50 Hikes in Wisconsin: #37 – Magnolia Bluff County Park

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.

50 Hikes in Wisconsin | Inkwells & Images

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.

50 Hikes in Wisconsin - 37 - Magnolia Bluff  | Inkwells & Images

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50 Hikes in Wisconsin - 37 - Magnolia Bluff  | Inkwells & Images

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?


Comments

2 responses to “50 Hikes in Wisconsin: #37 – Magnolia Bluff County Park”

  1. This looks like such a fun hike! I’ve never been to Wisconsin before, but if I’m ever in the area I might have to check it out! :)

  2. […] We went camping for the Fourth of July, and after kayaking down the Kickapoo River on Saturday morning, decided to further torture ourselves with a second hike from our book. […]

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