Headwater Lakes State Natural Area

Headwater Lakes features two unique soft-water lakes, Wabasso Lake and Cedar Lake. Wabasso Lake is a 49-acre deep, seepage lake with a diverse and unusual aquatic flora. The submerged aquatic plants are the principal features of interest, with several specialized sterile rosette species well represented. Lakes that support sterile rosette species are deep, land-locked, and have sandy bottoms. The clear, soft-water allows for the growth of this unique assemblage of plants. They include water lobelia, pipewort, spiney-spored quillwort, and waterwort. Associated submerged and floating-leaved aquatics include fragrant water lily, goldenpert, large-leaved pondweed, American eel grass, and water shield. Emergent aquatics along the shore include swamp loosestrife, pickerel weed, and water arum. A good population of the carniverous plant species, purple bladderwort also occurs here. The ericad bog is dominated by labrador tea, leatherleaf, and bog laurel along with scattered tamarack. The understory contains Sphagnum moss and typical bog plants such as pond sedge, swamp false Solomon's seal, and round-leaved sundew. Uplands surrounding the lake contain patches of old-growth hemlock with yellow birch, white pine, red pine, and paper birch. In addition, fair to good quality stands of white cedar swamp and mixed pine forest adjoin the mesic forest. Cedar Lake is an undeveloped, shallow, drainage lake that still retains a wilderness aspect due to its remote location. Most of the lake margin is fringed with cattail marsh and sedge meadow. Associated wetlands include vast open peatlands dominated by bog ericads, tamarack swamp, and black spruce/tamarack bog. Uplands within the site are forested with fair to good quality stands of mixed pine forest of natural origin. Also present is a wet-mesic hemlock dominated forest and a mesic hardwood forest of diverse species composition. Of special interest are several groves of old growth red and white pines on the west side of Cedar Lake. Headwater Lakes is owned by the U.S. Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007. This site is also recognized by the Forest Service as an established Research Natural Area.