Location
The Gordon Flowage is 1,913 acres in size. It has a maximum depth of 28 feet and a mean depth of 7 feet. Elevation is 1013 feet. Latitude is 46.25 North. Longitude is 91.85 West. The Flowage is located in southern Douglas County, Wisconsin at Township 44N, Range13W, Section 36. It is south of Superior on Highway 53.
Barrens
The Gordon Flowage site is part of the northwestern Wisconsin pine barrens. Alternative names for this ecosystem are Bayfield sand barrens, and pine/oak barrens. This barrens is a sandy belt which extends southwest from Bayfield County about 125 miles to Polk County. The belt is 10-15 miles in width and was historically deposited by melt water from a receding glacier.
This barrens is a natural community characterized by sandy soils of low nutrient content, and vegetation that has adapted to periodic wildfire burns. The vegetation is primarily a mixture of Jack pine and Northern Pin (Hill's) oak, with prairie grasses and isolated White and Red pines. Because fires have been controlled over that past 60 years and commercial plantings have taken place, plantations of White and Red pine and Aspen have replaced much of the historic (pre-European) vegetation. Originally, there were over two million acres of pine barrens, but today only about 1% remains.
Maps
To view a detailed map of Douglas County, click here (requires Adobe Acrobat).
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Douglas County map included on this website with written permission from Wisconsin Department of Transportation.