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Description:
Horicon NWR is located on the west branch of the Rock River in southeastern Wisconsin. The Refuge manages the northern two thirds and the Department of Natural Resources manages the southern one third of the Horicon Marsh, a shallow peat-filled lakebed gouged out by the Wisconsin Glacier thousands of years ago. This basin is 14 miles long and from 3-5 miles wide. At 32,000 acres, Horicon Marsh is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States. Horicon Marsh is bounded on the east by a sharply rising ridge of the Niagara escarpment which rises approximately 250 feet above the marsh to an elevation of 1,100 feet. The land to the west of the marsh rises slowly and is dotted with many small potholes and several shallow lakes. Major land types identified on the refuge include wetland, of which the majority are classified as deep, freshwater marsh; and uplands, including forestland/brushland habitat. In 1990, Horicon Marsh was designated a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention. Up to 300,000 Canada geese stage on the Refuge in the fall. The area is also a mecca for ducks, cranes, herons, and shorebirds. Directions:
From Waupun, go 7 miles east on State Highway 49 and 3.5 miles south on County Road Z.From Milwaukee, take 41 north to the Brownsville exit, go west on Highway 49 and 3.5 miles south on County Road Z.From Madison take 151 north to Highway 49, go east to County Road Z, then south 3.5 miles.
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