The Bluff Country (87) By: Song Xiong

Minnesota’s bluff country contains many steep-sided ridges with tall limestone and sandstone bluffs There are caves, sinkholes, and thousands of miles of spring creeks

The Deciduous forests are abundant here They shed their leaves in the fall and regrow them in the spring They make up 1/3 of the three major biomes in Minnesota

Minnesota’s Driftless Area

The Bluffs country is located in what is known as the “Driftless Area” It is about 500 million years old This area covers 4 states and is roughly 10 million acres Unlike the rest of the state, this area has never been covered by glaciers Without the grinding of glaciers, this area is much hillier than the surrounding area The ecosystems here are also much older

Winona

Winona is the largest city on this page The name “Winona” means “first-born daughter” in Dakota It was founded in 1851 The Winona & St. Peter RR and the Winona & Southwestern RR connected the town to the rest of the state and country It became a major importing and exporting town By 1860, Winona was the 3 rd largest town in Minnesota

Winona State University is located here It was founded in 1858

The Richard J Dorer Memorial Hardwood State Forest The park is has over 1 million acres of land and consists of public and private land Only 45,000 acres are state owned In 1974, the state renamed the forest after Richard J Dorer

Richard J Dorer started to work for the Minnesota Department of Conservation in After seeing erosions of hills in the region he came up with a plan to restore the valleys. Plant trees and shrubs on hillsides Acquire erosion prone land to turn into state parks and wildlife management areas

Goat Prairies

Goat Prairies are found all along the bluffs They are patches of prairie grass found on the side of mountains They are found on the south and southwest facing slopes These sides receive more sun especially in the winter, causing a frequent freeze-thaw cycle This causes the area to dry up, caused by runoff which takes the water to the bottom of the hill

Great River Bluffs State Park

It is located on the Mississippi River and offers breathtaking views

Great River Bluffs State Park has over 3,000 acres of land There are campgrounds, picnic areas, hiking trails, and beautiful scenic overlooks There are steep-sided bluffs that rise 500 ft. above the river and narrow valleys

The Southern Prairies (73)

The Southern Prairies make up 1/3 of Minnesota’s major biomes

The tall grass prairies in Minnesota have almost completely vanished Only 150,000 acres of prairie remain - that’s less than 1% of its original extent

Early prairie settlers built sod houses or lived in dugouts Laura Ingalls Wilder lived on the banks of Plum Creek near present day, Walnut Grove

There are 4 major rivers in this area Minnesota River Cottonwood River Yellow Medicine River Redwood River

There are 2 State Parks in the region: Upper Sioux Agency State Park Lake Shetek State Park

The Upper Sioux Agency State Park

The Upper Sioux Agency State Park is located next to the Minnesota River and the Medicine River, in Yellow Medicine County It’s just south of the Upper Sioux Indian Reservation The park is approximately 3 square miles

Lake Shetek State Park

The park is on the southeast side of Lake Shetek

The word “Shetek” is Ojibwe for “pelican”

Lake Shetek State Park is located by the town of Owanka, in Murray County It has 4 boat launch areas, and 2 campgrounds The state park is approximately 2 square miles and the lake is approximately 8 square miles

Marshall The biggest city on this page is Marshall, located in Lyon County It has over 13,000 residents The town was founded in 1872 by the Winona & St. Peter Railroad

Southwest Minnesota State University is located here

The Schwan Food Company headquarters is also located here It is one of the largest frozen-food companies in the U.S.

The Heartland (54)

The Heartland of Minnesota is rich with history and pride. It is filled with old lumber mills, railroads, and some of the state’s best state and national forests.

A network of rivers also converge here. Mississippi River St. Croix River Minnesota River Rum River Crow Wing River

The highest concentration of ethnic groups reside in this part of the state. From Blacks to Asians, and Hispanics to Europeans.

Brainerd Brainerd is the largest town on this page The town got it’s name from the wife of the first president of the Northern Pacific Railroad

Brainerd owes its existence to the Northwest Pacific Railroad. The railroad bypassed the town of Crow Wing in 1870, by crossing the Mississippi River 8 miles north of the town. The new site of the crossing would grow into Brainerd.

The Northern Pacific Railway had a headquarters that was located in Brainerd The original railyard burned to the ground in 1886 But by 1890, it was rebuilt and employed more than a thousand people locally Today it is a historical institution that is still marginally functioning

Camp Ripley Military Reservation

Today Camp Ripley is a major training center for the military, state agencies, and communities statewide It’s considered one of the nation’s premier National Guard facilities 60,000 troops train here every year It is the U.S. official winter combat training center

The original Fort Ripley was built in 1848 to watch over the warring Native tribes In 1877, a part of the fort burned down causing it to be shut down rather than being rebuilt By 1878, the fort was totally abandoned

Pillsbury State Forest The Pillsbury State Forest is the oldest State Forest in Minnesota There are a variety of evergreen and deciduous forests

Crow Wing State Forest The forest has a lot of history and plenty of nature It is covered in white pines and hardwoods There are conifer bogs and wet prairies here too

Crow Wing State Park

The original town of Crow Wing was settled on these park grounds. In 1870, the Northern Pacific Railroad decided to bypass the town and crossed the Mississippi 8 miles north of it. This brought an end to the town. Today the one house that stands there is that of the trader Clement Beaulieu

The state park has lots of pine and hardwood forests The Crow Wing River and Mississippi River meet here

The Bogs (18)

Bogs are often mistakenly referred to as swamps or marsh A bog (or peat bog) consists of vegetation that decays slowly, which accumulates as peat. Peat is also known as sphagnum moss

Roseau Roseau is the largest city in the boglands It was established in 1895 It is just a few miles from the Canadian Border

The Polaris snowmobile factory is located on the outskirts of Roseau Polaris started out as a farm machinery maker In the mid-1950s, it became the first company in the world to market snow-machines

Today Polaris makes snowmobiles, ATVs, recreational vehicles, and even motorcycles Polaris still ranks among the top 4 snowmobile makers in the world

Lost River State Forest

The Lost River State Forest is located in Roseau County It borders the Canadian border The forest has over 50,000 acres and consists of mostly wetlands

The forest is known for being a good bird watching place. Here birds such as the Great Gray Owl, Spruce Grouse, Snowy Northern Hawk, and Magnolia Warbler make their homes

The Warroad Estates Golf Course is open to the public It has 18 holes It’s located next to Lake of the Woods Golfing

Beltrami Island State Forest

The Beltrami Island State Forest is the second largest state forest in Minnesota The forest covers over 700,000 acres 5 rivers have their headwaters in this forest They are: Roseau River Warroad River Rapid River Winter Road River Moose River

The Beltrami Island State Forests contains 6 scientific and natural areas The scientific and natural areas is a program that preserves natural features and rare resources of exceptional value These include wildflowers, plants, animals, and certain geological features

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods is an international lake, bordering the U.S. and Canada It is called the Walleye Capitol of the World

The lake is over 70 miles long and wide The lake contains over 14,000 islands and 65,000 feet of shoreline