Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map

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Whitefish Dunes State Natural Area
Description: Whitefish Dunes State Natural Area encompasses 230-acres within the boundaries of the
Whitefish Dunes State Park and preserves the largest and most significant Great Lakes dunescape in
Wisconsin. The complex of active and stabilized dunes protected by Whitefish Bay along the Lake
Michigan coast contains a rich flora particularly adapted to this dynamic habitat. All stages of succession,
from open beach through northern mesic and wet-mesic forest, are represented here. The lakeside fore
dune is open, sandy and vegetated with common milkweed, beach wormwood, beach pea, lyrate rockcress
and several beach grasses, including the state-threatened thick-spike wheat grass (Elytrigia
dasystachya ssp. psammophila) and sand-reed (Calamovilfa longifolia var. magna). Wisconsin’s largest
and most viable population of the federally-threatened dune thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) inhabits the shifting
sands of the fore dune. The backside of the fore dune is forested with white birch, balsam fir, and white
cedar and contains a ground cover of abundant Canada yew. The dunes farther from the lake are more
stabilized and heavily wooded with northern mesic forest of sugar maple, large-toothed aspen, eastern
hemlock, and American beech. Also present is a small bog lake with associated sedge meadow and
frontage on Clark Lake, a baymouth bar lake. Common nesting birds include Red-eyed Vireo, Veery,
Black-throated Green and Canada Warblers, American Redstart, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. Whitefish
Dunes is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1980.
Access: From the intersection of State Highway 57 and County Highway T in Valmy, go north on 57 1.1
miles, then east on Clark Lake Road (County Highway WD) about 3.6 miles to a parking lot at the park
office. Park maps are available at the office. Several hiking trails lead south into the dunes. A Wisconsin
State Park sticker must be displayed on all vehicles entering the park.
Marshall’s Point State Natural Area
Description: Marshall's Point consist of 113-acres and contains a relict boreal forest dominated by white
cedar, balsam fir, and white spruce and includes 2000 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline. Old beach lines
form 2- to 4-foot limestone ledges and provide local relief on the otherwise level topography. The coastal
location, with its cool microclimate, is partially responsible for the rich association of mosses and
liverworts. The vascular plant flora is equally as rich in diversity containing several rare and restricted
plants. The interior of the site, near the peninsula's center, is forested with northern mesic forest that has
been undisturbed for more than 100 years. Soils have formed over limestone bedrock and have
accumulated raw organic matter. These are termed raw humus rendzina, an extremely rare phenomenon.
Nesting birds include Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Parula,
and White-throated Sparrow. Marshall’s Point is owned by Marshall’s Point Association and was
designated a State Natural Area in 1986.
Access: Public access is restricted due to the sensitive nature of the site. Contact The State Natural Areas
Program for more information.
Appendix D – Natural Areas: A Definition &Status Report