Oak Wilt tour at Meadow Ridge Park

There is a chance of rain on Nov 3. This tour will take place unless it’s raining hard. If we need to cancel, it will be announced on the Friends website.

Madison Parks staff discovered Oak Wilt at Meadow Ridge Conservation Park (in the western area of Cherokee Marsh) in the summer of 2026. A few dead red oak trees were surrounded by several that showed the tell-tale “flagging" with brown, wilting leaves that have now fallen prematurely. Samples from three trees were tested by the UW Extension Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic, which confirmed these trees were infected with Oak Wilt.

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Oak Wilt, so treating or removing an infected tree will not stop the spread of the disease underground. Instead, it must be contained by proactively removing healthy trees around the infestation. Read here about how Madison Parks staff are dealing with the outbreak in…