Hiking Trails Southern Kettle Moraine Forest

My wife and I spent a day hiking some of the trails in the Southern Kettle Moraine Forest of Wisconsin.  The first trail was the Scuppernong Springs trail, which is both scenic and has an interesting past.  The area covered by this trail follows the Scuppernong River, which is spring fed and very clear.  Native Americans had a camp near one of the springs, and during the late 1800s the area housed a marl plant (fine grain marine deposit/minerals), railway, hotel, cranberry bog, sawmill and a large trout farm that sold fish to stores and hotels in Chicago.  During the peak, the businesses of this area employed thousands of people. The site was restored to its natural condition to improve the trout habitat downstream.  Remnants of the past uses are still visible.   The river and nearby marsh supports numerous birds, including Blue Herons and Kingfishers.

The second hike was at the Emma Carlin trail system, which serves both hikers and mountain bikers.  The trails move from pine plantation, through meadows and hardwood forests.  While there are a variety of trails of different lengths, the system is geared more towards the bikers than hikers.

We finished with a very short hike at the Paradise Springs nature trail.  This site was a former estate, hotel and had a horse race track almost one hundred years ago.  A spring generates 30,000 gallons of water per hour and creates a great trout habitat.  A pond constructed in 1870 was originally used as a trout farm and is now a catch and release fishing spot.  There are more than 190 plant species, including some non-native plants planted by earlier inhabitants.

The weather was good and the trails were diverse.  A few pictures of the Scuppernong Springs trail are included.