Rock Ridge Prairie SNA

203 Acres Located from Jeffers 7 miles E on MN Hwy 30, then 4 miles N on County Road 2. Park on W side of road. Cottonwood County Twp 107 Rng 35 Sec 5 Type: Prairie Grasslands ECS Subsection: Minnesota River Prairie

Description:

Come visit one of the highest quality black-soil prairies remaining in this area. It is part of the Red Rock Ridge prairie landscape; a series of prairie preserves lying along a ridge of Sioux quartzite outcrops that include Jeffers Petroglyphs State Historic Site and The Nature Conservancy's Red Rock Prairie Preserve. This site is host to prairie bush clover (Lespedeza leptostachya), a federally threatened species. Upland sandpipers, jackrabbits, leadplant, big bluestem, coreopsis, and alum root are some of the native species that are often seen on this prairie. The rock outcrops have features such as "mud cracks", "glacial scars", and ancient beach "ripples". Buffalo grass, commonly found further west, grows here in the hotter and dry environment of the rock outcrops.

Bird List

Plant List