Minnesota Seasons - Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park


Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park





			Fillmore County




Size	2,954 acres

Maps	Minnesota DNR Summer Map

Parking	Forestville State Park N43 37.726, W92 13.315 Mystery Cave State Park N43 37.057, W92 18.722

Hiking Trails	17 miles

Hunting	No hunting

Ecological Classification	Province	Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province
	Section	Paleozoic Plateau
	Subsection(s)	The Blufflands Rochester Plateau
	Land Type Association(s)	Alluvial Plain Chester Ridge Elba Slopes Stewartville Plain

Native Plant Communities¹	Algific Talus: Limestone Subtype Black Ash - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Blue Beech) Seepage Swamp Dry Bedrock Bluff Prairie (Southern) Elm - Ash - Basswood Terrace Forest Elm - Basswood - Black Ash - (Blue Beech) Forest Maderate Cliff: Limestone Subtype Mesic Limestone - Dolomite Cliff (Southern) Oak - Shagbark Hickory Woodland Red Oak - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Bitternut Hickory) Forest Red Oak - White Oak - (Sugar Maple) Forest Seepage Meadow/Carr Southern Dry Cliff Southern Mesic Cliff Southern Wet-Mesic Hardwood Forest Sugar Maple - Basswood - Red Oak - (Blue Beech) Forest White Pine - Oak - Sugar Maple Forest White Pine - Sugar Maple - Basswood Forest (Cold Slope)

Ownership

Links	Minnesota DNR

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Birds	Minnesota DNR Bird Checklist

	American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) American Robin (Turdus migratorius) Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) Eastern Wood-peewee (Contopus virens) Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Fungi

	Black Knot (Apiosporina morbosa)

Insects and Arachnids

	goldenrod gall fly (Eurosta solidaginis) Leconte’s haploa (Haploa lecontei) twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella)

Mammals	Mammals seen in this park, along with those listed below, include American mink (Neovison vison), American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Canadian beaver (Castor canadensis canadensis), coyote (Canis latrans thamnos), eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), northern raccoon (Procyon lotor), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus).

	eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) woodchuck (Marmota monax)

Plants	Two plant species with protected status in Minnesota are found here: Special concern – rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium var. yuccifolium), white wild indigo (Baptisia lactea var. lactea) University of Minnesota Herbarium Plant List Plants frequently found in: Algific Talus: Limestone Subtype CTs46a1 Black Ash - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Blue Beech) Seepage Swamp WFs57b Dry Bedrock Bluff Prairie (Southern) UPs13c Elm - Ash - Basswood Terrace Forest FFs59c Elm - Basswood - Black Ash - (Blue Beech) Forest MHs49b Maderate Cliff: Limestone Subtype CTs43a1 Mesic Limestone - Dolomite Cliff (Southern) CTs33b Oak - Shagbark Hickory Woodland FDs38a Red Oak - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Bitternut Hickory) Forest MHs38c Red Oak - White Oak - (Sugar Maple) Forest MHs37b Seepage Meadow/Carr WMs83a1 Southern Dry Cliff CTs12 Southern Mesic Cliff CTs33 Southern Wet-Mesic Hardwood Forest MHs49 Sugar Maple - Basswood - Red Oak - (Blue Beech) Forest MHs39b White Pine - Oak - Sugar Maple Forest MHs38a White Pine - Sugar Maple - Basswood Forest (Cold Slope) MHc38a

	alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) American basswood (Tilia americana) American cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) American elm (Ulmus americana) American hazel (Corylus americana) American hog peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata var. comosa) black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) black-seeded plantain (Plantago rugelii var. rugelii) black ash (Fraxinus nigra) black cherry (Prunus serotina var. serotina) black maple (Acer saccharum ssp. nigrum) black medick (Medicago lupulina) black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) black walnut (Juglans nigra) bland sweet cicely (Osmorhiza claytonii) bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) boxelder (Acer negundo var. negundo) bristly greenbrier (Smilax tamnoides) bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare) bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa var. macrocarpa) Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) Canada moonseed (Menispermum canadense) Canadian woodnettle (Laportea canadensis) cinnamon fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum) cleavers (Galium aparine) common burdock (Arctium minus) common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale ssp. officinale) common false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosum var. racemosum) common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) common motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) common mullein (Verbascum thapsus ssp. thapsus) cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum var. perfoliatum) curly dock (Rumex crispus) dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis) downy phlox (Phlox pilosa ssp. fulgida) dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens) early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum) eastern bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana) eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) field thistle (Cirsium discolor) garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) giant ragweed (Ambrosia trifida var. trifida) gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa) grayleaf red raspberry (Rubus idaeus ssp. strigosus) green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea) hedge bindweed (Calystegia sepium) Illinois carrion flower (Smilax illinoensis) interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) ironwood (Ostrya virginiana var. virginiana) Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) kidney-leaved buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus) large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) marsh hedge nettle (Stachys palustris) May-apple (Podophyllum peltatum) northern hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) northern lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina ssp. angustum) northern maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis) northern prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) northern red oak (Quercus rubra) Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra var. glabra) ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris var. pensylvanica) pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) pointed-leaved tick-trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum) poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) prairie fleabane (Erigeron strigosus var. strigosus) quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium var. yuccifolium) red baneberry (Actaea rubra ssp. rubra) red clover (Trifolium pratense) roundleaf greenbrier (Smilax rotundifolia) shining bedstraw (Galium concinnum) spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) sugar maple (Acer saccharum ssp. saccharum) tall meadow rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum) tall thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) upright carrionflower (Smilax ecirrhata) Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum var. virginianum) white campion (Silene latifolia ssp. alba) white clover (Trifolium repens) white prairie clover (Dalea candida) white wild indigo (Baptisia lactea var. lactea) white-flowered leaf-cup (Polymnia canadensis) wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) wild ginger (Asarum canadense) wild grape (Vitis riparia) wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) winter cress (Barbarea vulgaris) woodbine (Parthenocissus vitacea) yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta)

Reptiles	One reptile species with protected status in Minnesota is found here: Threatened – timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)

Visits	6/24/2011

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park

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