Mississippi 3.ai - Visit Grand Rapids

Nagel
Lake
Bl
ac
kw
ate
r
Chippewa National Forest
Lost
Lake
Snells L
Little
Rice Lake
Cr
Riv
er
nk
Sku L
Salter
Bay
Steamboat
Access
Blackberry
Lake
Pokegama Lake
2
1170
Nesbitt Island
Kings
Landing
Su
ga
rB
k
3
Blackberry
Blackberry
Bridge
Sucher’s
Campsite
Cr
river level gauge
1165
No-ta-she-bun
Lake
Skelly Lake
Carry-in Access
Water Access
Callahan
Lake
Spring
Boltuck-Rice
Lake
Siseebakwet
SNA
Forever Wild
Lake
Campground
Drinking Water
Watercraft Campsite
Interpretive Center
River Mile
Rest Area
Point of Interest
Rapids
Safe Refuge
Long Lake
Fish Hatchery
Siseebakwet
Creek
Dock
Spring
Willow Lake Deer Yard WMA
Lake
Hospital
Picnic Area
Stokey
Lake
72
2
Herb Beer’s
1160
Little
Pokegama Lake
Designated
Public Land
Sugar
Dam
r .
ama C
Pokeg
Irvin Lake
Safe Refuge is shelter with
access to a telephoneHills
Fishing Pier
She
rry
Arm
L. Vermillion
Spruce Lake
Little Siseebakwet
Lake
Riverside Park
169
Drumbeater
Island
Nesbitt
Island WMA
Figure Eight
Lake
Blandin
Paper
Company
Dam
Golf
Course Rd
Salter
Pond
Lunch Lake
1175
Portage Right
1200 yards
Brook
Outfitter
23
Sugar
Bay
Dead Horse
Lake
Sugar Lake
#
R
Sylvan Municipal
Park
Cavanaugh
Lake
Trout
Lake
Eagle
WMA
Grand
Rapids
63
Chisholm Point
Island SNA
Rice Lake
Leighton
Lake
Sk
un
k
Hale
Lake
MN Forest History
Interpretive Center
Long Lake
Trout Lake
169
Izaak
Walton Park
64
Little
Leighton Lake
Bk
Ver
mil
lion
64
L Jay Gould L
Jay
Gould
Lake
Lo
on
La
ke
Rice
Van Patter
Lake
Leighton
65
Portage Left • 44 yards
Bass Brook
W.M.A.
1190
# 10
1180
62
6
Leaning Willow
1195 Campsite
Little
Vermillion L
1185
River
18
Pokegama Lake Rec. Area
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
L
Blackwater Lake
Little Drum
Lake
ie
air
Pr
Leech Lake Indian Reservation
Vehicle Permits Required
38
Forsythe Lake
Cohasset
#1
Warburg
Lake
Schoolcraft
State Park
Cr
2
Little White
Oak Lake
3
Bass
A S T A T E WA T E R T R A I L G U I D E T O T H E M I S S I S S I P P I R I V E R
1200
Blackberry
Golden
Anniversary
State Forest
72
Smith Lake
North
Co. Rd. 72
Fo
rk
65
Muskeg
Lake
Interstate Highway
0
North
1
0
State Highway
U.S. Highway
2
1
4 miles
3
2
3
Smith
County Road
W.M.A. = Wildlife Management Area
k
ee
S.N.A. = Scientific andCrNatural
Area
4 kilometers
South
Swan River Deer
Yard WMA
Sp
lit
Hennessey
Lake
Shingle Mill
Lake
For
k
72
1155
on
rris
Mo
Ha
nd
169
ROUTE DESCRIPTION • VERMILLION RIVER TO PALISADE
Split Hand
Lake
Mountain
Ash Lake
Swimming
Bear
1150
Swan
Creek
1145
ook
1179.2(L) Pokegama Lake Recreation Area/Dam
It is a 44 yard portagePailDinner
around Pokegama
Maple LDam.
The dam is operated by Lake
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to enhance a variety of water uses,
such as wild rice crops above the dam, fish
spawning in the spring and fall, and to protect
private property on Lake Pokegama.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION of ROUTE
Perry
Lake
1195.3(L) Schoolcraft State Park
The Vermillion River flows northeasterly from
conifer swamp lands lying in the Chippewa
National Forest. From there, the Mississippi
flows southeasterly though a mixed
hardwood-conifer forest into rugged hills,
bringing together two dominant vegetation types
of the Mississippi Headwaters region.
Schoolcraft State Park, located above the
Vermillion, is a good place to explore the
magnificent pines.
1177.9(R) Izaak Walton Park
It was developed by the local chapter of the Izaak
Walton League. Its a great way to get on Previs
the
Lake
Mississippi River above the Blandin Paper Mill,
a river stretch known locally as the “Mill Pond.”
1134.1
The Mississippi Leaves the Chippewa National
Forest, the Leech Lake Indian Reservation and
the “Wild” section of the Mississippi Headwaters
Board’s management area.
Bible
Lake
1119.4
1177.4(R) Minnesota Forest History Center
It’s Wanagan Landing recreates lumbering days
Hill City
of 100 years ago.
1175.8
1114.5
River
Jacobson
200
1130
200
1175.0(R) Riverside Park
Savanna State Forest
Willow Wood
1125
Little
Ball Bluff
Lake
65
The Sandy River flows into the Mississippi from
the east. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
maintains a large campground, with many
facilities, about a mile up the Sandy River, which
provides access to Sandy Lake. If you are
heading there from the Mississippi, you have to
paddle against the Sandy River’s current, and
cross under Minnesota State Highway 65 to
reach it.
Blackface
Lake
1120
10
Willow
Ms Keto
rs
ve
Ri
1167.5(R) Herb Beer’s Access
1083.1
1159.0(L) Blackberry Campsite
River access only.
1083.0(R) Berglund Park
Palisade is a small town, located high on the
Mississippi’s right bank. Bergland Park offers a
public access, fishing, picnicking and camping.
1115
er
Riv
1092.6(R) Wold’s Ferry Crossing Access
This was once a common Mississippi River
crossing. A steamboat wreck in the river is
another reminder of historic transportation.
Two
Power
Line
Hwy 232 bridge
k
oo
Br
Libby
1110
This location marks the down river boundary of this map.
Refer to map 4, Palisade to Brainerd, for further down river
Willowsippi WMA
information.
1146.6(L) Swimming Bear Campsite
River access only.
Ball
Bluff
Lake
Power
Line
1098.0(L) Scott’s Rapids Campsite
River access only.
1149.0(R) Split Hand Creek confluence
Hay
L
Ball Bluff
Moose Willow
Sandy River
W.1101.9(L)
M. A. Moose
Willow WMA
1158.0(L) County Road 72 Access
169
Vanduse
Lake
Powerline crossing
1106.1(L) Libby Township Campsite
River access only. Located deep in a lowland
hardwood forest, this is home to a variety of
birds, especially songbirds and cavity dwellers
such as owls and wood ducks.
1167.5(L) Blackberry Bridge Access
A river level gauge is located on the County
Road 441 bridge. Water level greater than 4.5
feet of above is considered high; water levels are
average if the reading is between 1.8 feet to 4.5
feet; and water
levelsWMA
are low if the reading is
Hay Point
less than 1.8 feet. This is a Mississippi
Headwater River Watch Project water quality
sampling site.
Savanna
Portage
State
Park
Lee
Ferry
Libby
Township
18
1142.1(R) County Line Access
1105
1137.2(R) Jacobson Campground
Just above the Swan River confluence, Aitkin
County maintains a popular campground and
access point. The county also maintains a
wayside rest on the right bank, below the
campsite but just above the bridge. The town of
Jacobson is building a recreation center on the
left bank, above the bridge.
10
Sandy Lake Rec. Area
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
L
1100
Sandy River
Hill River State Forest
Big Sandy Lake
Scott’s Rapids
1095
Waukenabo
State Forest
Wold
W. M. A.
Wold’s Ferry
Crossing
Roberts-Wickstrom
W. M. A.
Esquagamah
Lake
Waukenabo
Lake
1090
Sandy Lake
Resevoir WMA
Round
Lake
Palisade
3
169
e
ak
tL
Ra
1085
Berglund County Park
1080
Island
Lake
65
Sandy River
Lake
232
Will
ow
Little Willow
River WMA
Swan
Powerline crossing
1107.6(L) Lee Ferry Access
This public access was a ferry crossing during
the settlement era.
1175.7(L) Fishing pier
1187.5(L) Little Drum Lake Creek
1181.7(L) City of Cohasset
Stop for supplies, food and lodging. An
outcropping of bedrock on the right bank is the
western boundary of the Mesabi Iron Range. It is
the only bedrock visible in the Mississippi’s
corridor above Little Falls. Local citizens
persuaded the State of Minnesota to designate
this area the Bass Brook State Wildlife
Management Area, protecting cultural sites
dating to Dakota occupations more than 3,000
years ago, a heron rookery and large wetland. It
is a popular spot for observing bird migration.
1135
Jacobson
Wayside Rest
1109.8(L) Libby Brook
Libby Brook is also a state-designated trout
stream. Watch for riffles below Libby Brook
confluence.
US Highway 169
1169.6(R) Sucher’s Campsite
1181.8(L) Mississippi #1 Access and fishing pier
River shorelands are owned by Minnesota Power.
Minnesota Power’s steam generation facility is
located on the left bank. Minnesota Power
provides river access. This is the western edge of
Mesabi Iron Range, and tailings piles are evident.
The intersection of two geological landscapes
results in diverse plants and animals. Rare
orchids and ferns, as well as bald eagles, can be
found here. Just prior to entering Jay Gould Lake
the Mississippi River exits on the left.
Jacobson
Campground
1114.6 (L)Two River Springs
This state-designated trout stream drains to the
Mississippi from the east.
1175.9(R) Blandin Paper Company
Dam
WMA
Hill Lake
The Mill Pond reservoir
ends at the Blandin
Paper Company Dam. The dam must be portaged
right, 1200 yards. Blandin Paper Company has
provided a streamside phone for assistance. River
Park, on the right bank below the Highway 169
bridge, was created when the Blandin
Foundation, left bank, bought houses across the
river. Here, the riffles that are remnants of the
rapids create an excellent habitat site for aquatic
life.
1188.3(R) Little Rice Lake Creek
Blackwater Lake
The Mississippi enters the reservoir of the
Pokegama Dam.
10
State Highway 200 bridge.
1176.7(R) Sylvan Municipal Park Access and fishing pier
1191.3(R) State Highway 6 Access
1186.0
1140
1118.8 (L)Ms. Keto Campsite
River access only. Watch for riffles and rocks at
low flow conditions in this river section.
11873.1(L)Prairie River
The Prairie River meets the Mississippi and
doubles the water flow. The Prairie flows
southwesterly for 50 miles, draining pine lands,
which tend to flood. About two miles above the
river flows through a magnificent gorge.
1192.6(L) Leaning Willow Campsite
River access only if provided.
County Line
AITKIN COUNTY
1124.8(R) Willow Wood Campsite
River access only.
1175.5(L) Steamboat Access
1194.0
65
ITASCA COUNTY
Cree
k
Thiebault
Lake
e
Hill Lak
Ri
This river section is located
about
ve
AITKIN
CO 200 river miles
r
Finn of Lake Itasca and about 300 river miles
downstream
Lake
upstream of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Paddling is easy, but Holy
is interrupted by two dams, one
Water Lake
controlling the level of Lake Pokegama and the other
providing hydropower to Blandin Paper Company. Both
must be portaged.
This is a section of transition, from the wetlands and
forests of the Chippewa NationalLittle
Forest though
town of
WMA
Riverthe
Grand Rapids, to the lowland hardwoodHill
forest of Aitkin
County. The town of Grand Rapids is growing, from the
Minnesota Power generating facility west of town to the
confluence with the Prairie River east of town. The river
runs south downstream of Grand Rapids, and the shorelines
become agricultural and the forested, as it meanders into
Aitkin County.
River miles are counted upstream from the Mississippi’s
confluence with the Ohio River, according to a system
developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sailor Lake
Elk
Brook
Hi
ll
River
1134.2(R) Jacobson Wayside Rest
Located before State Highway 200 bridge. Stop
for supplies in town which is on the left side of
the river. The steamer “Fawn Lake” sank at this
location in 1894.
Wh
ite
Foley
ITASCA CO
L
CASS CO
Shorty Lake
1134.8(R) Swan River confluence
Sp
rin
gs
NOTE: (R) and (L) represent right and left banks of the
river when facing downstream.
ke
e La
wag
Flo
Ho
Lak rsesho
e
e
Lake
Minnewawa
Grayling Marsh
Resevoir WMA
Round
Lake
Grayling Marsh WMA
© 2014 State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources
ade
to Pails
r
e
v
i
R
lion
- Vermil
9
f
o
3
I
P
P
I
S
S
I
S
MIS R
RIVE
A
STATE
WATER
TRAIL
GUIDE
TO
ATER
W
E
T
A
A ST AIL Guide
TR
THE
MISSISSIPPI
RIVER
“These falls...have...the sensation one feels only in mountains,
this in a region where there are none. One’s imagination, dulled
by a monotonous and tiring navigation over so many slow
winding rivers is enlivened by the sight of impetuous torrent.”
Joseph Nicollet, 1836
Minnesota State Parks and Trails
mndnr.gov/watertrails
HEADWATERS RIVER TRAIL
BELTRAMI
Turtle River
Turt
e
l
ITASCA
River
Lake
Winnibigoshish
Cass Lake
River
Ball Club
Lee
ch
Lake
Lake George
HUBBARD
er
Riv
Deer River
Cohasset
Grand Rapids
Vermillion
River
Walker
Pokegama
Lake
Remer
W
Riv illow
er
CASS
CROW WING
Cro
w
Pin
W
g in
Swan River
Scho
olcr
t
af
Lake Itasca
A successful river trip is safe. To enjoy a safe
journey, you should be prepared. You should be
acquainted with your route. Choose a distance that is
comfortable for you. Water levels can speed you or slow
you: get information about water levels from the
regional DNR office, or check the river level gauges
listed in the route description section of this map. Protect
the water and shorelands and leave nothing behind you
except footprints. Remember that much of the
shorelands are privately owned. Here’s a checklist you
should consider in planning your trip:
ie
Bemidji
Riv
er
Lake
Andrusi
a Cass Lake
Pr
air
CLEARWATER
Lake
Bemidji
PLANNING A SAFE RIVER TRIP
Splithan
d
River
Jacobson
Big Sandy
Lake
Palisade
Cross Lake
e
Riv
er
McGregor
River
Crosby
• Register your watercraft. All watercraft more than 9
feet in length, including nonmotorized canoes and
kayaks, must be registered in Minnesota or your state
of residence.
Aitkin
Deerwood
Riverton
Trip Planning
AITKIN
Gull Lake
Pillager
Riv
er
Brainerd
p
asip
Nok i
Fort Ripley
Randall
Lit
Elktle
MORRISON
Riv
er
Little Falls
an Riv
er
Sw
Royalton
Sartell
St. Cloud
“The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
is an Equal Opportunity Employer”
This information is available in alternative
format upon request.
Online water trail information and
maps can be found at
mndnr.gov/watertrails
SSISSIP PI RIV
MI
PROTEC
TI
ER
1601 Minnesota Drive
Brainerd, MN 56401
218-828-2619
HE FIRST 400 M
NGT
ILES
Minnesota State Parks and
Trails Regional Unit
OF TH
E
Mississippi Headwaters
Board
P.O. Box 3000, Walker, MN 56484
218-547-7263
mhbriverwatch.dst.mn.us
This Publication was produced by the Mississippi Headwaters board in
cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Financial
support was provided by the folowing organizations.
Minnesota Power
REI/National Rivers Coalition
Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board
Itasca Trails Task Force
McKnight Foundation
National Forest Foundation
DNR Information Center
The DNR’s Information Center is available to provide free
publications of facilities and services as well as answers questions
pertaining to DNR recreational opportunities in Minnesota.
The DNR Information Center
500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
651-296-6157 Metro Area
1-888-646-6367 MN Toll-Free
The Mississippi River makes a question mark shape
on the land as it travels from Lake Itasca to St. Cloud.
You are invited to follow the Headwaters River Trail
down the first 420 miles of the Mississippi River. At
Lake Itasca, the Headwaters trickle over a stone ledge,
where you can wade across the mighty river. Tributaries
add momentum for the 2,348 mile trek to the Gulf of
Mexico; groundwater contributes two-thirds of the
Mississippi River’s initial flow. From the Headwaters,
the river flows through nine lakes. Glacial hills, called
moraines, and glacial depressions, now lakes and
wetlands, create scenic views. Wetlands, marshes, and
oxbows act as natural filtration systems, preserving
water quality. Rapids and riffles dot the entire river.
Fishing is great!
•
•
•
•
•
River elevation drops 500 feet from Itasca to St.
Cloud. Hydropower and water control dams require
portages. A braided river pattern joins the Mesabi and
Cuyuna Iron Ranges — 100 miles apart by road and 200
miles by river. The Cuyuna Range is the most rugged
area of the Headwaters. Near Brainerd, development and
agriculture increase with a more defined channel; natural
characteristics are preserved.
•
The Mississippi Headwaters Board is an
eight-county joint powers board organized to protect the
natural, cultural, scenic, scientific and recreational
values identified in the Mississippi Headwaters Guide
Book. The Headwaters is an extraordinary place for
wildlife and rare plants. Citizens protect the Mississippi
River at its Headwaters to help provide safe drinking
water to millions of people downstream in St. Cloud and
the Twin Cities, and in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois,
Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and
Louisiana. Choose a wilderness experience or visit parks
with a variety of facilities. Either way you will see a
unique place and meet the people who live here. The
Mississippi River is a fun place to visit.
•
•
Travel with a companion or group. Plan your trip
with a map before you depart and advise someone of
your plans including planned departure and arrival
times.
Most people paddle two to three river miles per
hour.
Lake Bemidji, Cass Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish
can be dangerous; stay within swimming distance of
shore. If you are uncomfortable with large open
water, plan to use a vehicle to portage around the
lakes.
Bring a first aid kit that includes waterproof
matches.
Be cautious of river obstructions, such as
overhanging and dead trees in the river.
You must pack out all
trash.
Leave only footprints;
take only photographs!
Rest Areas and
Camping Sites
•
•
•
•
Public rest areas are
available along the route
to rest, picnic and
explore.
Camp only in designated
campsites, which are
available on a first
come-first served basis.
Bring drinking water. It
is only available at a
limited number of rest
areas. Drinking river
water is not
recommended, but if you
do it must be treated.
Respect private property. Stop only at designated
sites; much of the shoreland is private property.
Be sanitary! Use designated toilet facilities or bury
human waste away from the river.
mndnr.gov
Boating Information
You can make a difference by joining the DNR
Adopt-a-River Program. Be a clean up volunteer
for a portion of your favorite recreation area. Call
the DNR Information Center for a brochure, or
visit mndnr.gov/adoptariver.
Photos: Peter Card II
© 2014 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
•
•
•
Wear a U. S. Coast Guard approved personal
flotation device.
Bring an extra paddle.
Not all portions of this water trail are suitable for
motor use.
ABOUT THIS RIVER SECTION
Vermillion River to Palisade
From the plains and large lakes of the Chippewa
National Forest and Leech Lake Indian Reservation, the
Mississippi River flows into a landscape dominated by
hills created when ancient glaciers ground to a halt,
dumping piles of debris. Today, the city of Grand Rapids
lies at the center of hills created 10,000 years ago. South
of Grand Rapids, the river enters an ancient glacial lake
bed where it twists back and forth through the soft soil.
The Mississippi is flat and slow moving in this river
section, dominated by pine forests and the town of
Grand Rapids. The town was named for the rapids that
were once a dominant feature of the landscape. Two
dams, located about three river miles apart, capture the
river’s fall and demonstrate the former size of the rapids.
The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers first flooded the falls
when it built a water control structure in 1884. The
Grand Rapids dam was built 18 years later.
From Blackberry to it’s confluence with Splithand
Creek, hills border the Mississippi River on both shores.
The system of hills west of the Mississippi were called
Piquadinaw, or “it is hilly,” by the Ojibwe. The high
point near Hill Lake (about 20 miles south of Grand
Rapids) was named “Poquodenaw Mountain” by
lumberman and was so designated on the first map of the
county. The name has been shortened to Quadna.
Below the confluence with Splithand Creek, glacial
melt water flattened the landscape. The Mississippi lies
on the remnant of two large glacial lakes, Glacial Lake
Upham and Glacial Lake Aitkin, which were created as
an arm of the glacier melted back in the direction it
originally moved from - the northeast. The river
meanders back and forth through the silt the glacier left
behind. Today, it is 60 miles by road from Grand Rapids
to Aitkin, but the water route is 120 miles between the
two towns.
The Mississippi connects the mixed
hardwood-conifer forests of red, white and jack pines,
quaking aspen, big-toothed aspen, paper birches, and
oaks, found on high ground, with pine and hardwood
forests found on low lying areas.
The hardwood floodplain forest, composed of silver
maple, black and green ash, slippery elm and basswood,
are the dominant trees of this forest. These trees tolerate
springtime flooding, and are adapted to the forest’s
mucky soils which are naturally low in nutrients and
oxygen. Dead and snag trees standing in this forest
provide shelter for wood ducks, mergansers, owls,
raccoons and even black bears.
The large continuous forested area, adjacent river
and wetlands, and cutover areas offering new growth,
attract ruffed grouse, white-tailed deer and timber
wolves.
These forests also attract a variety of birds,
including water birds and song birds. Some birds, such
as the wood thrush require a wetland located entirely
within a forest for food, shelter and water. Other forest
birds require separation and isolation from the edge of a
forest, where predator species, such as crows, can be
found. A location within a forest interior, away from the
forest edge, reduces the chance that a cowbird will lay
it’s egg in a songbird’s nest.
Lumbering and steamboat traffic on the Mississippi
built Grand Rapids more than 100 years ago. The
lumbering theme is evident in town today, from the
Minnesota Historical Society’s Forest History Center site
on the Mississippi, to the buildings of Blandin Paper
Company, also located on the river.
The river was the major transportation route for
Europeans and Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It was also important to the Ojibwe people, who had an
important town site on Big Sandy Lake. Big Sandy
Lake, which drains to the Mississippi, is an endpoint of
the Savanna Portage, an overland route used to connect
the Mississippi to the St. Louis River System. It was a
route used by Native Americans and Europeans to travel
from Lake Superior to the Mississippi, although diarists
remember it as a mucky, bug-ridden and altogether
miserable trip. Those who slogged this way included
Henry Schoolcraft, on his expeditions of 1820 and 1832,
and Scottish trader William Aitken, who built his first
trading post at the confluence of the Mississippi and
Sandy Lake Rivers.
About 18 steamboats covered the route from 1870 to
1920. You may see piers from the steamboat days at
Jacobson, once a busy lumbering town. Steamboat
wrecks lie below the river’s surface near the confluence
with the Sandy River and near the town of Palisade.
Private land ownership dominates along the
Mississippi throughout this river section, so the traveler
is advised to stop only at designated campsites.
Water quality is clean enough for bodily contact and
to support and excellent sport fishery. Thirty to forty
species of fish live in the river, including northern pike,
walleye and smallmouth bass. The river’s oxbows are
used by fish for spawning. Paddling up an oxbow is a
good way to hear the songbirds of the deep forests of
this section.
Campsites are most numerous just below Grand
Rapids, and are several miles apart in Aitkin County.
Excellent park facilities are available at Schoolcraft
State Park, in Grand Rapid’s parks, Aitkin County’s
parks and Big Sandy Lake Campground.
HEADWATERS
RESOURCES
U.S.D.A FOREST
SERVICE - CHIPPEWA
NATIONAL FOREST
SUPERVISOR’S OFFICE
Route 3 Box 244, Cass
Lake, MN 56633 • (218)
335-8600
LEECH LAKE TRIBAL
COUNCIL
DIVISION OF RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Route 3 Box 100, Cass Lake, MN 56633
MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
REGION 2 HEADQUARTERS
1201 East Highway 2, Grand Rapids, MN 55744 • (218) 327-4455
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS - POKEGAMA DAM
3810 Highway 2 West, Grand Rapids, MN 55744 • (218) 326-6128
U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS - BIG SANDY LAKE DAM
HCR 4 Box 362, McGregor, MN 55760 • (218) 426-3482
GRAND RAPIDS AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
1 Third Street NW, Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(218) 326-6619 • 1-800-GRAND MN
GRAND RAPIDS AREA CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
1 Third Street NW, Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(218) 326-9607 • 1-800-355-9740
MN HISTORICAL SOCIETY - FOREST HISTORY CENTER
2609 County Road 76, Grand Rapids, MN 55744 • (218) 326-4482
AITKIN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
316 1st Avenue NW, Aiktin, MN 56431
(218) 927-3003 • 1-800-526-8342
SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS
Outdoor recreation is dependent on a healthy and
attractive natural environment. Sustainable outdoor
recreation enables people to enjoy the outdoors without
negative impacts on the environment.
Communities working together can improve water
resources by promoting environmentally sensitive
land-use practices along rivers and throughout
watersheds. Natural shoreline buffers improve water
quality by filtering out pollutants and sediments.
Healthy and diverse
native shoreline plant
communities are
attractive and provide
important habitat for
birds and wildlife.