Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail
Prairie Waters Region North
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| Site Description | Directions to Site |
| LAC
QUI PARLE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Big Stone and Lac Qui Parle
Counties (23,340.2 acres). Habitat: trees, thickets, grasslands, prairie, riparian, wetlands, and lake. Amenities: R, P, B. Notes: This is only a small part of the wildlife management area, which covers an enormous area in four counties. Contact: 320-734-4451. Web Site Available. |
From the intersection of US 59 and Hwy. 7 in Appleton, travel west on Hwy. 7 about 8.7 miles to Louisville Road on your left. Turn left and travel south on Louisville Road about 3.8 miles to Co. Rd. 38. (Note: This stretch of road has several spots to park and explore this part of the wildlife management area.) |
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| PLOVER
PRAIRIE PRESERVE Lac
Qui Parle County (655 acres). PYRAMID WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT AREA Lac
Qui Parle County (19.9 acres). |
At the intersection of Louisville Rd. and Co. Rd. 38, turn right and travel west on Co. Rd. 38 for 2.5 miles to a minimum maintenance road on your right. Turn right here and travel north 1.0 mile to the east unit of Plover Prairie Preserve. (Note: You can continue straight ahead on this dead end road to explore this portion of the site. You will eventually reach land that belongs to the Pyramid Wildlife Management Area.) Turn left on to the gravel road at the south border of Plover Prairie Preserve and travel west 2.0 miles to US 75. Turn right on US 75 and travel north 0.6 miles to the west unit of Plover Prairie Preserve. Continue north another mile on US 75 to more land belonging to Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area on your right. |
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| BIG
STONE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Big Stone & Lac Qui Parle Counties (10,795 acres). Habitat: woods, thickets, grasslands, native prairie, wetlands, marsh, and lake. Amenities: T, R, B. Notes: The four mile auto tour is closed from early fall until spring. Contact: 320-273-2231. Web Site Available. |
Continue north .04 miles on US 75 to a parking area on your left, which lies on the south side of a dam at the east end of the national wildlife refuge. On the north side of the dam you will find a road that travels for 1.2 miles through the east end of the refuge. When you reach the end of this road, turn left on US 75 and travel north 1.0 mile to Co. Rd. 21. Turn left on Co. Rd. 21 and travel west 1.0 mile to a parking area for a fishing access point in the refuge. Continue west and then north on Co. Rd. 21 to Co. Rd. 28, just east of Odessa. Turn left on Co. Rd. 28 and travel west 0.9 miles through Odessa to Co. Rd. 19. (Note: Co. Rd. 28 will jog one block north in downtown Odessa.) When you turn left on Co. Rd. 19, you will see the headquarters for the national wildlife refuge on your right. Travel south 2.5 miles on Co. Rd. 19 to Co. Rd. 40 (Co. Rd. 19 becomes Co. Rd. 15 when you enter Lac Qui Parle County). There are numerous parking areas along this stretch of Co. Rd. 15 (Co. Rd. 19 in Big Stone County) to use while you explore the refuge. To get to the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge Auto Tour Retrace your steps to Co. Rd. 19 and Co. Rd. 28. Continue north on Co. Rd. 19 for 0.5 miles to US 75/Hwy. 7. Turn left on US 75/Hwy. 7 and travel west about 4.0 miles to the turnoff for the refuge auto tour on your left. |
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| BIG
STONE LAKE STATE PARK Big
Stone County (990 acres). |
Return to US 75/Hwy. 7 and turn left. Travel northwest on US 75/Hwy. 7 for about 1.5 miles to a fork in the road. Take the left fork and continue traveling northwest on Hwy. 7 for about 7.0 miles to the main entrance to Big Stone Lake State Park. Just before the main entrance, you will see a boat launch area on your left that you can also access. |
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| BONANZA
PRAIRIE SCIENTIFIC AND NATURAL AREA
Big Stone County (85 acres). Habitat: woods, thickets, grasslands, native prairie, and lake. Amenities: T, R, C, P, B, Education Center. Notes: This scientific and natural area is part of the Bonanza Area of Big Stone Lake State Park. Contact: 320-839-3663(State Park) or 651-297-2357(SNA). Web Site Available. |
From the main entrance of Big Stone Lake State Park, continue northwest on Hwy. 7 about 10 miles to an overlook on your left along the shore of Big Stone Lake. Continue another mile on Hwy. 7 to the Bonanza Area of the state park, which includes the Bonanza Education Center and the scientific and natural area. |
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| CLINTON
PRAIRIE SCIENTIFIC AND NATURAL AREA
Big Stone County (160 acres). Habitat: grasslands. Amenities: None. Contact: 651-297-2357. Web Site Available. |
Retrace your steps to Hwy. 7. Turn left on Hwy. 7 and travel north 1.0 mile to Co. Rd. 6. Turn right on Co. Rd. 6 and travel east 7.0 miles to Co. Rd. 7. Clinton Prairie Scientific and Natural Area lies at the northwest corner of this intersection. |
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| THIELKE
LAKE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA
in Big Stone County (338.7 acres). Habitat: grasslands, wetlands, and lake. Amenities: None. Contact: 320-289-2493. Web Site Available. |
Continue traveling east on Co. Rd. 6 for 6.0 miles to US 75 in the City of Clinton. Turn right on US 75 and travel south 5.0 miles to Co. Rd. 62. Turn left on Co. Rd. 62 and travel east about 1.0 mile to the wildlife management area at the south end of Thielke Lake. To explore this area continue east on Co. Rd 62 for another mile to Co. Rd. 65. (NOTE: You can turn left on Co. Rd. 65 and travel north along the east side of Thielke Lake.) |
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| LONG
TOM LAKE PUBLIC WATER ACCESS
Big Stone County. VICTORY
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Big Stone County (600.5 acres). |
At the intersection of Co. Rd. 62 and Co. Rd. 65, travel south on Co. Rd. 65 for 1.0 mile to Co. Rd. 10. Turn left on Co. Rd. 10 and travel east 3.0 miles to Co. Rd. 21. Turn right on Co. Rd. 21 and travel south 2.1 miles to Co. Rd. 67. Turn right on Co. Rd. 67 and travel west and south to a parking area for Long Tom Lake on your left. Victory Wildlife Management Area lies along the north side of the road and west of the boat launch area on the south side of the road. |
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| LINDQUIST
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Big
Stone County (72.4 acres). THOMPSON WATERFOWL
PRODUCTION AREA Big
Stone County (303 acres). ARTICHOKE
LAKE PUBLIC WATER ACCESS Big
Stone County. ARTICHOKE WATERFOWL
PRODUCTION AREA Big Stone County (780 acres). |
Retrace your steps to the intersection of Co. Rd. 67 and Co. Rd. 21. Lindquist Wildlife Management Area lies on both sides of Co. Rd. 67 in this location. Continue driving east and north on Co. Rd. 67 for about 2.5 miles to Co. Rd. 10. Thompson Waterfowl Production Area lies on both sides of Co. Rd. 67 south of Co. Rd. 10. Turn right on Co. Rd. 10 and travel east about 6.1 miles to Co. Rd. 25. Turn left on Co. Rd. 25/10 and travel north 0.6 miles to Artichoke Lake Public Water Accesss on your right. Artichoke Waterfowl Production Area lies on the west side of Co. Rd. 25/10 north of the intersection of these two county roads. To explore the Pomme De Terre Region, travel north on Co. Rd. 25 (which becomes Co. Rd. 13 in Stevens County) for 13.4 miles to Hwy. 28 just east of Chokio. Turn right on Hwy. 28 and travel east about 12.0 miles to Hwy. 9 in Morris. Turn right and travel southeast on Hwy. 9, which then joins US 59 for a little over a mile, to where US 59 leaves Hwy. 9 and turns north. At this intersection, you should see signs for the Morris Wetland Management District Office. Travel north on US 59, turning east on Co. Rd. 10 almost immediately to begin the south loop for the Pomme de Terre Region. To return to Appleton, the starting point for the loop you’ve just completed, retrace your steps to Co. Rd. 25 and travel south 10.4 miles to Hwy 7. in Correll. Turn left on Hwy. 7 and travel southeast about 7.0 miles to the starting point for this loop. |
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| Key to Amenities: T: trail; R: restroom; C: camping; P: picnic area; B: boating. |
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The Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail is a project of Audubon Minnesota