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Mornin' to the thousands who floated down the Chippewa River for Fatfar 2023. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly - the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

Get your peepers ready:

• Visiting Parfrey’s Glen 👀 

• Chronic Wasting Disease 🕷

• Missing boy “living off the grid” 🏕

Parfrey’s Glen, State Natural Area No. 1

Just when we thought we’d seen it all in Wisconsin—our beautiful State Parks, pristine State Forests, the Great Lakes, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, that World Naked Bike Race in Madison—we found one more gem to add to our bucket list:

Parfrey’s Glen.

Known as the first (and best) State Natural Area in Wisconsin, Parfrey’s Glen of the Baraboo Hills is guaranteed to impress even the most experienced outdoors enthusiast.

Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area

• One of 700+ SNAs (State Natural Areas)

• Once privately owned by Mr. Parfrey, who worked with mills and timber

• Home to very unique fauna and flora (as well as threatened species)

State Natural Areas

Way back when, before Europeans had cultivated the land for Culver’s and breweries, Wisconsin boasted a unique collection of more than 75 different natural communities.

Through all the classic catalysts (farming, white-tailed deer herbivory, invasive species, land use changes), these communities have been severely reduced or eliminated from the state.

But thanks to some of the greatest conservationists known to ‘Sconkind—including Aldo Leopold, botanists Norman Fassett and Albert Fuller, and plant ecologist John Curtis—measures were made to preserve the remains of our natural vestiges.

Alas, the advocacy of these men and women led to the creation of the State Board for the Preservation of Scientific Areas in 1951. This in turn became the State Natural Areas (SNA) Program.

Today, there are over 700 SNAs dedicated to preserving the uniqueness of Wisconsin’s historic natural communities.

So, what is Parfrey’s Glen?

You can back off the edge of your seat now, Sheryl. 

Parfrey’s Glen was the first designated SNA back in 1952, and it’s no wonder why.

A deep gorge carved into a sandstone conglomerate in the south end of the Baraboo Hills, the Glen (Scottish for narrow, rocky ravine), showcases 100 foot-tall walls of moss, embedded pebbles, and quartzite boulders.

Sprouting from the seeping, cool walls are flora typically found in Northern Wisconsin, like mountain maple, yellow birch, red elder, and other rare species (some of which are federally threatened).

Through the middle of this gorge streams the Parfrey’s Glen Creek, a cold, hardwater flowage that houses a very diverse fauna, including diving beetles and caddisflies.

And finally, if you weren’t already asking Siri for directions, Parfrey’s Glen even sports a miniature waterfall.

How’d it uh, get ‘der?

Roughly 500 million years ago, Parfrey’s Glen, like the rest of the state, was submerged in Miller Lite (wait, that was just Milwaukee).

Ahem, the area was covered in a fairly warm, shallow sea. As the invertebrates that would eventually become us swam about, sandstone gradually deposited on the sea floor.

Once those ancient, giant glaciers moved through, the Parfrey’s Glen gorge was cut in this soft sea floor, forming a river (now creek) and depositing sandstone and quartzite conglomerate boulders throughout.

It would be owned by the Englishman Robert Parfrey (1816-1883), who acquired the property in 1865. A number of mills would sprout up in the area, and Parfrey would eventually own one, until leaving for Minnesota in 1876.

How you get out ‘der

Besides beating the heat (Parfrey’s Glen is in fact 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding area, due to the heat sink its walls create), there are tons of reasons to visit.

Though the trail ends at the start of the gorge, you can walk the riverbed with some supportive, water-ready footwear.

The trail is under a mile, and provides excellent opportunities to view some geological history and all those cool (literally) plants and animals.

If it were us, we’d spend a night at nearby Devil’s Lake State Park (see below about securing last-minute reservations), hike the entire Parfrey’s Glen Path, and end the day at Dorf Haus Supper Club—rated #1 Fish Fry in Wisconsin!

Now get out ‘der!

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Wiscampsin Weekly Poll

Will you look at that, 78% of you said you have never been to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve - better load up on some trail mix and get out ‘der!

Now lets see how Parfrey’s Glen compares…

Nuts and Seeds 🌰 

🕷 Oh deer: A new study by UW-Madison is finding that deer ticks may be spreading Chronic Wasting Disease (in addition to Lyme’s Disease). Apparently these little buggers can ingest and excrete the folded proteins causing the disease, which attaches to a deer’s brain and kills it eventually.

💨 Clean air? Don’t hold your breath: Half of Wisconsin is under an air quality advisory due to the wildfires in Canada (‘Scons haven’t been under an advisory for fine particle pollution since 2011, so this is big). Apparently, the advisory will pass come Thursday, but if you’re sick, elderly, or a young child somehow reading this newsletter, consider staying indoors.

⛺️ Camping out: The 13 year-old Reedsburg boy who went missing last Monday is believed to be trying to “live off the grid,” since investigators have found signs of clothing and a camp in the woods. The search for him has largely taken place west of Devil’s Lake State Park. Hoping for his safe return, and that he brought enough s’mores…

Meme of the Week 😂 

A review from the Trail... Cripes that may be the nicest review we’ve gotten!