Necedah Marshes

Hike Name: Necedah Marshes Location: central WI Length: 5 Submitted by: Wapiti Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Wisconsin trail reviews Wisconsin national parks Wisconsin state parks
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Description
The Neceday Nat'l Wildlife Refuge is an odd place to find a hike, but in central WI, it's one of the only spots with any kind of trail system over the 1-2 mile nature trail most WI parks have. It's also the closest I've ever come to hiking in sandy savannah country north of New Mexico.

The entire area's full of lakes, drainages, and ponds, along with lots of dikes, ditches, canals and upland forests. There is an 'auto tour' that hits up several sites within the refuge, three of which include minute, 1-2 mile nature hike loops. I believe there is also an observation tower near the southern lakes.

The payoff comes in the form of wildlife. After a simple dayhike scouting-run of the rufuge, I had come away with sighting two pair of whooping cranes, a half-dozen sandhill cranes, the usual assortment of herons, muskrats, raccoons, geese and migratory birds, and multiple signs of wolf activity (scat, tracks on access roads, etc.) The refuge literature mentions two active wolf packs in the area.

Very limited hiking (5 mi total, maybe) most of the year. During a certain berry-picking season (I can't for the life of me remember which one--only that it's mid-late summer), the hiking becomes much better for 3 weeks. All access roads are open to the public and all access gates are swung open. (I already hiked these roads illegally tracking wolves, but it's nice to know there's a legal option, too). With full access to the refuge, it would be easy to string together a 10-20 mile loop with various gravel, dirt and rutted access paths amongst all those waterways.

Directions to Hike
The Refuge is located 4 miles west of Necedah, WI, on Hwy 21. There are other access points around the perimeter, too, as the refuge is basically a big 10x20 mile (or so) rectangle of land bordered by county roads and other wildlife refuges.

Contact Information
W7996 20th Street West
Necedah, WI 54646
Phone: 608-565-2551
Fax: 608-565-3160
TTY: 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay)


http://www.fws.gov/midwest/necedah/

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