Minnesota River Valley Birding Trail

Prairie Waters Region South


Site Description Directions to Site

LAC QUI PARLE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Swift and Chippewa Counties (23,340.2 acres).
Habitat: Some woods, grasslands, and wetlands.
Amenities: None.
Notes: Sections of the Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area’s 23,340.2 acres of habitat are scattered throughout the region as separate sites.
Contact: 320-734-4451.
Web Site Available.

CHIPPEWA PRAIRIE Swift and Chippewa Counties (1,143 acres).
Habitat: Northern tall grass prairie.
Amenities: None.
Contact: 612-331-0700.
Web Site Available.

 From the intersection of US 59, Hwy. 7 and Hwy. 119 in Appleton, travel south on US 59/Hwy. 7/Hwy. 119 a short distance through town to the point where Hwy. 119 continues due south and US 59/Hwy 7 veers southeast. Continue south on Hwy. 119 about 1.0 mile to the point where 220th Avenue SW continues heading due south and Hwy 119 turns southwest. Continue south on 220th Avenue SW, a gravel road, for 2.6 miles to a parking area for Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area. (Note: Along the way you will pass two junkyards and a parking area on your right in a grove of trees.) The last part of this road, which is a minimum maintenance road, marks the western edge of Chippewa Prairie, a Nature Conservancy site.

MARSH LAKE Swift County.
Habitat: Woods, thickets, grassland, marsh, and lake.
Amenities: R. P, B.
Contact: 320-269-6303.
Web Site Available.

Retrace your steps to Hwy. 119 and turn left. Travel southwest on Hwy. 119 about 1.0 mile to 115th Street SW. Turn right and travel west on 115th Street, turn right and drive north on 240th Avenue SW, and turn left and continue west on 100th Street SW for a total of about 3.5 miles (This is a minimum maintenance road.) to a parking area for Marsh Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers site. Brown signs mark each turn. Much of the land along these roads is part of the Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area.
HASTAD WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA in Lac Qui Parle County (911 acres).
Habitat: grasslands and wetlands.
Amenities: None.
Contact: 320-273-2191.
Web Site: None.		 Retrace your steps to Hwy 119 and turn right. Travel southwest on Hwy. 119 for 1.5 miles across the Minnesota River to Co. Rd. 34. There are parking areas for Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area along this stretch of Hwy. 119. (Note: To reach the south side of Marsh Lake, turn right here onto Co. Rd. 34 and travel 2.0 miles west to an unmarked gravel road. Turn right and travel north 1.1 miles and across some railroad tracks to a parking area on the south side of Marsh Lake. This is also part of the wildlife management area) Continue south 1.0 mile on Hwy 119 along the east side of Hastad Waterfowl Production Area to another unmarked gravel road. Turn right here and travel about 1.0 mile through this waterfowl production area. There are parking areas at 0.2 miles and 0.8 miles along this road.

HEGLAND WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Lac Qui Parle County (427 acres).
Habitat: some trees, thickets, grasslands, and wetlands.
Amenities: None.
Contact: 320-273-2191
Web Site: None.

BORAAS WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREA Lac Qui Parle County (40 acres).
Habitat: trees, thickets, grasslands, and wetlands.
Amenities: None.
Contact: 320-273-2191.
Web Site: None.

 Turn around and travel east on the same unmarked gravel road to Hwy. 119, but continue east for 1.0 mile to where the gravel road turns to the south. The area on the north side of this road is Hegland Waterfowl Production Area. Continue south on this gravel road about 3.0 miles to Co. Rd. 66. There is good birding habitat along this stretch, including the Prairie Heritage Tract of the Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area and Boraas Waterfowl Production Area.

LAC QUI PARLE STATE PARK Lac Qui Parle County.
Habitat: woods, thickets, some grasslands, and lake.
Amenities: T, R, C, P, B.
Notes: The campground may not be open all year, but day use of the park is allowed year round.
Contact: 320-752-4736.
Web Site Available.

LAC QUI PARLE DAM Lac Qui Parle and Chippewa Counties.
Habitat: Lake, river, marsh and some woods.
Amenities: R, P.
Notes: The water below the dam is open all year providing a feeding area for waterfowl.
Contact: 320-269-6303.
Web Site Available.

 Turn left on Co. Rd. 66 and travel east about 2.8 miles to Hwy. 40. Turn left on Hwy. 40 and travel a short distance to Co. Rd. 33. Turn right on Co. Rd. 33 and travel southeast 6.8 miles to the entrance to Lac Qui Parle State Park. Return to Co. Rd. 33 and turn left. Travel southeast and east on Co. Rd. 33 for 1.5 miles across the Minnesota River to Co. Rd. 32. Just before this intersection, there are two parking areas on the right side of the road on either side of the Minnesota River where it empties out of Lac Qui Parle Lake. This is the Lac Qui Parle Dam at the southeast end of the lake.
LAC QUI PARLE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA HEADQUARTERS Chippewa County.
Habitat: some trees, thickets, grasslands, wetlands, and lake.
Amenities: R (at Volden’s Pit & at headquarters, when open), P (at headquarters).
Contact: 320-734-4451.
Web Site Available.		 Turn left on Co. Rd. 32 and travel north about 2 miles to Co. Rd. 33 and turn left. (Note: This is Chippewa Co. Rd. 33 which is a different road from Lac Qui Parle Co. Rd. 33.) Travel west on Co. Rd. 33 for 0.4 miles to the headquarters for Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Management Area. Continue west 0.4 miles on Co. Rd. 33 to a parking area called Volden’s Pit at the end of the road. You can explore the wildlife management area from here.
LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY PARK Lac Qui Parle County.
Habitat: woods, thickets, grasslands, and riparian.
Amenities: R (primitive) and P.
Contact: 320-598-7444.
Web Site: None		 Retrace your steps to Co. Rd. 32 and turn right. Travel south on Co. Rd. 32 to the Lac Qui Parle Co. Rd. 33. Turn right, cross the Minnesota River and travel west about 1.0 mile to Co. Rd. 48. Turn left on Co. Rd. 48 and travel west and south for over 1.0 mile to Co. Rd. 20. Turn right on Co. Rd. 20 and travel west about 3.5 miles to Co. Rd. 27. Turn left on Co. Rd. 27 and travel south 1.5 miles to a gravel road on your left. Turn left and travel east 0.8 miles to a “T” and turn left. Travel north on this gravel road 0.4 miles to where it turns east. At that point, turn left onto another gravel road. Follow this road west into Lac Qui Parle County Park.

SALT LAKE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA Lac Qui Parle County (779.9 acres).
Habitat: grasslands, wetlands, and lake.
Amenities: None.
Notes: The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union takes a field trip to this site every year on the fourth weekend in April.
Contact: 320-289-2493.
Web Site Available.

Retrace your steps to Co. Rd. 20 and turn left. Travel west 4.0 miles on Co. Rd. 20 to the point where it meets Hwy. 40. Continue traveling west on Hwy. 40 for about 17.0 miles to Co. Rd. 7 in the City of Marietta. Turn left on Co. Rd. 7 and travel south 3.0 miles to a gravel road. Turn right on this gravel road and travel west 1.0 mile to the wildlife management area. (Note: The west end of Salt Lake is in the State of South Dakota.) To explore the Prairie Coteau Region, return to Co. Rd. 7 and turn right. Travel south on Co. Rd. 7 for 5.0 miles to Co. Rd. 12. Turn left on Co. Rd. 12 and travel east about 6.5 miles to Co. Rd. 11. (Note: Florida Creek Wildlife Management Area at this intersection [Co. Rd. 12 and Co. Rd. 11] is worth checking out.) Turn right on Co. Rd. 11 and travel south 12.0 miles to Co. Rd. 3 on the north side of Canby. Turn right on Co. Rd. 3 and travel west a short distance to Hwy. 68. Turn left on Hwy. 68 and travel southeast about 28.0 miles to the starting point for the Prairie Coteau Loop on the southeast side of Marshall. To return to Appleton, the starting point for this loop, retrace your steps to Marietta, continue east on Hwy. 40 to where it turns north (about 6.0 miles past Madison) and then continue north on Hwy. 40 about 5.0 miles to where Hwy. 40 turns east and Hwy. 119 continues north. Continue north on Hwy. 119 for about 9.0 miles to the starting point for this loop.
Key to Amenities: T: trail; R: restroom; C: camping; P: picnic area; B: boating.

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