Cannon River Wilderness Area
About • Location • Activities • Ecology
About |
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Ownership |
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Overview |
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Cannon River Wilderness Area is an 850 acre park in Rice County. It stretches 4.4 miles along both sides of the Cannon River. Forested hills and ravines, riverbottom forest, steep bluffs, and sheer cliffs are found within its boundaries. There is a picnic area with toilet facilities, five miles of trails, four primitive campsites, and a wooden pedestrian bridge over the Cannon River. Until recently, a 20-acre section of this park was owned by The Nature Conservancy and managed as Cannon Wilderness Woods Preserve. |
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History |
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Management |
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Comments |
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Location |
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Maps |
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Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates |
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Size |
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850 acres |
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Parking |
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Cannon Wilderness Park N44 22.207, W93 13.881 |
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Hours |
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Not stated |
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Fees |
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No fee |
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Driving Directions |
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| Rice County | ||||||
| Southeast Minnesota | ||||||
Activities |
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Hiking Trails |
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5 miles |
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Hunting |
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No hunting |
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Ecology |
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Ecological Classification |
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| Ecological Province | Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province |
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| Ecological Section | Minnesota & NE Iowa Morainal |
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| Ecological Subsection | Oak Savanna |
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| Land Type Association | Blooming Prairie Till Plain |
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Native Plant Communities* |
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Dry Barrens Oak Savanna (Southern): Oak Subtype Elm - Ash - Basswood Terrace Forest Oak - Shagbark Hickory Woodland Red Oak - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Bitternut Hickory) Forest Sedge Meadow Seepage Meadow/Carr: Tussock Sedge Subtype Silver Maple - (Virginia Creeper) Floodplain Forest Southern Dry-Mesic Oak (Maple) Woodland Southern Terrace Forest Southern Wet-Mesic Hardwood Forest Sugar Maple Forest (Big Woods) Willow - Dogwood Shrub Swamp |
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| * Source: The Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Ecological Resources | |||||||
Natural Features |
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What’s in a Name
Rice County has referred to this site as “Cannon River Wilderness Area,” “Cannon River Wilderness Park,” and “Cannon Wilderness Park.” The sign at the parking lot reads simply “Wilderness Park.”
For Accurate Driving Directions...
...use the link on this page (above)
or the GPS coordinates
N44 22.207, W93 13.881.
This will take you to the parking lot on the north side of the Cannon River.
The link on the Rice County Web page for this site, and the street address for the site, will guide you to the middle of a wooded area with no roads on the south side of the Cannon River.
Visitor Photos |
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Kirk Nelson |
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Sign at the parking area for the Cannon River Wilderness Area; the road leading in is pretty much minimum maintenance. |
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Backwater/flood plain pool; an ideal spot for finding wood ducks. |
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The turkey vultures were out in squadron force riding the winds. |
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Bluffs along the Cannon River |
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Some newly-exposed sandstone along the Cannon River and the rise above it |
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View from the bridge looking north |
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Looking south from the bridge |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Park Entrance |
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Trails |
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Cannon River |
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Bridge |
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Red Oak - Sugar Maple - Basswood - (Bitternut Hickory) Forest |
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Sugar Maple Forest (Big Woods) |
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Other Prairie |
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Slideshows |
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Visitor Videos |
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Kirk Nelson |
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| Cannon River Wilderness Area_Turkey Vultures April 29, 2014 |
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About
Turkey vultures soaring on the winds above the Cannon River Wilderness Area near Faribault, MN. |
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Other Videos |
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| Cannon River Wilderness Area nickfish03 |
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About
Published on Feb 8, 2013 An overnighter in the Cannon River Wilderness Area in Faribault, MN. Sep. 15, 2012. Water was very low so we went wading. |
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| Cannon River Wilderness Karl Roe |
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About
Uploaded on Feb 19, 2012 Cannon River Wilderness, Rice County, Minnesota. Summer 2011 |
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_02.jpg "bur oak (var. macrocarpa)")
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