North Fork Zumbro Woods SNA
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65 Acres Located 8.5 miles W of Zumbrota on MN Hwy 60. Park in Wanamingo. This site is not accessible by land. Access by the North Fork Zumbro River is possible for those adventurous enough to canoe or walk in the river to the site. Goodhue County Twp 110N Rng 17W Sec 27 Type: Deciduous Woods ECS Subsection: Rochester Plateau |
Description:
The North Fork Zumbro Woods SNA includes the Westwig Addition made possible in part by a donation from the Westwig family. The site contains three main natural forest communities. The maple-basswood forest is significant both for its size and its diverse spring ephemeral species. The other two forest types, floodplain forest and lowland hardwood forest, are significant here for their lack of disturbance and their rare species. Minnesota's only federally endangered plant species, the dwarf trout lily, occurs in the lowland and maple basswood forests. This tiny lily, exclusive to Goodhue, Rice, and Steele counties in Minnesota, occurs nowhere else in the world. Snow trillium, the first and smallest trillium to bloom in the spring, is visible only a few weeks in the lowland hardwood forest. The glade mallow, on the other hand, is a tall, robust flowering plant not likely to escape notice in the floodplain forest along the North Fork Zumbro River. It is found in only 13 other locations in Minnesota. This trio of rare plants, along with a colonial great blue heron nesting site, distinguish this SNA.
