Rice Creek State Natural Area preserves a high-quality northern Wisconsin wetland within the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest along a two-mile stretch of Rice Creek in Vilas County. Its habitats include conifer swamps, fens, sedge meadows, and aquatic vegetation beds with wild rice, along with nearby old-growth hemlock and hardwood forest beneath large white pine. The area is especially significant for its botanical richness: groundwater-fed fens support an exceptional concentration of rare species, including at least seven orchids such as showy lady slipper, swamp pink, and boreal bog orchid. Its wildlife, including birds and the bog copper, reflects the same quiet, water-shaped northern landscape.