Any places in Wisconsin that look like this? (River Falls, Ashland: moving to, pine)

[NorthStar80]

Just curious because I am planning on moving to Wisconsin and I love the scenery in Northern Minnesota (where the picture was taken).

Here's the picture in question

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by NorthStar80

Just curious because I am planning on moving to Wisconsin and I love the scenery in Northern Minnesota (where the picture was taken).

Here's the picture in question

Only the northern counties in Wisconsin in the Northwoods are similar, but more white pine and somewhat less spruce and fir trees.

[Teacher Terry]

Northern Wisconsin looks similar.

[bluescreen73]

Try the Driftless Area between Black River Falls and Trempealeau up toward Wabasha, MN. Perrot State Park looks nice although I've never actually spent time there.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Try the Driftless Area between Black River Falls and Trempealeau up toward Wabasha, MN. Perrot State Park looks nice although I've never actually spent time there.

Very different woods. BRF is, at is true core, a jack pine / bur oak ecotytpe.

The fir/spruce forest types in the picture would be more seen in Northern Wisconsin, say toward the UP border.

[EllieKay56]

I would say up near either Ashland or Land O Lakes.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Very different woods. BRF is, at is true core, a jack pine / bur oak ecotytpe.

The fir/spruce forest types in the picture would be more seen in Northern Wisconsin, say toward the UP border.

Totally agree the biomes aren't the same, but you can still get thick forest and rolling topography in Driftless Area.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Totally agree the biomes aren't the same, but you can still get thick forest and rolling topography in Driftless Area.

Very true, the main difference is that you’ll see very few fir and spruce trees in the Driftless region.

[guidoLaMoto]

Painting with a very broad brush-- the northern third of the state is conifer forest, the southern third is hardwood, deciduous and the middle third is the transition zone-- a little of each....Much of the southern half was logged over a century ago and replanted with fast growing conifers, or clear cut areas left as pasture-- that's why we became the dairy state-- those denuded areas were too steep for row crops, so they went to pasture and cows. It was the Swiss & German immigrants who came up with the idea.

As others have said, The Driftless Area was sculpted by the run-off of melting glaciers and not rubbed flat by them. Very picturesque with a uique ecology.

[timberline742]

Of course a good chunk of the lower third really wasn't forested at all. It was prairie. Lots of different types of prairie, from the dry prairie with leadplant and opuntia cactus (remnants in spring green, pockets of Lodi, etc) to wet prairies (remnants near cedarburg) and everything in between... tall grass systems, low forb systems, etc. Much of it fire adapted, as are/were the jack pine / bur oak ecosystems. A lot of the grazing did go on the steep slopes unsuitable for plowing, and that kept some pockets open, the steepest being referred to as goat prairies. Ag science evolved over time to show that having cattle on such steep inclines was a net negative energy wise, and much of the steeper hills were then fenced to keep cattle off, and red cedar (juniper) has over taken a fair amount of it in spots.