Brady's Bluff Prairie

Brady's Bluff Prairie is a dry bluff prairie on a steep, southwest facing Mississippi River bluff that rises nearly 460 feet above the river. The bluff, composed of sandstone capped with Prairie du Chien dolomite, affords a spectacular view of the river valley from its summit. The prairie contains over 100 species of native Wisconsin plants including big and little blue-stem, needle grass, hairy grama, silky aster, and rough blazing-star. Other species of note include hairy four-o-clock, prairie larkspur, and plains muhly, all species of the Great Plains that are at or near their northeastern limit here. Rare plants inhabiting the prairie include cliff goldenrod (Solidago sciaphila), jeweled shooting-star (Dodecatheon radicatum), and dragon sagewort (Artemesia dranunculus). Several rare animals are also harbored by the natural area including three butterflies - olive hairstreak (Callophyrs gryneus), striped hairstreak (Satyrium lipaops strigosum), and columbine dusky-wing (Erynnis lucilus) along with the state threatened wing snaggletooth land snail (Gastrocopta procera). Brady's Bluff Prairie is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1952.