Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve, Carlsville

The Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve is one of the Midwest’s premier natural areas encompassing nearly 500 acres of protected land along the shores of Green Bay. The most significant feature of the Blufflands Preserve is the distinct, rugged rock bluff (sometimes called “the hogback”) of the Niagara Escarpment. The trail that climbs this recognizable landmark provides spectacular views of the sparkling waters of Green Bay.

In addition to scenery, the escarpment provides highly specialized habitat for many rare species of plants and animals. The Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve also features pristine springs and wetlands, boreal and northern mesic forests, old-fields and stretches of cobbled lakeshore.

For those interested in cultural history, the Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve has that too. A stretch of the historic Stage Road Trail, once the main supply route connecting Sturgeon Bay with Egg Harbor, traverses part of the preserve and today serves as one of the many hiking trails.

The Door County Land Trust is celebrating 25 years of preserving Door County’s finest open spaces and wild places. Over the course of the summer and fall, this column will feature one of the special places the Land Trust is working to protect.

The Door County Land Trust is challenging people to visit all of the places featured in this column. People are encouraged to email [email protected] when they accomplish this feat and to have their name entered into a drawing to win a copy of the Land Trust’s Guide to the Places We Protect due to be published this fall. To view previous columns, for more information on the Land Trust and to download preserve trail maps, visit http://www.doorcountylandtrust.org.

Just the Facts: The Door County Land Trust’s Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve, Carlsville

Acres protected: nearly 500

Miles of trails: approximately 2.5 miles of easy to moderately difficult trails

Directions: The Bay Shore Blufflands Nature Preserve is located near the shores of Green Bay approximately 8 miles north of Sturgeon Bay and 2 miles west of Carlsville. Take highway 42 to Carlsville. Turn left (west) on Highway I and travel approximately two miles to where Highway I meets Bay Shore Drive. Turn left (south) and continue to the parking area on the left (east) side of Bay Shore Drive across from fire number 5451.

Partnering organizations: the Knowles Nelson State Stewardship Fund, the Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council, and many generous individuals and families who have donated land and funds.

Did you know? The Niagara Escarpment, a prominent feature of the Bay Shore Blufflands Preserve (and Door County itself), is composed of dolostone – a combination of dolomite and limestone. Dolostone was formed by the calcium-rich bodies of corals, clams and snails that lived in the warm shallow seas that covered this area approximately 450 million years ago. Today, the shaded bluffs along the escarpment create a cool, moist microclimate for plants and animals found nowhere else in the county – unique ferns and orchids, rare land snails that have survived since the last period of glaciation and 500-year-old white cedars, Door County’s oldest trees.