bugs are gone and the grass a golden hue.
Be forewarned: As a state natural area, there are no public facilities. Pets are allowed if on a leash, however. Rock climbing is prohibited.
