Second Saturday Hike - The World of Ferns
Join us for our September Second Saturday Hike for an introduction to the world of Pteridophytes or Ferns! We'll spend a bit of time looking at these amazing plants under the microscope then set off on a short hike to see several common species found here in the Blufflands.
Time & Location
Sep 12, 2026, 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Bliss Landing #1, RQ8Q+48, La Crosse, WI 54601, USA
About
We will meet at 8:00 am at the first parking area on the left going up Bliss Road, hike on Oak Trail to the second parking area, then either double back on the trail or walk down the road as seen on this map:
Led by Max Sorenson and Jon Rigden, this is the same route that we took for the Bryophyte Hike on April 11th. Besides the mosses and the liverworts seen last time, this shady, north facing trail also has a handful of the common ferns found in Hixon Forest. And although neither of us claim to be experts about ferns, we will discuss their basics including how they were one of the first to develop a vascular system, how they were once the giants of the forest but were eventually relegated to the understory by the gymnosperms and angiosperms… and how the ferns cleverly "borrowed" a gene from one…