Many of the public parks and forests in Wisconsin started off as
farms with fields and woods. This week, I hiked two of those farms in
northwest Dane County, Wisconsin.
Morton Forest was a 120 acre wooded farm/retreat
owned by University of Wisconsin Professor Walter Morton and his wife,
Rosalie. In 1982, the professor died and left the property to his son
Stephen. In 1999, Steve donated the property to the Dane County park
system to preserve the land for hiking and bird-watching for the
public. In 2016, Morton Forest officially opened to the public.
I took Hwy 14 to Mazomanie and then turned left on Reeve Road. From
there, it’s 3.3 miles to the property, which is well-marked with a sign
on the right and a parking area on the left. A small nature center is
located at the beginning of the property but was closed on the day of my
hike.
There are two short hikes on the property. The first hike climbs up a
wide farm road. The trail is easy to follow with several signs along
the way to show “where you are” on the property. The upper trail was a
peaceful, saunter through deep woods, marked by cold, gray November
skies with more leaves on the ground than in the trees. At the top,
there are several short loops. One leads to a lookout below with bench
for thinking and such.
I was thinking about my kids and the young adults that they are becoming. A Henry Miller quote was bouncing around my brain:
“
You observe your children or your children’s children,
making the same absurd mistakes, heart-rending mistakes, often, which
you made at their age. And there is nothing you can say or do to prevent
it. It’s by observing the young, indeed, that you eventually understand
the sort of idiot you yourself were once upon a time — and perhaps
still are.”
The lower trail is closer to the road and narrowly loops some wetlands.
I
don’t think there is much more than 2 miles of walking trails on the
entire property, but I left in a much better mood than when I arrived.
Walking Iron County Park is a couple of miles
northwest of Mazomanie and offers many miles of hiking/horseback
trails. Europeans did not settle in this area until after the Black
Hawk Indian War in 1832. This particular property started as a farm in
1846 and was named after Chief Mazomani (Iron Walker) who lived in the
area for a time.
Still feeling fresh after my short morning hike at Morton’s Forest, I
wandered the green horse trail and the interior hiking trails for over
two hours without seeing everything. The wide paths made this park look
like an excellent place to snowshoe on a return visit.
When I returned home, my thoughts kept returning to Chief Mazamani,
a/ka Iron Walker, so I began doing some internet research. Eventually, I
found a photo of the historical marker where he is buried.
.
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