Arboretum: Greene Prairie Distance & Configuration: 2.6-mile loop Difficulty: Easy, some moderate Scenery: Mixed woods, prairie Exposure: Half exposed, half shaded Traffic: Light Trail Surface: Packed dirt, crushed stone, exposed rocks and roots, a few narrow boardwalks, potential wet areas Hiking Time: 1 hour Driving Distance: 0.3 mile south of Beltline Highway (US 12/18) westbound or 1.1 miles west of Beltline Highway eastbound Elevation Change: 934''-1,007'' Access: Trails are open 7 a.m.-10 p.m., and parking is from sunrise to sunset.
Maps: USGS Madison West ; maps in wooden box at the parking lot or at the visitor center across the highway Wheelchair Access: None Facilities: None Contact: arboretum.wisc.edu, 608-263-7888 Location: 1800 Seminole Hwy., Madison Comments: No pets allowed. Check park schedule for free guided tours on weekends. This portion of the park has many trail combinations. Plus, the Arboretum section on the north side of the lake and the central section of the park are listed herein as separate hikes (Arboretum: Wingra Marsh and Arboretum: Wingra Woods). HIKE THIS SOUTHERNMOST PORTION of the Arboretum and explore oak savanna, pine forest, and one of the finest prairie restorations there is to see.
Description The centerpiece of this portion of the 1,260-acre University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum is Greene Prairie, named for Henry Greene, a UW botanist who, during the 1940s and 1950s, did almost all of the restoration himself, returning what was once farmland to its original role in the landscape. But the towering pines and oak savanna are no less impressive, and this hike offers a nice mix of all of them. Take a map from the wooden box at the gate in the parking lot, and then take the packed dirt trail to the left straight into the trees. This first segment takes you through Evjue Pine Forest, parallel to the Beltline Highway, down a lane carpeted with pine needles. The hum of tires will annoy some hikers, but the pine forest has a pleasant airiness to it and should not be missed. The rest of this hike is plotted to avoid the nearby urban world. At 200 feet, you will pass the T2 trail marker, and another 450 feet later, the T3 junction. Both of these trails break to the right, heading deeper into the pines.
Continue straight along here until you arrive at a clearing and trail junction T5, a total of 0.25 mile from the trail entrance. Straight across is the trail that will take you about 600 feet to T6 and T7 and a trail that goes left under the Beltline Highway through a tunnel. This is a good way to connect with other great hikes in the Arboretum, in particular Arboretum: Wingra Woods (page 29), and the visitor center, which is found in the central portion of the Arboretum. By going right (south) at T5, you start to distance yourself from the traffic and avoid the trail along the edge of the Arboretum, which borders a residential neighborhood. Continue through mixed forest; on your right, the pines will eventually give way to oak and other deciduous trees after about 400 feet. The trail here is a dirt access road. Another 700 feet brings you to the U4 junction on your right and its trail all the way back to T3.
To the left (east) is a trail back to that perimeter path and back to the highway underpass tunnel. Continue straight and you will arrive at a crossroads outside the tree cover 300 feet later at U3. Go left on the crushed stone path and pass scattered trees in savanna as you cross West Grady Knoll. Three hundred feet on, there is a fork in the road. Take the trail that branches to the right at Y1, and to your right you will see prairie grass. Less than 200 feet in, turn right at the Y2 junction and, just beyond that at Y3, go right again. The two trails after Y3 are hiking only (no skiing) and run parallel to where they connect a short distance later at Y4. These footpaths are just wide enough for your feet and run through the tall grass and fragile vegetation.
You are at the very center of the park, and this little patch of sunlight is a great place to find pasqueflowers and bird''s-foot violets in the spring. No matter how tempting, do not pick the flowers. At the southern end of this segment at Z1, the path rejoins the ski trail. Turn left here (passing what will be your return trail just a few steps from where you just joined this path) and follow the gently curving trail through the southern edge of Grady Oak Savanna. At the next junction 500 feet later, pass the trail at Z2, which connects back up the hill to Y2 where you left it. Continue straight across, pass a connecting trail into the prairie at Z3, and hike 0.2 mile along the bottom of the slope of the savanna and just south of East Knoll, bringing you to the Z4 junction. Go right and you will come to a path just 200 feet farther on that enters into the heart of Greene Prairie.
(A spur trail on the left leads into nearby Knollwood Conservation Park.) Held up as one of the finest examples of prairie restoration in the world, the prairie receives periodic controlled burns in spring, which park administrators hope will protect that restoration. Urban development to the south has affected water runoff, and, unfortunately, the park is now faced with losing the prairie to reed canary grass, an invasive species. This is best to visit in spring, when a wide variety of wildflowers bloom. But also during this time and in rainy periods, the trail can get soggy here and you might get your feet wet. The trail does a 0.4-mile half loop through this southeastern corner of the park. When you come to Z6 at 0.
3 mile, take the two-plank boardwalk to your left. This takes you back across the prairie and leaves you at the packed-earth trail that reenters the oak savanna through pussy willows. Go left here at Z1. To your left are quaking aspens. You pass through 750 feet of younger trees before arriving at X3, heading left, and crossing 500 feet of the northernmost finger of Greene Prairie to arrive at the X5 junction. If you continue straight, you can hike all the way to the southernmost edge of the park, follow the trail west around Southwest Grady Oak Savanna, and then head north through the forest along Seminole Highway. This adds only about a quarter mile to the hike, but this area is also prone to sogginess. Going right takes you through the woods on a very rudimentary and sometimes muddy trail.
Make no mistake: This is not oak savanna but mixed forest. When you arrive at X6, go right and follow the trail through the woods all the way back to the trailhead and parking lot. Along the way, you will pass the V1 and X1 trail outlets and finally the U1 outlet just 500 feet from the end. Nearby Activities Just 1 mile south of here on the right on Seminole Highway is a nicely paved bike trail at Dunn''s Marsh. Continue south to the next traffic light intersection to find McKee Road/County Road PD. GPS Trailhead Coordinates N43° 02'' 2.99" W89° 26'' 36.24" Directions Follow the Beltline (US 12/18) west to the Seminole Highway exit.
Go left on the overpass and through the four-way stop on the other side. The small gravel parking lot is immediately on your left at the corner. There is no exit from the Beltline here if you are going east. In this case, take the Todd Drive exit and take your first right to go back the opposite direction to the same Seminole Highway four-way stop. Turn left and immediately left again into the lot at the corner.