Spring Creek Prairie SNA
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146 Acres Located in Red Wing. From US Hwy 61 turn S on Old Tyler Rd, jog W on Koseck Dr by WalMart and S again on Old Tyler Rd, continue S on Red Fox Drive, then W on Wild Turkey Lane; continue on the drive at the end of the cul-de-sac to the wood-routed SNA sign and park. Goodhue County Twp 113N Rng 15W Sec 34 Type: Deciduous Woods ECS Subsection: Blufflands |
Description:
At Spring Creek Prairie, sandstone and limestone outcrops overlook open, sandy draws where long ago, active streams cut their way down to the Mississippi. At the south edge of the SNA, a small maple-basswood community thrives with maiden hair fern, hepatica, trillium, blood root, and other woodland species. The southwest-facing bluff gives rise to a bedrock bluff prairie as it climbs to a narrow ridgetop. Visitors can trace gradations in soil moisture by grass colors: little bluestem and side-oats grama on the bedrock bluff prairie; hairy grama and plains muhly on dry slopes and ledges; and in the moister areas, big bluestem, Indian grass, and prairie dropseed. Here silvery bladderpod, a state-endangered species, grows in one of its largest known populations. Long-bearded hawkweed, uncommon in the state, also is found. Small burrowing mammals, skinks, and several snakes0--garter, milk, blue racer--thrive among the outcrops. Lichen-covered stone faces are disrupted only by erosion, evidenced by rock slides and talus piles below. There in the loose dry sand grow sedges, Junegrass, clammy-weed, and bird-foot violet. North-facing slopes support mixed oak woodland.
