Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - North

Image credit: Alex Tande

Acres: 946.58

Park Map

Limited Access Notice, June 1 - 7, 2026: Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, North will be closed to vehicle traffic, Monday, June 1 through Sunday, June 7. This is the second year the City of Madison partnered with the Steve Stricker American Family Insurance Foundation for the American Family Insurance Championship, allowing limited use of Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, North Unit two parking lots and the driveway in the park. The agreement continues to protect the conservation lands and maintains pedestrian and bicycle access June 1 -7, 2026.

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, North Unit has trails that explore restored prairie, oak savanna, and woodland. Boardwalks with observation decks offer views of the upper Yahara River, deep marsh, and sedge meadow. A pier provides canoe/kayak access (1/4 mile carry-in from the parking area).

Birdlife includes nesting sandhill cranes in the wetlands and bald eagle and osprey on the river. The wooded areas and woodland edges have scarlet tanager, indigo bunting, rose-breasted grosbeak and woodpeckers. Eastern bluebird and tree swallow nest in the prairie. In spring, American woodcock perform their "sky dance" over the wetlands. Wood-warblers use the area as a migration stop.

This park is a major destination for local residents and environmental education groups.

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

Park highlights:

• 4.1 miles of trails
• Year-round open restrooms.
• Bird & Nature Adventures: Explore this park with a free, volunteer-led, guided nature walk offered monthly and year-round.

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 - North Unit is one piece in a complex of protected land that supports diverse wildlife and native plant communities in the marsh and adjacent uplands.

The park is situated on ancestral Ho-Chunk land. Within the park are two conical mounds constructed by Native Americans before European settlement. Cherokee Marsh's name dates to a 19th-century hunting club in the area.

The first land acquisition for the park occurred in 1964 with numerous additions in the years following. Cherokee Marsh - North Unit was designated a conservation park in 1971 when the Parks Division first created the Conservation Park program.

Previously, agriculture was the dominant land use on the uplands and in more accessible portions of the wetlands, many of which were drained. Major restoration has included filling ditches to restore wetlands, converting old fields to tallgrass prairie, removing invasive woody species from oak woodlands, and prescribed burning.

American lotus has been established in the river to protect the river shoreline from erosion and improve water quality. Restoration of oak woodland and oak savanna has resulted in increased numbers of woodpeckers, including the red-headed woodpecker, a Wisconsin Species of Special Concern. Parks management follows a snag protection policy to preserve dead, standing trees for wildlife.