Located within the rugged topography of glacial end moraine, North of North Shattuck Lake features a southern dry-mesic forest of red and white oaks, red maple, big tooth aspen, and basswood. Other tree species include butternut, northern pin oak, white pine, red pine, and black cherry. The site varies from a dense oak forest that is rapidly approaching old-growth, through patches with a light harvest a few decades ago, to patches of oak woodland found on steep south-facing slopes. Characteristic herbs are big-leaf aster, naked tick-trefoil, hog-peanut, wood anemone, wild sarsaparilla, wood thistle, round-lobed hepatica, one-flowered broomrape, round-leaf pyrola, and American starflower. Small, shallow lakes and depressions are interspersed throughout the site and provide habitat for a diversity of invertebrates. This area is an important site for migratory birds, which use the area heavily during spring migration. Resident birds include red-headed woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, scarlet tanager, American redstart, yellow-throated vireo, and Eastern wood-pewee. North of North Shattuck Lake is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2010.