Michael Popke
In the middle of a major city, yet surrounded by 1,200 acres of natural living history.
After living in Madison for 25 years I was still a virgin. So for my 50th birthday, my wife and I bundled up to head to the UW Arboretum for the very first time.
Strangers to the more than 17 miles of hiking trails, we joined the free weekly guided walk that’s offered every Sunday at 1 p.m. Today we’re heading to Wingra Woods, which contain rare, intact effigy mounds built more than 1,000 years ago.
(Later that night, a friend points out how odd it was to celebrate my own half-century mark by exploring ancient burial grounds.)
About 40 teenagers, young professionals, couples, families and older people join us on the 1.25-mile round-trip walk across the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens terrain, which is soft and slick with mud and still spotted with splotches of dirty snow. Eventually, we reach the woods above the southern shore of Lake Wingra.
The temperature is 36 degrees, with snow forecast for later that evening. Once inside Wingra Woods, home to a dozen effigy mounds, tall bare trees shelter us from the wind — which I imagine comes as no small relief to the guy wearing shorts paired with a winter coat and gloves. Our hiking boots crunch the crisp leaves only recently relieved of snow cover.
These earthen mounds, buried in layers of leaves, are easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. They take the form of such animals as a bird and water panther, as well as conical and linear shapes. Built by native people — most likely the Winnebago, who are now known as the Ho-Chunk — they’ve been ransacked over the centuries by animals foraging for food and humans seeking souvenirs.
“People are now paying more deference to the Indian people, to get more guidance about the caretaking of the mounds,” Paul Borowsky, the Arboretum naturalist leading the tour, tells our group. As he speaks, a large bird — of course, I have no idea what kind — bursts forth from out of nowhere and soars overhead, a reminder that we share this land with so many creatures.
The mounds, Borowsky adds, were the ceremonial center of Indian culture, representing both death and renewal. In the stillness of those woods, I begin to connect with my environment in a way I never expected.
I’m in the middle of a major city yet surrounded by 1,200 acres of natural living history. Beyond the effigy mounds exist tallgrass prairies, savannas, wetlands and several forest types. Soon, the Arboretum will welcome the long-awaited return of flowering trees, vibrant shrubs and a world-famous lilac collection.
The humming whoosh of traffic on the nearby Beltline seems miles away, and for a few minutes I stop worrying about deadlines, my kids’ college bills and whether it’s too late to buy Metallica tickets.
A whole new world is waiting to be explored. How could I have overlooked all this for so long?
Borowsky sums up my attraction to this place when he tells the group: “Visiting effigy mounds is a great way to spur your imagination.”
June 17, 1934: Date the Arboretum was formally dedicated
April 22, 2018: This year’s Earth Day, an international annual tradition created in 1970 by Wisconsin U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson
$0: Fee for the Earth Day Among Woodland Flowers Walk and Arboretum Family Nature Program, both scheduled for April 22
5: Number of summer-based Earth Focus Day Camp programs offered by the Arboretum for kids ages 3 to 14
Trail hours: 7 a.m.-10 p.m. (Everyday)
Visitor center hours: 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Monday-Friday), 12:30-4 p.m. (Saturday-Sunday)
This story is part of our Arboretum Issue. Read the rest of our Arb coverage.
