Roggman Boreal Slopes State Preserve

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State Preserves

Charles and Anna Roggman Boreal Slopes is a 20-acre preserve located in Clayton County featuring a forested hillside with algific talus slopes, which are unusual habitats created by seepage of cold air from underground fissures. 

Owned by the Rogg­man family since 1920, this area was given to The Nature Conservancy in 1980 by Arnold and Laverne Roggman and Bernadine Fiete in honor of their parents. It was dedicated as a biological state preserve in 1982. Ownership and management were transferred to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in 2014 as part of the Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge.

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About the Land

Located in the Paleozoic Plateau, this preserve is underlain by Ordovician (450 million years old) dolomite belonging to the Galena Group, with bedrock bluffs over 100 feet high. 

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Directions

There is no public access to this preserve.

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Plants

Nearly 170 species of plants have been found in the preserve. 

The steep, north-facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, basswood, and red oak. Yellow birch is found on the algific habitats. 

In the understory:

  • Blue beec
  • Bladdernut
  • Leatherwood  
  • Alder-leaved buckthorn
  • Redberried elder
  • Beaked hazel
  • Highbush cranberry
  • Beaked willow

Canada yew forms dense thickets on rock outcrops. Mosses thickly carpet large areas of the algific slopes.

Also in the preserve:

  • Maidenhair fern
  • Goldie’s wood fern
  • Spinulose wood fern
  • Squirrel corn
  • Bishop’s cap
  • Wild leek
  • Bloodroot
  • Hepatica
  • Showy orchis
  • Indian pipe
  • Wild ginger 
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Visitor Information

Other state preserves in the vicinity include Bixby, Mossy Glen, and Merritt Forest.

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