Edge of the Wilderness
Black Spruce/Tamarack Bog Habitat, MN

As you drive by, you are traveling through time. The spruce/tamarack bog on either side of Highway 38 began forming here 16,000 years ago when the last of four glaciers covered this part of Minnesota. A bog is wet, spongy ground, often located near a lake. Bogs are poorly drained areas where water naturally filters back into the earth. This purifies the ground water supply. Also in bogs, moss and acid-tolerant plants thrive, such as the two types of needle-bearing trees seen here - the spruce and tamarack. Spruce and tamarack (also known as eastern larch) provide valuable wood products while gardeners everywhere rely on peat and moss. This bog is one of the largest and more mature bogs along Highway 38. We encourage you to look throughout your drive on the Edge for other examples of bogs.