EXPLORE HABITATS & LANDSCAPES

Bogs

Peat, sphagnum & remarkable adaptations
Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia): round sticky leaves above sphagnum.
Round-leaved Sundew above sphagnum

What defines this habitat?

Bogs are peat-forming wetlands that receive most or all of their water from precipitation. Acidic conditions and low nutrient availability favor specialized plants. Many northern bogs have sphagnum moss; bogs can also contain shrubs and trees.

Clues to look for

  • Sphagnum and peat are important clues, but a photograph alone cannot establish a bog’s hydrology.
  • A bog is one kind of wetland, not a name for every soggy place.
  • Fens receive groundwater and differ from precipitation-fed bogs.

Bog or fen? Follow the water.

Both can build peat. Their water supply helps explain why their plants and chemistry differ.

Side-by-side cutaways compare a mossy bog and a sedge-rich fen, showing vegetation, peat, and underlying mineral material.
Representative peatland cutaways; vegetation and peat depth vary. Blue arrows highlight the contrasting water sources. Tap to enlarge.

Bog: rain and snow ↓
Mainly precipitation-fed, usually acidic and low in nutrients.

Fen: groundwater enters ↖
Water moving through soil or rock brings minerals. Fens also receive precipitation.

Explore six bog and peatland types

These terms describe origin, shape, vegetation, or region, so they can overlap.

Kettle & basin: Develop in hollows; some kettles were left by melting glacial ice.

Raised & domed: Accumulating peat lifts the central surface above mineral-rich water.

Patterned: Ridges, pools, and water tracks form mosaics of bog and fen.

Pocosin: Dense shrub-and-pine peatlands of the southeastern Coastal Plain.

Mountain: Peat wetlands in cool, wet upland settings, such as Cranberry Glades.

Coastal muskeg: A regional term for peat wetlands, including those in Southeast Alaska.

EPA: wetland types · Patterned peatlands

From Ice Age ice to a kettle bog

Melting glacial ice can leave a lake-filled hollow. As plant mats spread and peat accumulates, a peatland may develop over thousands of years.

Four illustrated cutaways show stranded glacial ice, a kettle lake, an advancing plant mat, and a peat-filled wetland.
One possible pathway, simplified and not to scale. Not every kettle becomes a bog; peatlands can also form without a lake filling in. Tap to enlarge.

Northern bogs & Carolina pocosins

An open northern mossy bog beside a dense Carolina shrub-and-pond-pine pocosin.
An open mossy northern bog contrasts with a dense evergreen-shrub pocosin and scattered pond pines. These are representative landscapes. Tap to enlarge.

Pocosins belong to the southeastern Coastal Plain; they do not share the northern kettle-ice origin. At Green Swamp, shrub peatlands sit beside sunny, fire-maintained pine savannas.

Carolina bays, carnivorous plants & fire

Carolina bays are oval depressions that can hold several wetland types—not all are bogs or pocosins. Many of Green Swamp’s carnivorous plants grow in open savannas rather than dense shrub shade.

Prescribed fire can help maintain savannas. Drought or drainage can instead allow peat itself to burn and damage a peatland.

NOAA: pocosins · Carolina bays · Green Swamp

Educational illustrations created with AI assistance; simplified, not to scale.

Did you know?

Some bog plants supplement their nutrients by trapping insects. Sundews use sticky leaves, while pitcher plants use water-holding traps.

Living things to notice

Depending on location, look for sphagnum, sundews, cranberries, and other plants adapted to acidic peatlands. Larger wetland complexes also contain open water, sedge communities, and wooded areas, each supporting different living things.

A closer look: Cedarburg Bog

A place name does not tell the whole story. Cedarburg Bog includes lakes, sedge communities, and wooded wetlands. Mineral-rich groundwater keeps much of the system near neutral pH. These photographs show the different communities within this wetland complex. Learn about Cedarburg’s wetland communities.

Ferns framing a wooden walkway at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
Follow the boardwalkA wooden walkway offers a close look at wetland vegetation without stepping onto the soft ground.
Trees and clouds reflected in open water at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
Open water and its edgesLily pads, reeds, shrubs, and trees show how several communities meet around a lake.
Dense ferns beneath the trees at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
A fern-filled understoryShady, wooded parts of the wetland look very different from an open sphagnum mat.
Sedge seed heads among narrow leaves at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
Look closely at sedgesNarrow leaves and upright seed heads add another layer to the wetland’s vegetation.
Yellow lady’s-slipper with its pouch-shaped flower at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
Yellow lady’s-slipperThis orchid illustrates the variety of plant life in Cedarburg’s wetland complex—not a plant to expect in every acidic bog.
Osprey standing at its stick nest at Cedarburg Bog, Wisconsin
Osprey at its nestOpen water is part of the wider habitat story, providing hunting areas for fish-eating birds.

Explore Cedarburg Bog →

Try this on your next walk

Use established boardwalks and look closely at small plants. Notice how different this vegetation is from a cattail marsh.

Explore notable U.S. bogs & peatlands

These examples were chosen for their different landscapes, ecological importance, and opportunities to learn. This is a representative selection, not a complete inventory or a ranking by size. Some are true bogs; others show related peatland habitats.

Tap a numbered marker for its description. On a small screen, swipe the map sideways or use the numbered guide below.

Notable U.S. bogs and peatlandsNumbered locations in the contiguous United States link to the guide below. Approximate locations, not habitat boundaries.AlabamaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandBeulah Bog1Volo Bog2Cedarburg Bog3Big Bog / Red Lake peatlands4Orono Bog5Tannersville Cranberry Bog6Cranberry Glades7Pocosin Lakes8Green Swamp9Great Dismal Swamp10Crowberry Bog11Contiguous U.S. · Approximate locations · Numbered guide below
1. Beulah Bog — Wisconsin

Kettle bog

A clear local example of bog development in glacial kettle holes, with an open pool, floating sedge–sphagnum mat, and tamarack wet forest.

Learn more & check visitor information
2. Volo Bog — Illinois

Kettle bog

A floating plant mat surrounds the remaining open water of an ancient glacial kettle lake. A useful place to learn how wetland communities change across a basin.

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3. Cedarburg Bog — Wisconsin

Patterned wetland complex

Our local example contains lakes, sedge communities, and wooded ridges. Mineral-rich groundwater keeps much of it near neutral pH; the name does not mean the whole complex is an acidic, rain-fed bog.

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4. Big Bog / Red Lake peatlands — Minnesota

Patterned peatland

An expansive northern peatland landscape where raised bogs, fens, and water tracks occur together. Big Bog State Recreation Area offers a boardwalk introduction.

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5. Orono Bog — Maine

Raised bog

Peat accumulation has raised the central bog above its surroundings. The boardwalk introduces the striking transition from forested wetland to open bog.

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6. Tannersville Cranberry Bog — Pennsylvania

Glacial-basin peatland

A protected Pocono wetland known for sphagnum, cranberries, and carnivorous pitcher plants. Explore its formation and communities through the preserve’s guided programs.

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7. Cranberry Glades — West Virginia

Mountain peatland

High-elevation glades bring a very different setting to the map: open peat wetlands surrounded by Appalachian forest. Their cool mountain setting supports distinctive wetland plants.

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8. Pocosin Lakes — North Carolina

Southeastern pocosin

A major example of dense shrub-and-pine peatland on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Restoring water levels helps protect the peat and reduce damaging peat fires.

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9. Green Swamp — North Carolina

Pocosin & pine-savanna mosaic

Dense evergreen-shrub pocosin lies alongside open longleaf pine savannas. Many celebrated carnivorous plants grow in the sunny savannas, not deep within the shrub thickets.

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10. Great Dismal Swamp — Virginia / North Carolina

Forested peatland

A peat-forming forested swamp rather than a classic open northern bog. Its restoration shows why keeping peat wet matters for habitat, carbon storage, and fire risk.

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11. Crowberry Bog — Washington

Raised plateau bog

An unusual raised bog on the Olympic Peninsula, protected as a Natural Area Preserve. This is a conservation and research example; check with Washington DNR about access.

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Markers show approximate locations, not wetland boundaries or trailheads. Access varies, particularly at research preserves; follow each land manager’s guidance.

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