Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area

The drive from Milwaukee to Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area took only about an hour. Most of the drive is your standard Wisconsin road trip: freeways with vast expanses of nothing, small towns with cute brick and stone storefronts, and quirky, oddly placed roadside attractions such as the Jamaican Oasis.  It is September, and the first morning this year that it truly feels like fall in Wisconsin. The sky is overcast with brief dazzling glimpses of sunlight, and the cold wind is whipping through the trees out of the northwest. 

A looping driveway brings into view the well-manicured lawns of the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center. There are rain gardens, a statue depicting a Native American hunting a mammoth, and ample parking. The visitor center is well maintained and filled with educational materials. It is 9 am

on a Tuesday morning and they had just opened. Apart from 3 other people, we have the park to ourselves.

The Bachhuber loop begins in the back of the center and wraps in either direction around the marsh. Punctuated along the path are wooden houses for bird watchers. Our first encounter with waterfowl occurred at the first of these structures. White pelicans rest on an island just off shore. We stop and take our pictures and head on.

The solitude on the marsh this morning is incredible. We are not that far from roads and farms, but the only sounds are frogs, ducks, killdeer and of course, the wind. Winding through paths, we are at times surrounded by water. White egrets and great blue herons wade through the shallows, snatching small fish. Flocks of ducks and geese paddle just off shore. As we veer toward Palmatory Point, the highest point in the refuge, a bald eagle flies overhead. 

We walk through a wooded area before reaching the sloping path uphill to Palmatory Point. The Point offers the best panoramic views of the refuge. It is an absolute must-see when visiting.  If hiking there is not an option, it does have an easily accessible parking area off of Palmatory St. as well as picnic tables so all people can enjoy the view. 

We return downhill along Quick’s Point Loop to meet back up with the Bachhuber loop. We follow the trail and get views of turtles, muskrats and more pelicans until we get to Indermuehle Island. This wooded island meets up with a floating boardwalk through the marsh. The sun is finally out and the wind is calmer here. Pelicans circle overhead, looking for a place to land. Educational boards dot the boardwalk for visitors to learn why the marsh is such an important ecosystem. I did not need an infographic to see the

biodiversity here.

Our first trip to Horicon Marsh was well worth the early bone chilling cold. The southern 1/3, managed by the state of Wisconsin, offered us about 5 miles of easily traversed trails. I look forward to exploring Horicon National Wildlife Refuge to the north.