Natural vegetation in Madison? (Baraboo, Forest: buying a home, transfer, buying)

[swankerme]

Hi all! I'm considering transferring universities next semester and UW-Madison is in my top 5. I am a forestry student and UW-Madison is of course a public Ivy with a good natural sciences program. I am originally from Cedar Rapids, IA, I moved the Abilene TX and am now in Fort Collins CO. Here is the problem - all of these cities were on the great plains and have NO NATURAL VEGETATION! (or very little haha)

Being a forestry student, I want to go somewhere full of life and trees. I use to vacation to northern WI as a kid, thats the great lakes region with many beautiful areas. I've never been to Madison. How does the environment and landscape compare? Is it flat, unforested, and "fake"? Or does it have some natural beauty?

[ranger17]

living in Madison would have you within hours of the northwoods, but much closer for spots with beautiful woods/sites for hiking/photography/studying. In fact, in Madison's back yard is the Arboretum which sounds like it's right down your alley...

[Geechie North]

Madison is in the S. Central Wisc. area. The natural vegetation (pre-Euros) was Oak Savanna with interspersed sections of Tallgrass Prairie.

Today, it's a mixture of farmland/woodlots/suburbia.

Natural beauty is a relative thing, so I'll let others speak to that concept.

[wharf]

If you are looking for forests & natural beauty, have you thought about NH? Every time I visit there, one of the first things that I notice is the smell of the pines.

[Dairylander]

The typical grad student housing isn't nestled in the woods, but it is close to the lakes. If you're buying a home, you could find one close to the numerous city parks that have forested walking trails, but as a student and a renter, you'll have to be satisfied with the mature trees that line the sidewalks.
If you have a car, a 15 minute drive will access more extensive acreage.

[fisherman26]

I'm sorry to hear that you're from Cedar Rapids. :-) (I'm from that area, lived there for a year after school and couldn't handle it).

Madison's a pretty vegetated (is that a word) area/city. I think you'll find it to be at least more colorful than Central CO.

[EastSideMKE]

Madison is lush and green compared to Ft. Collins. It's still a fairly large city of 250,000 people or so, so it's not like living in a national park or anything, but compared to the Front Range of Colorado it will seem like a goddamn rainforest. The Baraboo Ranges and Devil's Lake State Park are close to Madison and would provide all the forest you could ever want.

Another school to consider is the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, they have an Urban Forestry program there.

[Coldylocks]

Hi there,
I find that there is "nature" everywhere in Madison - lakes, the arboretum, picnic point, etc. It's a very leafy, green city for sure. What I miss desperately is "wilderness". I want to go back to the northwest where the trees are BIG, the undeveloped land is endless and the mosquitoes and tornadoes don't put a damper on my camping / exploring plans. That said, Madison is a lovely city for a hundred reasons, but I wouldn't say access to wilderness is one of them, it that's what you're looking for.