Fox Maple Woods features an outstanding example of undisturbed northern mesic forest located within a larger forested landscape and surrounded on three sides by the Whisker Lake Wilderness Area. Canopy dominants include old-growth sugar maple, basswood, hemlock, and yellow birch with white pines sparsely distributed throughout the stand. Scattered white cedar and Canada yew are also present. While the understory is quite open and shows no sign of past disturbance such as grazing, heavy deer browse has been noted. The shrub layer is minimal but the herbaceous flora is rich and diverse with abundant spring ephemerals such as Carolina spring-beauty, yellow dog-tooth violet, Dutchman’s-breeches and other herbs including blue cohosh, nodding trillium, rosy twisted-stalk, and bloodroot. A rare sedge also occurs here. A small 5-acre kettle depression in the center of the area supports a sedge meadow and provides an aesthetic opening in the dark mesic woods. Although half of the site has a past history of dead timber harvest, the quality of the undisturbed portion is exceptional. This is one of the very few bona fide old-growth mesic forest fragments with a rich ephemeral flora and its protection will help prevent future disturbance. Fox Maple Woods is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1995.
