Buckhorn Barrens

State Natural Area (No. 360)

Location: Within Buckhorn State Park, Juneau County. T17N-R4E, Sections 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 27. 1,680 acres.

Access: From the intersection of Highways 21 and 80 in Necedah, go east on 21 about 1 mile, then south on G 8.1 miles to the park entrance. Get a park map. Go south on the park road 0.35 miles to a sandblow vista or continue south 1.2 miles to a parking area. Numerous hiking trails traverse the natural area. Access to the site is also available via a canoe interpretive trail.

Description: Buckhorn Barrens is a large expanse of sand barrens and sand blows, flooded wetlands with shrub-carr and northern sedge meadow, and a second-growth forest. The barrens contains dense patches of Jack pine and oak with scattered openings of characteristic prairie grasses and forbs. Species include little bluestem, flowering spurge, puccoon, and lead-plant. Ant lions, mottled sand grasshoppers, and the uncommon little white tiger beetle (Cicindela lepida) can be found on the sand blows. State-threatened osprey (Pandion haliaetus) use the adjacent Castle Rock Flowage for nesting. Buckhorn Barrens is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2002.