Big & Little Marsh State Natural Area | park

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Big and Little Marsh features a complex of boreal rich fen, northern wet-mesic forest, and a large emergent aquatic marsh on marl. Located on Washington Island, off the tip of the Door County peninsula, the site harbors numerous rare species. Of interest is the sandy, cobble beach that harbors patches of the federally threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris), a diminutive member of the iris family with beautiful dark blue flowers. The iris only grows near the moist, sandy shores of the northern Great Lakes. An extensive lowland conifer swamp is dominated by white cedar with lesser amounts of balsam fir and tamarack; the groundlayer is comprised of three-leaved gold-thread, Canada mayflower, starry false Solomon's-seal, and three-seeded sedge. Rare species of the wet-mesic forest include northern bog sedge (Carex gynocrates) and northern black currant (Ribes hudsonianum). Soft-stem bulrush dominates the unusual aquatic marsh, which contains large expanses of seasonally dry marl and a pavement of dolomite gravel and cobbles. Frequent in the shallow pools is common bog-arrow grass (Triglochin maritima). Also present are false mermaid weed, northern bladderwort, pondweeds, and water smartweed. An upland hardwood forest of white cedar and hemlock surrounds the wetlands. Included within the natural area is 200' of the Lake Michigan shoreline, which is important foraging habitat for the federally endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana). Many birds funnel through this area during spring and fall migrations and a diversity of neotropical migrants breed here in summer. Big and Little Marsh is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2003.