Earlier this year the urge to go hiking – really hiking – settled in around my shoulders. After a winter cooped up indoors, a million minutes spent at a desk and in a car, my body needed some sunshine and some good activity.
My newfound desire at hand, I re-discovered this book tucked away in a basket beneath our coffee table. We had bought it several years before and, of course, never used it as we had intended. I got off work early one beautiful afternoon and decided that this would be the year we would.
For our hike that afternoon, we choose one within easy driving distance, but in a park we had never visited: Magnolia Bluff County Park, #37 in the guidebook.
As I read the description of the hike in the book, I wondered why we never had made it to this little park within an hour’s drive of us. According to John & Ellen Morgan, Magnolia Bluff contains its own climate within Rock County, Wisconsin.
“Due to the dramatic change in elevation between the north and south sides of the bluff, a microclimate exists,” the Morgans write. “Within this zone is the only naturally occurring stand of white birch in the county.” – p. 172
It was dramatic, all right. Bluffs, prairies, and wildflowers all in 2.9 miles.
It was a lovely hike and a near-perfect day.
Next year, once we move into our house that has yet to be built, we’ll be just a few miles from this park. I expect that we’ll plan to visit a little more often.
But maybe not: we’ve got 49 more hikes to go!
What about you – what’s your favorite Wisconsin hike?
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