Morton Outcrops SNA


	About

	Ownership


	Links
	Minnesota DNR

	Overview


	History
	This site was designated a Scientific and Natural Area on June 27, 2011.

	Management


	Comments


	Location

	Maps
	Detail map (MN DNR)

	Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates


	Size
	15 acres

	Parking
	Ask permission at the BP station then park on the gravel drive/lot west of the site. N44 32.991, W94 59.484


	Driving Directions
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					Renville County
					Central Minnesota


	Activities

	Hiking Trails
	A short trail leads from the Hambdecka Trail sign to the nearest rock outcrop. The sign asks visitors to stay on the trail. However, the trail disappears at the first rock outcrop. There are no maintained trails.

	Hunting
	No hunting


	Ecology

	Ecological Classification
	Ecological Province			Prairie Parkland Province
	Ecological Section			North Central Glaciated Plains
	Ecological Subsection			Minnesota River Prairie
	Land Type Association			Gibbon Till Plain

	Native Plant Communities*
	Crystalline Bedrock Outcrop (Prairie): Minnesota River Subtype
	* Source: The Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Ecological Resources

	Natural Features


	Visitor Photos

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	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

	Parking


	Sacred Site


	Quarry




	Crystalline Bedrock Outcrop (Prairie): Minnesota River Subtype

Camera


	Slideshows


	Morton Outcrops Scientific and Natural Area Brian

	About Photos in this album are from Morton Outcrops Scientific and Natural Area in Renville County in south-central Minnesota. This magnificent SNA is an outcrop of 3.5-billion-year old Morton Gneiss, some of the oldest exposed rock on our planet. It harbors many interesting plants, some of them very rare, and some of them at the extreme limits of their distributions.



	Morton Outcrops Joshua Mayer




	Morton Outcrops SNA minnesota_snas

	About Morton Outcrop SNA is on a massive, high bedrock knob along the Minnesota River that contains one of the best examples of specialized plants adapted to rock outcrop remaining in Minnesota. Between 150 and 200 species of plants occur in these small areas. Seven rare plant and animal species have been documented in the area including the federally threatened prairie bush clover and the state endangered lichen Buellia nigra. This is the locality from which the rock type "Morton Gneiss" was first described. It is one of the oldest known rocks in the world, originating roughly 3.6 billion years ago.

slideshow


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	Other Videos

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One fungi and lichen species with conservation status in Minnesota has been seen here:
Endangered	Black Disc Lichen (Buellia nigra)

Leaf Curl (Taphrina communis)

Two insect and arachnid species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:

Special Concern

Iowa skipper (Atrytone arogos iowa)

spring field cricket (Gryllus veletis)


Three plant species with conservation status in Minnesota are found here:
Endangered	Wolf’s spikerush (Eleocharis wolfii)
Threatened	one-flowered broomrape (Orobanche uniflora) prairie bush clover (Lespedeza leptostachya)