Wisconsin's Paradise Springs: Fishing Pond, Frog Wading Pool, Springhouse, and Trail in Nature Area

Paradise Springs Nature Area counts among the midwestern United States’ natural beauties. It is located in southeastern Wisconsin. It lies about 1-1/2 miles (2.414 kilometers) northeast of the village of Eagle. It may be accessed by state road connections to County Trunk Highway N.

It comprises part of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. The forest covers a total of 100 miles (160.934 kilometers) in the Badger State. It is divided into:

• Lapham Peak;
• Loew Lake;
• Pike Lake;
• The Northern Unit;
• The Southern Unit.

The Southern Unit includes areas of cultural, natural, recreational and scientific interest. It offers boating, camping, hiking, and water fun through the Ottawa and Whitewater Lake Recreation Areas. It provides cultural insights through the nineteenth-century lifestyles recreated at Old World Wisconsin's model buildings and lands.

As part of the Southern Unit, Paradise Springs can be accessed daily, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. It functions without supervision and has no assigned staff. But access requires:

• Payment of state park fees at the parking lot's paystation; or
• Purchase of a state park sticker.

The beginnings of Paradise Springs epitomize the origins of Waukesha County. Abundant water, fertile land, and stunning views invite entrepreneurship and settlement. In Waukesha County, the source of the water is in the Ice Age-scoured hills. Water rises from aquifers within higher-lying ground and spills over the surface to form captivating, clear, cool creeks, mini-waterfalls, ponds, pools, and streams.

Documents and historical memoirs identify L.D. Nichols as Paradise Springs' owner after the 1880s and by 1900. Mr. Nichols may have had a circus background. He used his newly purchased land and water to develop two businesses:

• Raising monkeys, peacocks, and pheasants;
• Rearing brook trout.

Guests traveled from large cities -- Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York City -- to:

• Stay in the hotel;
• Savor the bottling plant’s healthy drinks;
• Re-energize in the spa’s healing waters;
• Play shuffle board and tennis;
• Hoseback-ride;
• Hike.

Economic, geographical, political and social factors contributed to the demise of the bottling plant and the resort. Paradise Springs fell more and more to the wayside as the geographical focus of post-Depression and post-World War II life moved from the countryside to the big cities. According to unsubstantiated lore, Lake Forest’s gangsters also may have begun meeting at the exclusive, secluded resort whose more law-abiding patrons may have looked to other locations for recreation and relaxation.

Business ceased. The bottling plant closed its doors in the 1960s. Buildings crumbled. Roofs fell in. Trees grew old shading cool waters and fertile lawns. Wild flowers and grasses took the lead over cultivated counterparts.

To nineteenth-century settlers, Paradise Springs appeared a haven of wild beauty. It became a part of the built environment that always accompanies the crossing of new frontiers. In the later twentieth century, it evolved into more natural states.

Nature’s cycle heads towards completion at Paradise Springs.

Enlightenment and entertainment abound at Paradise Springs. Enlightenment ensues from meditation and observation. Entertainment includes:

• Catch-and-release fishing;
• Frog-spotting;
• Picnicking;
• Strolling.

Paradise Springs generally draws visitors in smaller-sized groups and over more spaced intervals than other Wisconsin state-designated attractions. It is ideal for visitors who set their own leisurely unimpeded pace along trails, signs, and sights. But it also makes allowances – without fear of traffic jams -- for the energetic spontaneity of children.

The visit begins with a right turn eastwards from the parking lot. Pedestrian, stroller and wheelchair traffic follow a paved, slightly inclining path towards a looped interpretive trail. On the right side, southwards, is a shelter with picnic benches and tables. A slab in the ground preserves the remains of the former resort’s shuttle board and tennis courts. It takes just minutes to amble from there to access drinking water and no-fuss restrooms.

Unstructured fun in the outdoors dominates the trail’s incoming, southern segment. The section offers glimpses of the natural succession in an area transitioning through:

• Wilderness;
• Development;
• Semi non-development.
• Birds and butterflies will number amongst the most common wildlife sightings.

Culture, history and nature can be appreciated along the trail’s outgoing, northern segment. In terms of buildings, the spring house gives an idea of the unique beauty of Paradise Springs as:

• Busy bottling plant;
• Luxury spa;
• Resort hotel.

The spring house’s fieldstone walls have an inherent grandeur despite a roof without its octagonal copper dome and windows without their glass. They still protect the area’s spring, whose flow reaches an hourly rate of 30,000 gallons and whose temperature remains at 47 °Fahrenheit (8.33° Celsius).

On the other side of the trout pond, along its western rim, a turbine can be seen. It functions as a reminder of the L.D. Nichols family presence at Paradise Springs. It generated the power that made the Nichols residence the first area home to convert from kerosene to electric lighting. Electricity is a convenience that the Nichols family easily afforded what with operating successful fishing and menagerie businesses.

The trout pond can be accessed by a fishing pier. But the trout cannot be caught with live bait. Likewise, the trout cannot be removed and indeed must be returned to the water.

West of the pond and the turbine the following attractions beckon:

• Frog wading pool;
• Minnehaha Spring;
• Paradise Creek.

The water in the pool is so clean and clear that froggy activities are a delight to hear and observe. Equally delightful is the sight of butterflies, damselflies, and dragonflies during clement weather and of songbirds year-round.

The tour of human-made and natural features is complete. The trail leads to the parking lot. Visitors leave by the abbreviated stretch of road that serves as entrance to and exit from Paradise Springs. On its incoming, southern flank, the road skims where once stood the resort’s horse track.

Nearby attractions include:

• Gotten Cabin;
• Ice Age Trail sections;
• Town of Eagle;
• Village with outdoor museum;
• Milwaukee.

Gotten Cabin is closest. The cabin lies just across the road from the Paradise Spring's parking lot.

The cabin honors its builder. Henry L. Gotten is remembered as one of Waukesha County's settlers from the mid-nineteenth century. He left Prussia to buy and cultivate land outside Eagle. He sheltered his wife and two children in a most aesthetically minimalist structure.

Even a cursory glance conveys the impression of a residence built to last. It is a clean, humbly-sized rectangle with same-colored door and shuttered windows. Its mortar-and-timber-styled construction serves as an impressive example of the unadorned beauty of white oak logs, joined at the corners and squared off.

The cabin encourages further forays into natural beauty and structural impressiveness. Natural beauty can be found in southeast Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. The trail intersects County Trunk Highway N about 1/2 mile (0.804672 kilometers) to the north of Gotten Cabin and Paradise Springs.

The trail attracts visitors who enjoy exercise, nature, and science. Visitors can be seen ambling, jogging, and running along the marked trail. Earthly and heavenly colors dominate, with clean blues of skies and water and fertile browns and greens of ground and vegetation. The environment is a crowd-pleaser, with ample vegetation, fertile soils, plenteous water, and rolling terrain. Birds, butterflies, frogs, and turtles join with diverse mammals in appreciating the Ice Age-sculpted (100,000 B.C.-10,000 B.C.) landscape.

The name reverted to Eagle, which is known for:

• Eagle Historical Society and the Society's Museum and Research Library;
• Eagle Springs golf resort;
• Kettle Moraine Days Festival.

Eagle village boasts history. Since 1976, it has a 576-acre (2.33099-square kilometer) outdoor museum. Old World Wisconsin includes the Clausing Barn, with dining, gift, meeting, and rest rooms. It preserves 65 nineteenth-century buildings.

The State Historical Society arranged to relocate buildings from throughout Wisconsin. For example, Anton Sisel’s shoe shop came from Algoma in Kewaunee County. Structures include:

• Businesses (blacksmith and wagon shops, general store);
• Cemeteries;
• Chapel;
• Churches (St. Peter’s, United Brethren);
• Farms (Danish, Finnish, German, Norwegian) and residences, with heirloom gardens and historic animals;
• Inn;
• Raspberry School;
• Town hall.

Old World Wisconsin can be visited, May-October. It has a vintage baseball team. It hosts:

• Day camps;
• Field trips;
• Holiday activities;
• Workshops.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

My special thanks especially to Mike Rice, Eagle Historical Society, who graciously permits me to display the perfect image of Paradise Springs' iconic springhouse. The image graces the gallery of the Society's website at:  eaglehistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=5

springhouse at Paradise Springs: by gracious permission of Mike Rice, Eagle Historical Society @ http://eaglehistoricalsociety.org/?page_id=5

ca. 1910 photo of water-driven turbine built at east side of dam by L.D. Nichols in 1900s to electrify the site: Paradise Springs Self-Guide Nature Trail, page 9, @ https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/kms/maps

view from terrace of Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery: (vincent desjardins), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/endymion120/4743909231/

Wisconsin's prominent Pabst family numbered among owners of Paradise Springs: 1900-1912 glass negative by Detroit Publishing Co. Collection, Public Domain, via Library of Congress Prints/Photographs Division @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016801931/

"Minnehaha feeding birds", c1880 oil on canvas by Frances Anne Hopkins (2/2/1838-3/5/1919), Minnesota Historical Society: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Minnehaha_Feeding_Birds.jpg

Menomonee Park, formerly Lannon Springs Quarry: Jim Bauer, CC BY-ND 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/lens-cap/8114553211/

storm clouds over Kettle Moraine Low Prairie (SNA No. 88), a few miles north-northwest of Paradise Springs: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, CC BY ND 2.0, via Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/71295177@N06/6583082891/

IntoWisOutdoors, "# 4,...Paradise Springs!," YouTube, July 8, 2009, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW-0Roevq9A

Mitten Farm, dating from ca. 1848, in autumn with stand of birch trees: B Garrett (newagecrap), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/billgarrett-newagecrap/3023872794/

1899 illustration by George Frederick Kunz (Sept 29, 1856–June 29, 1932) of Tiffany and Company; W.H. Hobbs, "Emigrant Diamonds" (November 1899), page 75: Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo561900newy/page/75/mode/1up?view=theater

Common forms of diamonds; W.H. Hobbs, "Emigrant Diamonds" (November 1899), page 85: Public Domain, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo561900newy/page/81/mode/1up?view=theater

Clausing Barn: octagonal (8-sided) barn built c1897 by Ernest Clausing: B Garrett (newagecrap), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/billgarrett-newagecrap/2086289655/

Raspberry School, Old World Wisconsin: Randen Pederson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OldWorldWisconsinRaspberrySchoolHouse.jpg

Quadracci Pavilion: Ken Ilio (Flipped Out), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenilio/118575655/

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata); Page Creek Marsh State Natural Area: Joshua Mayer (wackybadger), CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wackybadger/7189433796/

brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) swims in native stream: Eric Engbretson/US Fish and Wildlife Service, Public Domain, via USFWS Digital Library @ https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/natdiglib/id/7908

Andrews, Candice Gaukel. Beyond the Trees: Stories of Wisconsin's Forests. Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011.

AuntieNae. "A Visit to Paradise Springs EarthCache (hidden 7/5/2007)." Geocaching: Hide and Seek A Geocache . Groundspeak, Inc., 2000-2012.

• Available at: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=4753d507-00f1-4373-943e-71395d418f19

HistoryLady1. “Shoemaking in Slovan”. Kewaunee County History, Monday, April 23, 2012.

• Available at: http://kewauneecountyhistory.blogspot.com/ 2012/04/shoemaking-in-slovan.html

Hobbs, William Herbert. "Emigrant Diamonds in America." Appleton's Popular Science Monthly, Vol. LVI (November, 1899, to April, 1900): 73-83. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1900.

• Available via Internet Archive at: http://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo561900newy

Imberg, Kari. "Paradise in Wisconsin." Royal Purple News: Lifestyle, April 20, 2011.

• Available at: http://royalpurplenews.com/?p=2278

K., Christine Marie. "Paradise Springs Nature Area". A Fresh Look, July 28, 2012. WordPress.com.

• Available at: http://chrisimarie.wordpress.com/ 2012/ 07/ 28/paradise-springs-nature-area/

“Louis J. Petit Dies in Milwaukee; Salt Manufacturer, Banker, Mining Pioneer and  Sportsman Was 76”. The New York Times: Art Amusements Radio section, p. 20. December 3, 1932.

• Available at: http://select.nytimes.com/ gst/ abstract.html res=FA0E10FF345516738DDDAA0894DA415B828FF1D3

Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission. Permanent Historic Designation Study Report: First National Bank/First Wisconsin National Bank Building 733-743 N. Water Street. June 2007.

• Available at: http://www.city.milwaukee.gov/ ImageLibrary/ Groups/ cityHPC/ DesignatedReports/ vticnf/ FirstNational.pdf

Old World Wisconsin. Wisconsin Historical Society, 2008-2012.

• Available at: http://oldworldwisconsin.wisconsinhistory.org/

Potawatomi Area Council BSA. Historic Trails Guide. Waukesha WI: Potawatomi Area Council Boy Scouts of America, n.d.

• Available at: http://www.pacbsa.org/openrosters/DocDownload.aspx?orgkey=2402&id=81232

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Parks and Recreation. Kettle Moraine State Forest - Southern Unit: Paradise Springs Self-Guiding Nature Trail. PUB-PR-228 2010.

• Available at:  https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/kms/maps