State park containing geologic features indicative of the Driftless Area, where land is mostly oak and hickory forest with some sandstone bluff outcroppings and one named waterfall, Stephen's Falls

How to Get There

Overview

Governor Dodge State Park is a 5,270-acre (2,133 ha) Wisconsin state park outside Dodgeville in Iowa County, Wisconsin. Named after Henry Dodge, the first governor of the Wisconsin Territory, the park contains geologic features indicative of the Driftless Area. It is located 4.1 miles north of the Central business district of the City of Dodgeville.

The land is mostly oak and hickory forest with some sandstone bluff outcroppings and one named waterfall, Stephen's Falls. Common activities include boating, fishing, picnicking and swimming on the park's two lakes, Cox Hollow Lake and Twin Valley Lake. There is a boat launch, dam and a swimming area at each of the lakes. Away from the lakes one can find hiking trails, cross-country ski trails, mountain bike trails and horse trails. Seasonal activities include hunting in the fall and snowmobiling in the winter.

Fauna

There is a large variety of fauna in the park, such as White-tailed Deer, shrew, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, beaver, red fox, gray fox, woodchuck, muskrat, Red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, pileated woodpecker, barred owl, raccoon and Coyote. There are also more than 150 species of birds.

Flora

There is also a varied flora in the park, such as trees and flowers. Some types include oak, hickory, white pine, red pine, jack pine, bloodroot, hepatica, Dutchman's breeches, interrupted fern, goldenrod, sunflower, aster, milkweed, boneset, iron weed and mountain mint.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Governor Dodge State Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0