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| Restored prairie in autumn at Wisconsin's Roche-A-Cri State Park. |
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| Acorn Trail segment and Turkey Vulture Trail map. Click for larger version. |
Segments of the Acorn Trail and the entire Turkey Vulture Trail can be combined into a pleasant 1.2-mile walk. Both trails sit on the park’s south side.
To reach the trailhead, from Adams-Friendship, drive north on Wis. Hwy. 13. Turn left/west onto Czech Avenue. In 0.2 miles is a parking lot on the road’s right/north side. The mowed Acorn Trail heads into the savannah from the lot’s north side.
The oak savannah – grasslands with the occasional oak tree – at one time was common in this part of Adams County. Many savannahs were converted to farm fields or became forests when settlers, to protect their homesteads, extinguished the prairie fires necessary to sustain the grasslands.
Oak savannah
This section of the park is just one of two in the vicinity being stored to prairie; another is in a state natural area east of Roche-A-Cri. In both cases, native prairie seeds obtained from the Bureau of Endangered Resource sites and a nursery as well as collected from nearby existing savannahs were planted.
A little more than 200 feet into the hike, take the spur heading left/west to a tree and clump of bushes. Along the way, common prairie grasses – including big bluestem, Indian grass, June grass, and little bluestem – will be easy to spot.
Quite a few forbs also can be spotted amid the grasses. Among them are bergamot, black-eyed Susans, blazing star, butterfly weed, dotted mint, goldenrods, lupine, sky blue asters, round-headed bush clover, spiderworts, thimbleweed and yellow coneflower.
Such plants make a great habitat for grassland songbirds, various insects and reptiles, and game birds such as grouse and ring-necked pheasants.
Follow the spur back to the main trail and go left/north on it. Immediately after intersecting with the looping Turkey Vulture Trail, the Acorn Trail enters the pine, oak and maple woods surrounding Carter Creek. The contrast with the prairie aptly demonstrates the differences between the two, as almost entirely different plants reside in each ecosystem.
Turkey Vulture Trail
Once in the woodline, turn right/east onto the northern trailhead for the Turkey Vulture Trail. If you don’t make the turn and continue north, you’ll cross the meandering Carter Creek and junction with the Spring Peeper Trail.
The Turkey Vulture Trail is a great place to watch the vultures soaring between Roche-A-Cri to the north and Friendship Mound, a mere half-mile to the south. The large birds – which boast a wingspan of 63-72 inches and grow 24-32 inches long – summer in Wisconsin, where they feed on carrion. The best time to spot the vultures is between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when they are most active.
After paralleling Carter Creek, the Turkey Vulture Trail curls away from it and re-enters the prairie before rejoining the Acorn Trail. Once at the Acorn, turn left/south and return to the parking lot.
Overall, the Turkey Vulture Trail runs 0.9 miles while the Acorn Trail segment with the spur runs a total of 0.3 miles.
A hazard of this trail is that it’s not always open. During spring, prescribed burns remove brush, dead grasses and leaves, which helps the savannah grasses and plants re-establish themselves. They’re able to grow back because their root systems and seeds are protected in the soils.
