dorothy carnes county park & rose lake state natural area

The land for this park was a partial donation from a local family with access from three different parking lots. Hikes are varied, with many views of the shallow lake. Those who love to see a variety of birds will really enjoy the plentiful migrating birds, and hikers have a wonderful choice of trails.

We had a picnic there. Clean restrooms, nice shelter and the setting is so peaceful and beautiful. IIf you like nature you will love this place. Can't wait to return.

There is a fine covered space for picnics, a nice observation deck near the marsh and good trails through both the woods and prairie. Be careful if you venture off the trails in the woods as the ground is carpeted with poison ivy.

Pleasant surprise! Great birding and walking trails! Would love to post some pics but not sure how to go about that yet. :-/

This is a great park that is close to home! Love the variety of trail options and I can take a short walk or a longer one w/varying levels of difficulty. It is very well maintained, also

Quiet, scenic trails. Usually only a few people in the park so it feels like you are on your own with nothing but trees, birds, and trails. Easy (level) and hard (a few short, steep hills) mulch covered trails make it easy no matter what you prefer. Nice place to unwind and just relax, only a couple minutes north of Fort Atkinson.

it is very quiet. so much of an area to explore. just love to go there and sit and enjoy the birds singing. i just leaned they have opened some new trails. am anxious to go exploring next spring. fun to picnic there too.

Great nature park and fun for our dog to play at. Peaceful and quiet area to relax or take a long hike!

What a nice, unexpected place for a wedding! The place is a natural haven with the woods, trails, lake and birds. It is a beautiful place for an intimate outdoor wedding. There was a significant amount of water fowl and the golden finches wanted to attend the wedding. The benches had backs to them. There is a pavillon close by. It is wheelchair accessable.

Dorothy Carnes is split up into two sections - east and west. On both sides, you will get good views of Rose Lake, which usually has a fair amount of waterfowl in it. The western side (on Radloff Lane) has a shelter and about 1.5 miles of trails that go through rolling woods and some prairie. This side also features a turtle effigy mound. I wish the western side had more trails, because I can usually breeze through a hike on this side quite fast. The eastern side (on Jones Lane, off of Banker Road) has the Fort community gardens and the county is in the process of rehabilitating an old farmstead. The trails on the eastern side are slightly longer, at about 2-3 miles long. On the eastern side there are rolling hills through a large prairie, some wetlands and a small portion of woods. Overall, this is a very nice park, but there isn't much opportunity for lengthier hikes.