North Woods Native Plant Society is hosting the Marenisco Swamp Tromp on Saturday, June 10, 2023, beginning at 10 am (central). The anticipated duration is 2-3 hours.
Stompers should beet at the junction of Kimberly Road and USFS Road 8500 just east of the Presque Isle River in Marenisco (46.37619, -89.68851: Google Maps). Plan to park along the shoulder of 8500 south of Kimberly Road. The area of interest lies to the north of Kimberly Road.
What to bring
Water, snacks, notebook, camera, sun protection, bug protection, and swamp footwear (i.e. muck boots), it will be wet!
If you’ve been in the woods lately, you’ll know that mosquitoes are particularly prevalent right now. Without proper clothing and repellent, they are likely to make your experience rather unpleasant, so come prepared.
About the Trip
The group will explore a few different wetland types along the Presque Isle River. Approaching the river from the east, a cedar-dominated forest gives way to black ash and then silver maple dominated wetlands – a transition which occurs over just 100 meters or so. In the area we will explore, the three distinct wetland types occur in belts along the river: silver maple floodplain forms a narrow belt about 25 m wide, the black ash swamp roughly 50 m, and the cedar forest is about 150 m. The proximity of these wetland communities will allow us to observe a diversity of vascular plants within a relatively small area. Participants will see over 100 different plant species!
This will be an off-trail adventure. The planned route is less than a half-mile, but the group will do plenty of meandering. As with many swamps, there are some areas of blow-down and various vegetation thickets – but the group will be able to avoid most of this and stay in relatively tame areas. That being said, there will be some bush-whacking and terrain (fallen trees and old logs, wet pools, root mounds, etc.) which could prove challenging for some individuals.