Rhine Center Bog

State Natural Area (No. 414)

Location: Sheboygan County. T16N-R21E, Section 11. 53 acres.

Access: From the intersection of County O and State Highway 57 just northeast of Plymouth, go north on 57 7.6 miles to a small pull-off on the west side of the road. Walk southwest to the lake.

Description: Rhine Center Bog features a classic bog lake – a product of past glaciation formed during the melting of a large ice block suspended within glacial debris. Surrounding the lake is a second-growth southern wet-mesic forest of yellow birch, red maple, black ash, white pine and other lowland hardwoods. Along the south edge of the lake is a grove of tamaracks. The lake supports arrowheads and water-lilies and is surrounded by a variety of sedges along with soft-stem bulrush, pickerelweed, and bog birch. Other plants include pitcher plant, skunk cabbage, sensitive fern, marsh marigold, and swamp saxifrage. The surrounding uplands are forested with American beech, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, hemlock, and basswood. The groundlayer supports many ferns including maidenhair, royal, cinnamon, and intermediate wood and other species as red elder, American hazelnut, wood betony, may-apple, Canada mayflower, shining club-moss, and false Solomon’s-seal. The wetlands provide excellent habitat for nesting and migrating birds. Some of the species found include wood duck, belted kingfisher, green-backed heron, and wild turkey. The state-endangered northern ribbon snake has also been found nearby and is known from only a few scattered sites in Wisconsin. Protection of key wetland habitat is essential to its continued survival in Wisconsin. Rhine Center Bog is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2005.