Minnesota Seasons - Buffalo River State Park

About • Location • Activities • Ecology

About

Ownership

Minnesota DNR logo

Links

Minnesota DNR

Overview

History

Management

Comments

Location

Size

1,355 acres statutory, 1,082 owned

Driving Directions


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				Clay County
				Northwest Minnesota

Parking

565 155th Street South
Glyndon, MN 56547

N46 52.248, W96 28.480

Hours

Daily from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Fees

Daily park permit: $7

Annual park permit: $35

Maps

all season (PDF)

all season (GeoPDF)

Activities

Hiking

Biking

Mountain biking

Horseback riding

Picnicking

Camping

Backpacking

Rock climbing and bouldering

Swimming

Boating

Canoeing

Birding

Nature photography

Geocaching

Cross country skiing

Skate-skiing

Winter hiking

Snowshoeing

Snowmobiling

Trails


Self guided/Interpretive	1 mile
Hiking	12 miles
Cross country skiing	No groomed ski trails
Snowshoe	Anywhere in park

Hunting and Fishing

No hunting. The park may hold one or more managed hunts in the fall.

In most cases, Minnesota residents do not need a permit to fish in Minnesota State Parks.


Ecology

Ecological Classification
Ecological Province			Prairie Parkland Province
Ecological Section			Red River Valley
Ecological Subsection			Red River Prairie
Land Type Association			Barnesville Beach Complex Felton Lake Plain

Native Plant Communities*
Dry Hill Prairie (Northern) Dry Sand - Gravel Prairie (Northern) Green Ash - Bur Oak - Elm Forest Mesic Prairie (Northern) Wet Prairie (Northern)
* Source: The Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Ecological Resources

Natural Features


Visitor Photos

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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos



Park entrance		Swimming pond


Buffalo River


Buffalo River


Overlook


Overlook


Green Ash - Bur Oak - Elm Forest


Green Ash - Bur Oak - Elm Forest


Dry Sand - Gravel Prairie (Northern)		Glacial erratics


Mesic Prairie (Northern)


Mesic Prairie (Northern)


After prescribed burn


After prescribed burn


Willow grove


Trails


Trails

Camera

Slideshows

Buffalo River State Park
Richard Sanders

About

Buffalo River State Park, MN

Buffalo River State Park, Minnesota
campsitephotosdotcom

About

Published on Oct 28, 2013

Favorite Sites: 1, 3, 4, 9, 13, 19, 25, 28, 32, 40, 45, 53, 54, 69, 106, 121, 130, 136, 139, 144, 161, 163, 177, 189, 204, 208, 209, 217, 219, 225, 247

slideshow


Visitor Videos

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Other Videos

Buffalo River State Park
NDtransplant

About

Published on May 8, 2013

Just checking in...not in Williston last week, or this one, so can't report on anything specific to the oil boom area. Just want to thank everyone that's following my adventure, if not for you folks....I'd have stopped doing this a long time ago...now... I'm addicted to all of you....but that's a good thing....right? Anything you want to see...or know, in North Dakota?

Buffalo River State Park, Minnesota
CampsiteReports

About

Published on May 13, 2013

I was walking through the campground when I noticed some white tailed deer running along the road. They ran quite a long stretch and there were a lot of them! It was quite a site to see. I also saw two more deer walking along the river on the other side of the campground but the pictures didn't capture them very well. Lots of deer in this park!!

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

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Lane Keller

Comments

1/28/2023

These last few photos was when I decided to visit the state park for the first time ever and it was bustling with activity.


Amphibians
northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens)


Reptiles
common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)


Todd Jacobson


Insects and Arachnids
cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia)

MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Visits

5/19/2000

9/7/2011

8/7/2012


Amphibians
northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens)

Birds


Fifteen bird species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:
Endangered	Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) Henslow’s Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii) Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Special Concern	American Goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus) American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri) Franklin’s Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan) Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) Purple Martin (Progne subis) Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis)

Minnesota DNR Bird checklist

eBird Field Checklist

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

Eastern Wood-peewee (Contopus virens)

Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)


Fishes
Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Fishes List


Fungi and Lichens
Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Lichens List

Black Knot (Apiosporina morbosa)

Insects and Arachnids


Four insect and arachnid species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:
Endangered	Dakota skipper (Hesperia dacotae) Poweshiek skipperling (Oarisma poweshiek)
Special Concern	leadplant flower moth (Schinia lucens) regal fritillary (Argynnis idalia)

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Insects List

autumn yellow-winged grasshopper (Arphia xanthoptera)

brown robber fly (Proctacanthella cacopiliga)

cabbage white (Pieris rapae)

Carolina grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina)

common green darner (Anax junius)

common wood nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

dog day cicada (Neotibicen canicularis)

eastern tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma americanum)

goldenrod bunch gall midge (Rhopalomyia solidaginis)

goldenrod gall fly (Eurosta solidaginis)

goldenrod soldier beetle (Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus)

great spangled fritillary (Argynnis cybele)

milkweed tussock caterpillar (Euchaetes egle)

monarch (Danaus plexippus)

orange sulphur (Colias eurytheme)

red admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

spiny rose stem gall wasp (Diplolepis spinosa)

viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

wandering glider (Pantala flavescens)

Mammals

Two mammal species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:

Special Concern

northern grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster)

plains pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens)

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Mammals List

American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius)

whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

woodchuck (Marmota monax)

Plants


Seven plant species with conservation status in Minnesota are found here:
Threatened	clustered broomrape (Orobanche fasciculata)
Special Concern	Drummond’s campion (Silene drummondii var. drummondii) hairy evening primrose (Oenothera villosa ssp. strigosa) narrow-leaved water plantain (Alisma gramineum) plains reed grass (Calamagrostis montanensis) Rydberg’s sunflower (Helianthus nuttallii ssp. rydbergii) small white lady’s slipper (Cypripedium candidum)