Candlelight Hike

Feb 24, 2024.    6-9 PM

Wyalusing State Park

Help Us Help Wyalusing State Park

When you give your time or money to the Friends of Wyalusing State Park, you support our mission and our dedication to preserving the trails and our facilities as well as offering educational programs. Thank you! 

Become a Member

Join the Friends and enjoy the benefits.

Join the FOW Endowment Fund

The Friends of Wyalusing is the very first friends' group of a state park in Wisconsin to start an endowment fund for a state park. 

Donate

Give a one-time gift starting at just $10.00.

Wyalusing App

Now, with Scavenger Hunt Access!

The Friends of Wyalusing App features online trail maps and descriptions, the water trail and its biology, community places of interest, and general information.  Have the information on your phone wherever you are.  

The app is NOT on the Apple or Google play store. 

 Click either the link or scan the QR code with a mobile device. After a bit, a pop-up will appear, asking if you want to add the app to your home screen...

Note that the exact steps may vary slightly depending on your device's operating system and the version of the JotForm app you're using. However, the general process should be similar to the one outlined above.

your Membership supports visitor projects


Spring is here and it is time to start a new year with the friends of Wyalusing

State Park. With your help, we were able to accomplish a major project last

year with the completion of the newly remodeled interpretive center. I hope

you have had the chance to stop by and experience it. More...

In 2023 we again are sponsoring the park naturalist position. Come on out and experience one or more of the great programs he offers for all ages. The friends will also be financing an interpretive display to be placed along the Prairie trail. This sign in the shape of a butterfly will explain the importance of pollinators to our natural communities. We hope to have it ready by Memorial weekend, so stop by and take a hike.

Speaking of prairies. The Friends of Wyalusing State Park are committed to restoring native vegetation on the property. To that end, we have committed to assist in the park's efforts to return the former walnut plantation along the entrance to the prairie. $5000.00 has been pledged to this project so far. In a few years, visitors should be greeted by an amazing prairie full of flowers as they enter the park.

We are only able to do these things and others with your support. So please help if you can. You can do so by renewing your annual membership online or drop off your renewal at the park visitor center. If you wish to donate to a specific project, please contact us. Another option is to help in person. We are in real need of new active members, officers, and board members.

Thank you for your consideration.

We can never have too many friends,

Bruce Klang, - President, Friends of Wyalusing State Park.

Friends of Wyalusing Endowment

The Friends of Wyalusing is the very first friends' group of a state park in Wisconsin to start an endowment fund for a state park. We started by depositing $1000 in an "acorn fund" with the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin.  The goal was to deposit $1,000 each year until the fund reached  $10,000. at that point, we could either withdraw 5%  of the fund or let it grow. (More...)

Friends of Wyalusing were THE FIRST Wisconsin Friends Group to start endowment fund...

(Make Endowment to "Friends of Wyalusing")

The Friends of Wyalusing State Park are very proud to be able to leave this legacy for future generations and hope you will support us in making our "acorn" grow into a mighty oak for the future.

When asked about the meaning of the Endowment Fund for the future, Kathy Paske, Secretary of Friends of Wyalusing said, "The park is a special place in many different respects--historical, geographical, diverse flora and fauna and spiritual to name a few. We want to make sure future Friends have the means to continue our conservation and education efforts."

Bruce Klang wrote, "For all of my adult life, I have worked for Wisconsin State Parks. I have seen first hand the impact these natural areas can have on park visitors of all backgrounds. Our family grew up camping and enjoying our parks and we hope that future families will have the same opportunities."

The Friends of Wyalusing State Park Endowment Fund is a permanent endowment that was created by the Friends of Wyalusing State Park to provide a perpetual source of funding to support the natural resources and educational, interpretive and recreational needs of Wyalusing State Park. The Endowment fund was begun in February of 2009. The endowment is managed by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. Contributions to Fund are tax-deductible and can be made by sending a check to the Natural Resources Foundation of WI, Attn: Friends of Wyalusing State Park Endowment Fund, PO Box 2317, Madison, WI 53701 or by donating online at www.wisconservation.org.

If you love Wyalusing State Park and want to help protect its natural beauty and recreational opportunities for future generations to enjoy and explore, consider leaving a legacy gift behind by including the Friends of Wyalusing State Park Endowment Fund in your will. To leave a bequest to the Fund, simply incorporate the following language in your estate plans: “I give [describe the gift] to the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin [federal tax id # 39-1572034], a nonprofit corporation organized and existing under the laws of Wisconsin and with a principal mailing address of PO Box 2317, Madison, WI 53701. This gift shall be designated to the Friends of Wyalusing State Park Endowment Fund.” 

Wyalusing state park

Bagley, WI

Wyalusing State Park is located over 500 feet above the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin River. The park contains 2600 acres including stunning bluff views, river wetlands, bluff-top forests, and home to hundreds of species of plants and animals including 284 distinct bird species.

The logo for Wyalusing State Park and The Friends of Wyalusing State Park features the Kentucky Warbler and Chinquapin Oak tree.

Within the park boundaries, three threatened species: Cerulean and Kentucky Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher can be seen throughout the summer. All are more southern species that nest along the steep slopes of this park. 

(more...)

During the spring and summer, the rolling song of the Kentucky Warbler can be heard throughout the forests. The Kentucky Warbler spends most of its time on the ground in moist, leafy woodlands in search of insects. Despite its bright colors, it can be surprisingly hard to see in the shadows of the deep forest interior.

The Kentucky Warbler winters in the tropics of central Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. A group of Kentucky Warblers is collectively known as a "Derby" of warblers, perhaps, because it is named for the state in which it was first discovered in 1811, by Alexander Wilson.

The Chinquapin Oak, a Wisconsin Special Concern plant.  It is native to eastern and central North America, ranging from Vermont west to Wisconsin and south to South Carolina, western Florida, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico from Coahuila south to Hidalgo. It is very rare in Wisconsin, barely reaching the southwestern corner of the state on a few very dry sites near the Mississippi River. Chinkapin oak is generally found on well-drained upland soils derived from limestone or where limestone outcrops occur. Occasionally it is found on well-drained limestone soils along streams. 

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