Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail
Pomme de Terre Region North
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| Site Description | Directions to Site |
| NICHOLSON
WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Otter
Tail County (1,165 acres). Habitat: woods, thickets, grasslands, wetlands, and lake. Amenities: T. Contact: 218-739-2291. Web Site: None. |
From the intersection of Hwy 210 and US 59 on the southeast side of Fergus Falls, travel south on US 59 for 5.7 miles to Co. Rd. 82 (just past I-94). Turn left on Co. Rd. 82 and travel east 1.0 mile to Twp. Rd.1157 on your right just before you reach I-94. Turn right on this gravel road and travel south 0.8 miles to a parking area for Nicholson Waterfowl Production Area. (Note: The last part of this road is fairly rough.) |
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| TEN
MILE WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Otter Tail County (678 acres). Habitat: woods, thickets, grasslands, wetlands, and lake. Amenities: None. Contact: 218-739-2291. Web Site: None. |
Retrace your steps to US 59. Turn left and travel south 2.5 miles to Twp. Rd. 1182 (Veitenheimer Rd.) on your left. Turn left on Twp. Rd. 1182 and travel east 2.3 miles to the beginning of Ten Mile Waterfowl Production Area on your left. Continue on Twp. Rd. 1182 east and south 2.3 miles through this waterfowl production area. There are parking areas at both 1.5 miles and 1.9 miles. |
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| POMME
DE TERRE WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA
Grant County. |
Continue south 0.5 miles on Twp. Rd. 1182 to Co. Rd. 35. Turn left on Co. Rd. 35 and travel east 0.8 miles to Co. Rd. 37 (just before you reach I-94). Turn right on Co. Rd. 37 (becomes Co. Rd. 20 in Grant County) and travel south and west 5.9 miles to Co. Rd. 4. Turn left on Co. Rd. 4 and travel east 2.0 miles to Co. Rd. 21. Turn right on Co. Rd. 21 and travel south 3.0 miles to Co. Rd. 48. Turn left on Co. Rd. 48 and travel east 0.5 miles to Pomme de Terre Waterfowl Production Area. There is a parking area on your right after 0.3 miles and on your left by the lake after another 0.2 miles. |
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| TIPSINAH
MOUNDS PARK Grant County
(256 acres). POMME DE TERRE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA
Grant County (37.9 acres). POMME DE TERRE
PUBLIC WATER ACCESS Grant
County. |
Retrace your steps to Co. Rd. 21. Turn left on Co. Rd. 21 and travel south 2.0 miles to Hwy. 79. Turn left on Hwy. 79 and travel east about 1.0 mile to Tipsinah Mounds Park. Pomme de Terre Wildlife Management Area lies along the west side of the park entrance road and Pomme de Terre Lake Public Water Access lies at the southwest corner of the park. |
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| BERSKOW
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Grant
County (167 acres). BLAKESLEY WATERFOWL
PRODUCTION AREA Grant County (362 acres). JENSON WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT AREA Grant
County (111 acres). KUBE WATERFOWL
PRODUCTION AREA Grant
County (46 acres). REDHEAD SLOUGH
WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA in Grant County (535 acres). |
Return to Hwy. 79. Turn left on Hwy. 79 and travel east 0.7 miles to Co. Rd. 24. (Note: Just before you reach Co. Rd. 24, there is a gravel road on your right. You can turn right onto this road and travel south 2.6 miles. Berskow Wildlife Management Area lies on the left, then Blakesley Waterfowl Production Area lies on the right, followed by Jenson Wildlife Management Area on the left, and finally Kube Waterfowl Production Area on the right. Redhead Slough Waterfowl Production Area begins at the intersection of Co. Rd. 24 and Hwy. 79. There is a parking area on the left side of Hwy 79 about 0.4 miles east of this intersection.) Turn left on Co. Rd. 24 and travel north 1.1 miles to an unmarked gravel road on your right. (Note: This road is at the bottom of a small hill by a residence and the turn onto it is a soft right.) Turn right onto this unmarked gravel road and travel east 0.8 miles to the main parking area for Redhead Slough Waterfowl Production Area on your right. The view from this spot is quite beautiful. |
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| BAH
LAKES WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Grant and Douglas Counties. EGRET ISLAND
SCIENTIFIC AND NATURAL AREA
Grant County (34 acres). |
Continue east along this same unmarked gravel road 4.0 miles (You will cross both Co. Rd. 10 and Co. Rd. 54.) to a “T” at Co. Rd. 19 (right by I-94). Turn left on Co. Rd. 19 and travel north 1.1 miles to Whisper Lane. Bah Lakes Waterfowl Production Area lies on both sides of the road. (Note: Turn left on Whisper Lane and travel west along the north side of the waterfowl production area for 1.0 mile to Ashby Estates Road E. From here you have a beautiful view of Pelican Lake. In the middle of the lake, there is a large heron rookery on Egret Island Scientific and Natural Area, but there is no access to this site. Be sure to check the surrounding fields for Cattle Egret.) |
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| GUSTAVE
MELBY WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA
Douglas County (35.3 acres). CHRISTINA LAKE
PUBLIC WATER ACCESS Grant and Douglas Counties. SWENSON WATERFOWL
PRODUCTION AREA Otter Tail County (150 acres). SEVEN SISTERS
PRAIRIE PRESERVE |
From the intersection of Co. Rd. 19 and Whisper Lane, travel north on Co. Rd. 19 for 2.8 miles to Co. Rd. 82. Gustave Melby Wildlife Management Area is at the southwest corner of this intersection. Turn left on Co. Rd. 82 and travel west 0.3 miles to Co. Rd. 57. (Note: Christina Lake Public Water Access, which lies at the southwest corner of Lake Christina, is on your right. There is also access to the Central Lakes Trail, a bicycle trail that runs from Osakis to Fergus Falls that is scheduled to be completed by 2005.) Turn right on Co. Rd. 57 and travel north 2.0 miles along the west side of Lake Christina to Hwy. 78. Turn right on Hwy. 78 and travel northeast 1.8 miles to a gravel road marked 355th Avenue on your left. (Note: Turn left here and travel north 0.5 mile to Swenson Waterfowl Production Area. There is no convenient place to park for this waterfowl production area.) Just north of Hwy. 78, you will find a place to park on 355th Avenue where you can walk into the western edge of Seven Sisters Prairie Preserve. There are other places to access this Nature Conservancy land further east along Hwy. 78. From the intersection of 355th Ave. and Hwy 78, Seven Sisters Prairie Preserve stretches 1.0 mile east along the north side of the highway. |
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| TUEL
WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Otter Tail County (120 acres). INSPIRATION
PEAK STATE SCENIC WAYSIDE PARK
Otter Tail County. |
At the east end of Seven Sisters Prairie Preserve there is a gravel road (Rabbit Road). If you are interested in traveling on a scenic back road turn left here and travel north and east about 3.0 miles to Hwy 78. Otherwise, you can continue east and then north on Hwy. 78 for 2.9 miles to Co. Rd. 38. (You will see Rabbit Road coming from the left at this intersection.) Turn right on Co. Rd. 38 and travel east about 6.0 miles to 435th Avenue on your left. (You will see the Peak Supper Club at the northeast corner of this intersection.) You will see Tuel Waterfowl Production Area on your left as you approach this intersection, but there is no parking. Turn left on 435th Avenue and travel north a short distance to 120th Street. Turn right here into Inspiration Peak State Scenic Wayside Park. To return to the starting point of this loop, retrace your steps to the intersection of Hwy. 78 and Co. Rd. 57 at the west end of Lake Christina. Continue west on Hwy. 78 about 1.5 miles to Co. Rd. 82 near Ashby. Turn right and travel northwest on Co. Rd. 82 about 13.0 miles to US 59. Turn right on US 59 and travel north 5.7 miles to the starting point. (Note: You should visit the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center, which is located on Hwy. 210 about 0.5 miles west of this intersection. This is one of the sites on the Pine to Prairie Birding Trail, which runs north to the Canadian border. Printed guides are available at the visitors center, which is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and on Saturdays in June, July & August, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The phone number is 218-736-0938. The Pine to Prairie Birding Trail also has a website at www.mnbirdtrail.com) |
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| Key to Amenities: T: trail; R: restroom; C: camping; P: picnic area; B: boating. |
The Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail is a project of Audubon Minnesota