Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University
of Wisconsin - Green Bay
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The "caves," actually a large pile of boulders, are north of Langlade off Highway 55. None of the localities shown above are more than wide spots in the road, but they will at least have signposts. The east-west ridge through Bear Caves is the Summit Lake Moraine, a moraine of the Langlade Lobe; the NNE-trending ridges across Highway 64 east of Langlade are the Bowler Moraine, a moraine of the Green Bay Lobe.
The caves can be a little hard to find because they are off the road on a fairly nondescript stretch of highway. They are 4.2 miles (6.7 km) north of the intersection of Highways 55 and 64. The "caves" are actually openings between boulders in a large kettle.
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Left: The best landmark for the caves on an otherwise featureless
stretch of road is a turnoff. Across the highway is an old road. Follow
it about 100 meters into the woods and then cut south into the woods. Below: views looking south on Highway 55. |
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In the 1980's, these boulders were a lot better exposed (the four
pictures above). Although they were in the woods, they weren't as overgrown
with moss, and indeed many boulders were bare. These appear to be a lag deposit produced when glacial melt water washed away fines. |
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The "caves" are large interstices between boulders. The boulders line a deep kettle which is dry at the bottom, presumably because of subsurface drainage. |
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Left and below: the caves can be surprisingly hard to find because the whole area is a heavily overgrown bouldery moraine. |
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Left: bracket fungi |
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Left: a hint of the bouldery nature of the moraines. |
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Created 19 April 2007, Last Update 19 April 2007
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