Spring Prairie Preserve

Clay County

470 acres

Printable Map with GPS coordinates

N46 55.203, W96 28.320

No maintained trails

All hunting.

See Hunting and Trapping Regulations (MN DNR) for details.

Province

Section

Red River Valley

Subsection(s)

Red River Prairie

Land Type Association(s)

The Nature Conservancy

Overview
Spring Prairie Preserve was acquired by The Nature Conservancy in August, 2010, under the Minnesota Prairie Recovery Project. Funding was provided by Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund. The 470 acres is three quarter-sections of prairie that, until 2010, was grazed by cattle. It contains wet prairie, mesic prairie, sedge meadow, and marsh. Decades of grazing has changed the mix of plants on this preserve. Some legumes and other plants normally found on native prairies in this part of the state are absent here. On the other hand, it is relatively free of invasive species. The southeast section is wet prairie and wet seepage prairie. The other two sections are a mix of wet prairie, mesic prairie, cattail marsh, and sedge meadow.

Parking

The Nature Conservancy Sign

Wet Seepage Prairie (Northern)

Wet Prairie (Northern)

Four bird species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:

Minnesota DNR Bird checklist

One insect species with conservation status in Minnesota has been seen here:

One plant species with conservation status in Minnesota is found here: