best nature preserves near madison in summer for toddlers

University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum

The Arboretum is the big one: 1,200 acres of restored prairie, woods and wetland wrapped around the south shore of Lake Wingra, with more than 17 miles of trails and a Visitor Center that has a library, a bookstore and restrooms. For a toddler the appeal is that you can park at the Visitor Center, walk a short loop through the gardens or out onto a marsh boardwalk, and turn back whenever the walk is over. It is free to visit and the grounds are open from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. The one catch for families with a dog: pets are not allowed anywhere on the property.

Lakeshore Nature Preserve

Three hundred acres of UW-Madison shoreline, with the Lakeshore Path running the full 4.3 miles from the Memorial Union out past Picnic Point. The classic outing is to park at Lot 130 and walk the wide, flat path to the tip of Picnic Point, stopping at benches on the way and at the narrow portage where Lake Mendota is on both sides at once. It is the most stroller-friendly walk on this list. Parking at Lot 130 is paid on weekdays until 4:30 p.m. and free evenings and weekends, which is worth planning around.

Pheasant Branch Conservancy

A 682-acre conservancy on the north edge of Middleton, owned in pieces by Dane County Parks, the Wisconsin DNR and the City of Middleton. Its signature is a 3.3-mile main loop through prairie and wetland, but the toddler-sized version is the short walk from the Pheasant Branch Road lot to the springs, where cold groundwater bubbles up into a shallow pool small children can crouch over. Observation decks along the way give the walk landmarks to aim for. The climb up Pheasant Branch Hill is the part to skip with small legs, though the view from the top takes in the Capitol and Lake Mendota.

Governor Nelson State Park

The only park on this list with a swimming beach, which makes it the easiest summer sell for toddlers: sand, shallow water and playground equipment beside the picnic area, ten minutes north of Madison on the far shore of Lake Mendota. Away from the beach there are 8 miles of trail through restored prairie and savanna, and Native American effigy mounds along the Woodland Trail. It is a day-use state park, so a vehicle admission sticker is required. Dogs are welcome on an 8-foot leash but not at the beach, the picnic area or the shelters.

Token Creek County Park

418 acres north of Madison built around group outings, which is exactly why it works with small children: two playgrounds, flush restrooms, drinking water and five shelters, all a short walk from the car. The feature worth the drive is an elevated boardwalk through a sedge meadow marsh, which puts a toddler at eye level with frogs and red-winged blackbirds without any mud. There is also a 27-hole disc golf course, a campground and a 33-acre dog park, so expect company on summer weekends. The park does not publish a total trail mileage.

Indian Lake County Park

At 791 acres this is one of Dane County's largest parks, wrapped around a shallow kettle lake west of Cross Plains. Trails reach around the entire lake, and the flat lakeside stretch is the toddler portion; the well-known winding climb to the 1857 hilltop chapel is steep and better saved for older children. Play equipment, a shelter and a log cabin sit near the main entrance off Highway 19. A 38-acre unfenced off-leash dog park occupies the west side by the boat launch, which is worth knowing if your child is nervous around loose dogs.

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - North

The North Unit is the best marsh walk close to Madison: 946 acres of restored prairie, oak savanna and woodland, with boardwalks and observation decks looking out over the upper Yahara River, deep marsh and sedge meadow. Sandhill cranes nest in the wetlands and are often both visible and audible from the boardwalk, which is the kind of thing that holds a two-year-old's attention. There are 4.1 miles of trail and, unusually for a Madison conservation park, restrooms open year-round. Free volunteer-led nature walks run monthly. Dogs are not allowed in any conservation park.

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - South

The quieter southern half of Cherokee Marsh: 261 acres and 3.8 miles of trail over high ground that looks down on sedge meadow, deep marsh and the upper Yahara River. Three constructed ponds beside the trails filter urban stormwater and pull in herons, wood ducks and kingfishers. A gravel boat launch and pier give river access, so you can end the walk at the water. There are no restrooms at this unit, which is the main thing to plan around with a toddler.

Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park - Mendota

The smallest of the three Cherokee Marsh units and the shadiest: 122 acres of lowland forest with large red and white oak, black cherry and maple, and only 0.6 miles of trail in total. That short distance is the point with a toddler, and the park's wetlands run out to the Lake Mendota shoreline. Spring brings a dense wildflower floor of Dutchman's breeches and white trout lily; in summer it is mostly a cool, quiet walk under a closed canopy. Barred owl, nuthatch and woodpeckers are regular here.

Owen Conservation Park

97 acres of prairie and oak savanna on a hilltop above Madison's west side, once the farm and retreat of a UW professor. It is the most open, sunniest walk on this list, with wide paths, big sky and coneflowers, goldenrod and bluestem through the summer, plus three small stormwater and wildlife ponds in the southwest corner. Restrooms are open year-round, which is rare for a Madison conservation park. There is very little shade, so bring hats and water on a hot afternoon.

Edna Taylor Conservation Park

60 acres in southeast Madison built around a glacial drumlin that rises out of a broad ribbon of marsh, with 1.4 miles of trail, a small parking lot and a boardwalk over the wet ground. The Aldo Leopold Nature Center next door uses the park heavily for environmental education, so the trails are already laid out with children in mind. Effigy mounds are part of the site. Ongoing restoration is returning the uplands to oak savanna and the low ground to wetland.

Stricker's Pond

A 13-acre kettle wetland on Madison's west side, left behind when a buried block of glacial ice melted. A 0.8-mile gravel trail runs the pond's perimeter and continues north into Middleton parkland, and the whole circuit is flat and short enough for small legs. The pond edge is reliably busy with turtles, frogs and wading birds, and large numbers of waterfowl stop here in spring and fall. The trail was resurfaced and a new footbridge added in 2017. This is a neighborhood-scale outing rather than a destination, which is often exactly what you want.

Acewood Conservation Park

Madison Parks describes this 38-acre park as great for summertime hikes with family, and that is a fair summary: wooded paths, a pond with a bench looking out over it, and restored prairie, all backing onto the neighborhood's Acewood Park. Three access points, off Deerwood Drive, Acewood Boulevard and Leo Drive, mean you can start close to wherever you park. The city does not publish a trail mileage here, but the walkable loop is short. Dogs are not allowed, as in every Madison conservation park.