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OPEN WITH PRECAUTIONS: When spending time outside during COVID-19, please follow these recommendations from Public Health Madison & Dane County:

• Maintain a physical distance of at least 6' from anyone outside your household.
• Some trails are bike and pedestrian shared. Bicyclists, remain 6' from pedestrians and give a courtesy alert to others that you are passing on the left.  

MORE PATH TIPS  View all Hiking

More information on historic buildings or district questions may be found in the Department of Planning & Community & Economic Development Planning Division.

Wisconsin has the highest concentration of burial mounds in the United States and the Madison area has one of the highest concentrations of burial mounds remaining. Most mounds were lost to 19th-century agricultural practices and city development. The mound builders were farmers who also engaged in hunting and gathering. They lived in small villages and migrated from one to another based on the seasonal availability of natural resources. The mounds often, but not always, have burials associated with them, but their exact purpose is not entirely understood. Mounds tend to have been built in places with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. The mounds are considered sacred by modern Native Americans and should be treated with respect.

A Burial Mounds Policy was created with assistance from the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Ho-Chunk Nation, and approved by the Board of Park Commissioners in October 2019, the policy provides guidelines and procedures for managing burial mounds located in Madison Parks. Burial mound locations are also included in the policy. 

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• Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park, North

  Location: 6098 N. Sherman Ave.
  Built: ca. 700 - 1200 A.D.
  
  Description: This park has two conical mounds, one near the Yahara River shoreline and one near the top of the rise in the north end of the park. Conical mounds are the earliest known form of burial mound made by the Native people in this area.
   
  
  

Parking lots are available in these parks for the programs or events in these parks.  Parking lots are available from 4:00 am to 10:00 pm. Overnight parking is not allowed.  Parking regulations specific to that park are posted at the entrance of the park. View all Parking Lots

MANY OPEN: high use locations are open as a phased-in plan due to limited staffing to safely clean each facility. As of 06/19/2020, the following restrooms, listed alphabetically by park name, are open. You may anticipate these to be open daily by 10:00am, until posted otherwise. 

New signage once open includes:
RESTROOM GUIDELINES

• Help us keep restrooms OPEN AND CLEAN. Put trash in receptacles.   
• Maintain 6' physical space with members outside of your household.
  • Based on restroom size, this may mean one person at a time or every other stall. 
• Wash hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.

FOR MORE PARK CHANGES AND UPDATES DUE TO COVID-19, VISIT:
cityofmadison.com/parks/coronavirus

View COVID-19 for all impacted City services. More information: Public Health Madison & Dane County

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Restrooms are located throughout the parks system and in most cases in a park with a reservable shelter.  Most of the restrooms are available only during the summer months. Restrooms available during the winter months include those open for winter activities at the following parks:   Tenney, Vilas, Elver, Olbrich, Warner and Westmorland Parks.

No firearms or weapons are permitted on this property. Violators are considered trespassers and subject to forfeiture or arrest.

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• Cherokee Marsh - North Unit Restrooms

  Lighted: Yes
  Open Year-Round: No
  

Experience winter in Madison Parks like never before with snowshoeing!  This silent sport is a fantastic way to explore many of our parks during the winter months and is easy to learn. 

Trails of various lengths and terrain are suggested below, in addition, snowshoeing is also permitted anywhere with good snow cover with the exception of any groomed ski trail and off-trail in a conservation park.
   
TIPS

• Snowshoeing is allowed anywhere in a park that is snow-covered and ungroomed and on ungroomed trails only in conservation parks. Snowshoes are not allowed on groomed cross-country ski trails at any time.
• Sufficient snow (typically 4" or more) is needed to create a base for snowshoeing. The woods generally need more snow to fall due to the trees protecting the trails.
• Our trail systems are designed to facilitate controlled public access while protecting environmentally sensitive areas and providing quiet refuges for wildlife away from people. Disruption of wildlife by human activity during the winter puts additional stress on them during a challenging time for their survival.
• Snowshoeing, hiking, and skiing off-trail destroys snow tunnels used by native small rodents (deer mice, shrews) by the trampling effect. These small mammals are an important part of the wetland and grassland ecology in our conservation parks. Destruction of these tunnel networks makes the small mammals more vulnerable to predation.

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