Parfrey's Glen, located within Devil's Lake State Park, is a

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

-designated State Natural Area. The glen is a deep gorge cut through the sandstone of the south flank of the Baraboo Hills. It was the first State Natural Area to be designated in Wisconsin. The valley was named for Robert Parfrey.

Location and access

Parfrey's Glen is located approximately 5 miles north of Merrimac, Wisconsin. Though within the boundaries of Devil's Lake State Park, it cannot be accessed by vehicle from the rest of the park. A trail (1.6 mi roundtrip) leads north into the natural area ending at a small waterfall. The

Ice Age Trail The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail stretching in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. The trail is administered by the National Park Service, and is constructed and maintained by private and public agencies including the Ice ...

also passes through the site. However, heavy rainstorms in 2008 and 2010 destroyed the boardwalk that made up the last part of the trail in the gorge. The boardwalk was not replaced and the trail is now along the streambed for the portion of the hike in the gorge.

Description

Norman Carter Fassett, Chairman of the Natural Areas Committee of the

, led the effort to establish Parfrey’s Glen as a scientific research area. It was designated a State Natural Area in 1952. The exposed sandstone walls of Parfrey's glen contain pebbles and boulders of embedded quartzite. The walls were covered with moss and remained moist from seepage before the 2008 floods, which washed away nearly all vegetation in the glen. The mosses and ferns have yet to grow back as of September 2016. The glen has a cool and shaded climate. This results in a flora more typical of northern Wisconsin with

yellow birch ''Betula alleghaniensis'', the yellow birch, golden birch, or swamp birch, is a large tree and an important lumber species of birch native to northeastern North America. Its vernacular names refer to the golden color of the tree's bark. In the pa ...

, mountain maple, and red elder and several rare plant species, including the federally threatened northern monkshood ('' Aconitum noveboracense'') and state-threatened round stemmed false foxglove ('' Agalinis gattingeri''). Additional rare species found here include cliff goldenrod (''

Solidago sciaphila ''Solidago sciaphilia'' is known as shadowy goldenrod or cliff goldenrod. The species is endemic to bluffs along the Mississippi River in southern Minnesota, and the driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin, northern Iowa and Illinois. Througho ...

''), and two state-threatened birds, the cerulean warbler ('' Setophaga cerulea'') and Acadian flycatcher ('' Empidonax virescens''). The fast and cold hardwater stream, Parfrey's Glen Creek, flows through the gorge and harbors a rare species of diving beetle ('' Agabus confusus'') and a rare caddisfly ('' Limnephilus rossi'').

References

External links

WI DNR

WI DNR
{{Protected Areas of Wisconsin Protected areas of Sauk County, Wisconsin State Natural Areas of Wisconsin Protected areas established in 1952 1952 establishments in Wisconsin