Ice Age Trail Section

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail traces the terminal moraine deposited by the last glacial advance across Wisconsin approximately 12,000 years ago, and its passage through Devil's Lake State Park crosses some of the most dramatic glacial landforms in the Upper Midwest. Beginning from the south shore picnic area, the trail follows the moraine ridge that dams the south end of the lake, a hummocky landscape of irregular hills, kettle ponds, and sandy outwash terraces that record the precise position of the ice margin at the glacier's farthest extent. The trail surface rolls continuously over these glacial features, climbing small kettle-rim hills and descending into bowls that once held chunks of stagnant ice. A series of interpretive panels installed by the Ice Age Trail Alliance explains the glacial processes responsible for each landform: erratics transported hundreds of miles from Canadian Shield source areas, kames formed by sediment-filled meltwater holes in the ice, and eskers marking the paths of subglacial streams. The forest here transitions from the oak-hickory of the bluff slopes to a richer mix of maple, basswood, and butternut in the moraine's more sheltered hollows. White-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and sandhill cranes are commonly seen along this section in morning and evening hours.