Hiking a glacial gem at Cross Plains complex
Area marks border of glacier, Driftless
From the bluffs that rise 250 feet above the valley floor on the south side of Highway 14 west of Middleton, hikers in the relatively undeveloped Cross Plains Ice Age Complex can view bucolic farmland and the aquamarine-colored Lake Katherine — which looks like it could be somewhere in the Caribbean.
It’s something of a mental stretch to imagine that 18,000 years ago, as the Green Bay lobe of the Wisconsin Glacier was melting, geologists say a river with a volume of the Mississippi was surging through here in a canyon 600 feet deep. Over time, glacial outwash filled up the depression with more than 300 feet of boulders of different sizes, sand and silt.
Back then, a larger version of Lake Mendota covered much of central Dane County with water. As the glacier retreated, it left behind a smaller Mendota, and the chain of lakes that includes Monona, Wingra, Waubesa and Kegonsa.
These days in the gentle valley west of Middleton, springs bubble out of the outwash mix to feed Black Earth Creek, a Class 1 trout stream that meanders back and forth through the farmland, luring anglers to its banks to catch (and release) brown and rainbow trout. The creek joins with the Wisconsin River at Mazomanie, while deposits from the same outwash that filled the valley can be found 80 miles to the west where the Wisconsin River joins the Mississippi.
And the milky blue waters of Lake Katherine, which is part of the Capital Sand & Gravel Co.?
The suspended limestone and minerals in the water reflecting the sunlight give the lake its somewhat unusual color, said Gary Werner, executive director of the Madison-based Partnership for the National Trails System, which supports the Ice Age Trail Alliance.
Werner said the Cross Plains complex, which is made up of land owned by the National Park Service, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Dane County Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is something of a “hidden gem.” And while it doesn’t contain an official segment of the Ice Age Trail, he called it a key part of the Ice Age Trail system because it marks the border of the glacier and the rumpled hills and dales of the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, which was never flattened by glaciers.
“Because of its location, it has many of the features that make the state’s geology so interesting and is one of the nine units of the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve,” Werner said. Those features include eskers, moraines, drumlins, kames, kettles, outwash plains, meltwater channels, driftless (unglaciated) topography, glacial lake beds and islands.
Werner said the Wisconsin Ice Age remnants are considered by geologists to be among the globe’s best examples of how the advance and retreat of glaciers has helped sculpt the Earth over the eons.
The 750-acre complex includes the Wilkie farmhouse — which was built from limestone blocks and dates to the mid-1800s — a red barn and several other other outbuildings on the south side of Old Sauk Pass Road. A spokesman for the Park Service said the foundation, heating system and plumbing at the picturesque home, which may eventually be used as a contact station for complex visitors, are now being updated. The land on this side of the road has a kiosk with information on designated trails that mostly go through grasslands.
The DNR owns the 150-plus acres on the north side of Old Sauk Pass Road, which is where I hiked with a friend recently on a slightly chilly spring day. This property is home to a 100-footdeep gorge, where water from a lake ran under the glacier and tumbled down into the valley, tearing away the soil down to the bedrock.
The gorge and the surrounding landscape have what Werner called “social trails that anyone with a little hiking experience should be able to handle.” We found towering trees — some with vines wrapped around them — limestone rock outcroppings and ephemeral spring flowers such as bloodroot and hepatica in the cool, shaded gorge. There were also red- and black-cup fungi hidden under downed limbs and colorful orange mushrooms growing on top of rotting logs.
And at one point, an igneous rock of volcanic origin was perched on top of one of the limestone outcrops. Dubbed an erratic, Werner said it had been moved by glaciers south all the way from the area around Lake Superior.
When we emerged from the gorge, we hiked up to a meadow that had been recently torched in a prescribed burn by volunteers with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, which has its headquarters in Cross Plains.
The 1.5-mile loop trail then led back into the forest — made up primarily of stately oaks — that loomed over the valley below. At one point, we stopped to rest on a pair of small wooden benches that someone had conveniently left at an outlook on the path before heading back to the Wilkie farmhouse.
More information: The complex is open from sunrise to sunset daily, year-round. Dogs are allowed as long as they’re on a leash. There are no restroom facilities or fees to enter. For more, call (608) 831-3005 or see dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/ name/crossplains.
Getting there: The best place to access the complex is at 8075 Old Sauk Pass Road. From Milwaukee, take I-94 west to Madison, then Highway 12 to Old Sauk Road in Middleton. Head west to Timber Lane, turn right and then left on Old Sauk Pass Road. Parking is limited at the Wilkie Farm entrance. Do not block the gate with vehicles.