Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - Mendota

Image credit: Marcus Brown

Acres: 122

Park Map

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, Mendota Unit has lowland forest with large-diameter red and white oak, black cherry, red maple, hackberry, and box elder. In spring, the forest floor has expanses of wildflowers including Dutchman's breeches, cut-leaf toothwort, and white trout lily. Also present are areas of shrub-carr, a wetland community of tall shrubs such as red-osier dogwood, aspen, and willow. The marsh-to-woodland boundary contains an alder thicket, a rare vegetation type for Dane County.

Birdlife includes barred owl, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, woodpeckers, and wood-warblers in migration.

The park's wetlands extend to the shoreline of Lake Mendota. Just south of the park is a carry-in canoe/kayak landing at 4106 Veith Ave.

.6 miles of trail in total. A trail at the south end of the park connects to trails in Meadow Ridge Conservation Park.

Visit the Friends of Cherokee Marsh, to learn more including events and volunteer projects.

Land Management

Image credit: Jan Axelson

Cherokee Marsh, Dane County's largest wetland, is located at the head of the chain of Yahara lakes. Cherokee Marsh - Mendota Unit is one piece in a complex of protected land that supports wildlife and native plant communities in the marsh and adjacent uplands.

This park is situated on ancestral Ho-Chunk land. Cherokee Marsh's name dates to a 19th-century hunting club in the area.

The park's acreage was assembled from various parcels beginning in the early 1980s to protect high-quality portions of Cherokee Marsh wetlands and to buffer the marsh from stormwater runoff from expected housing development. A trail system was established in 1997 following the removal of a house in the interior of the property.

Management has included the removal of invasive buckthorn, honeysuckle, garlic mustard, and dame's rocket to open the understory and maintain wildflower populations.

The Friends of Cherokee Marsh sponsor events and volunteer workdays.