Sauk Creek Nature Preserve (27 Acres Inside the City)

Sauk Creek runs over limestone ledges through a strip of floodplain woods on Port Washington's north side, and the land trust that protects it calls this 27-acre stretch Sauk Creek Nature Preserve.

It allows leashed dogs, and it sits about a mile northwest of the marina, close enough that neighbors walk in from their own streets. It was the first property the Ozaukee land trust ever bought, in 1994.

Here is how to get in without a parking lot, what the trails and the creek are like, what grows and lives there, and what to do in winter.

Three ways in, and no parking lot

Sauk Creek has three trail access points and no parking lot, so plan where you will leave the car before you go.

From the north, the land trust says to park along West Walters Street or North Grant Street. From the south, park along Moore Road or North Sauk Drive, where a pull-off on Moore Road is the only off-street parking.

The trails connect the preserve to the surrounding neighborhoods, per the land trust. A land trust official told the Ozaukee Press in 2019 that it was the trust's most heavily trafficked preserve.

Street parking here is in a residential area, so park considerately and keep driveways clear.

The trails and the creek

The preserve has more than a mile of trail, and the Ozaukee Press put the network at about 1.75 miles in 2019.

In 2019 an AmeriCorps crew rebuilt the trails, which erosion had turned into a safety concern, widening and smoothing them, filling ruts with rock and topping them with a firm surface, the Ozaukee Press reported. The same project added flood control and removed invasive plants, and the city street department repaired a culvert.

Expect a mix of level creek-side path and short climbs where the trail meets the ravine sides, and muddy patches after heavy rain.

What grows and lives there

Sauk Creek is a wildlife corridor through town, with three distinct habitats in its 27 acres.

Floodplain forest lines the creek, and wetland seeps and springs feed water into it from the banks. The eastern half was farmland abandoned more than 30 years ago and is now filling in with young trees and shrubs.

The land trust lists bird watching, hiking, fishing and running among the uses, and treats the preserve as a community education site.

Fishing the creek

Fishing is one of the uses the land trust lists for the preserve, and the bridge gives easy access to the water.

The listing notes that trout are stocked each year where the creek meets the lake, so the lower creek draws anglers in season. Wisconsin fishing licenses and trout regulations apply here as on any state water, so check the DNR rules before you cast.

Winter at Sauk Creek

Sauk Creek stays open in winter, and the land trust lists cross-country skiing and snowshoeing among its uses.

Wear traction on the slopes near the water, which can ice over.

With the light station closed for the season after mid-October, a creek walk is one of the better winter outings in Port Washington, along with the historical society's Resource Center downtown.

Pair it with

Sauk Creek is one of several nature spots in and around town, each with a different feel.

Close to downtown, the pond-side avian sanctuary near South Beach is a short path around a pond with native plants and lake views, about 1.2 miles southeast of the creek.

For a bigger walk without the dog, the old golf course at Forest Beach has 2.71 miles of mowed trail on the lake north of town.

Upper Lake Park on the bluff is about 0.9 miles east, with stairs down to the sand, and the town's two swimming beaches start about a mile east of the creek.

The rest of the town, from the harbor to the galleries, is laid out in Port Washington's harbor-to-downtown sights.