Grey Cloud Dunes SNA 

About

The landscape at Grey Cloud Dunes grandly illustrates the story of the Mississippi River's past. Two terraces roughly 50 and 110 feet above the present-day water surface are the handiwork of Glacial River Warren, which drained Glacial Lake Agassiz between 12,000 and 10,000 ago. Atop the terraces are dunes that formed later, during a mid-Holocene warm/dry period 8,000–4,000 years ago, when wind-driven sands from Grey Cloud Island were deposited on the slopes above.

Each season has its merits for visitors. In winter, enjoy vistas of sky and still-golden prairie grasses. Spring and summer offer a riot of wildflowers, occasional sightings of a blue racer snake or prairie skink, and grassland birds such as lark buntings and Henslow's, clay-colored and grasshopper Sparrows. Large numbers of raptors and waterfowl may be seen moving along Mississippi flyway during spring and fall migrations.

Please steer clear of sparsely vegetated areas of dune slopes and 'blow-outs.' These fragile areas offer habitat for sea beach needle grass (also known as seaside three-awn) a species with very limited distribution in Minnesota.
An active line of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad bisects this site, and frequent trains rumble through. A tunnel beneath the tracks provides access between the SNA's two sections.

This site has no maintained trails or other recreational facilities. The Mississippi River Water Trail is adjacent to this site. This site is in an Audubon Important Bird Area.