Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

Nicolet National Forest in November

Chequamegon National Forest is located in north-central Wisconsin and contains some 865,825 acres in three units. Nicolet National Forest in located in northeastern Wisconsin and contains some 664,822 acres in one unit. The two forests were administratively combined in 1993.

Both forests are classed as "boreal habitat" and contain many glacial lakes, bogs, wetlands, muskegs, streams, rivers, meadows, uplands and pine savannas. The tree cover is a mix of hardwoods (maples, oaks), softwoods (aspen, beech, sumac, basswood and birches) and conifers (white spruce, balsam fir, eastern hemlock, and red, white and jack pine). Cedar swamps and tamarack/black spruce bogs are common, as are alder thickets. The understory is filled with ferns, cattails, mosses, mushrooms, blueberries, serviceberries, blackberries, cranberries and raspberries.

The forests are home to white-tailed deer, black bear, fox, raccoon, beaver, otter, rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, wild turkey and grouse. Elk and timber wolves have been reintroduced in the last decade. Wolverines, marten, moose and lynx have also been spotted in these woods.

Fishermen will find brook, rainbow and brown trout, small and largemouth bass, walleye, northern pike, crappie and muskellunge in the many streams and rivers.

A typical scene in Chequamegon National Forest