Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center

Overview
Photos
Slideshows
Videos
Sightings


	About

	Ownership


	Links
	Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center

	Overview
	Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is a 725-acre private preserve spanning both sides of the St. Croix River. It is free and open to the public. The 425-acre Minnesota “Campus” is in Washington County just northeast of Hastings. The Visitor Center has a number of live animals on display, including a Bald Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon. A number of non-native trees and shrubs around the Visitor Center and parking area will challenge the identification skills of any visiting plant enthusiast. The Minnesota Campus includes areas of grassland, oak savanna, red pine plantation, deciduous forest, and wetland. It also includes three native plant communities. On the east side of St. Croix Trail (County Hwy. 21) there are 5.6 miles of trail, 3.5 miles of them paved, leading across river bluffs, into deep forested ravines, and through floodplain forest bordering the St. Croix River. On the west side of the road about 4 miles of mowed trail wind through a 150-acre restored prairie. Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is free and open to the public. The Minnesota Campus is open “8:00 am to 4:30 pm excluding Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day.”

	History


	Management


	Comments


	Location

	Maps
	Minnesota Campus Trail Map Wisconsin Campus Trail Map

	Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates


	Size
	Main Campus (Minnesota): 425 acres Wisconsin Campus: 300 acres

	Parking
	Main Campus (Minnesota) N44 45.911, W92 49.034

	Hours
	8:00 am to 4:30 pm excluding Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day.

	Fees
	No fee


	Driving Directions
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					Washington County
					Metro Area


	Activities

	Hiking Trails
	About 15 miles, 3.5 miles of these paved

	Hunting
	No hunting


	Ecology

	Ecological Classification
	Ecological Province			Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province
	Ecological Section			Minnesota & NE Iowa Morainal
	Ecological Subsection			St. Paul-Baldwin Plains and Moraines
	Land Type Association			Afton Bedrock Hills Stillwater Alluvial Plain

	Native Plant Communities*
	Red Oak - White Oak - (Sugar Maple) Forest Silver Maple - (Virginia Creeper) Floodplain Forest White Pine - Oak - Sugar Maple Forest
	* 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


	River Overlook


	Red Oak - White Oak - (Sugar Maple) Forest


	Silver Maple - (Virginia Creeper) Floodplain Forest


	Rocky Ravine


	Prairie


	Restored Prairie


	Pond


	St. Croix River

Camera


	Slideshows

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Take a Hike, Mike! Carpenter Nature Center Take a Hike, Mike!

	About Published on Sep 4, 2015 I hike to Carpenter Nature Center for bird banding, bird watching, and even turtle feeding! Can you sparrow moment to check out this episode?! Still images of CNC and GoPro footage by Steve Allen.



	Flint Hills Resources and the Carpenter Nature Center Goff Public

	About Published on Nov 15, 2013 Flint Hills Resources has supported the Carpenter Nature Center, in Hastings, MN, for more than 15 years. The Carpenter Nature Center has more than 10 miles of hiking trails and an interpretive center, where 7,000-10,000 Minnesota and Wisconsin students visit each year for field trips and hands-on learning experiences. During the field trips, students learn about nature, make maple syrup, trace animal tracks, and watch live animal demonstrations. The programming, which fulfills state science standards, only costs schools a small fee because of sponsors like Flint Hills Resources. The partnership started more than 15 years ago, when Flint Hills donated a building for the center's maple syrup operations. Since then, Flint Hills has supported important Carpenter Nature Center events like the Apple Blossom Races, the annual gala, and academic programming for students from pre-school to high school.



	Carpenter Nature Center CarpenterNature

	About Published on Jun 25, 2012 Created on June 25, 2012 using FlipShare. The interns at Carpenter Nature Center created this video as an example of how to work the FlipShare Software. We are looking to upload more podcasts- but we would like to know what people want to see! leave us a comment with what you would like to see. Visit our webpage at www.carpenternaturecenter.org



	VdPI-NNs7rQ Thomas Bordenave

	About Published on Apr 9, 2015 Preliminary flyover of Carpenter Nature Center



	Carpenter Nature Center Peonies CarpenterNature

	About Published on Jun 10, 2015 Carpenter Nature Center Peonies

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings

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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings


Visits
6/12/2016		6/16/2016

Information on state listed protected species has been hidden at the request of the site manager.

Amphibians

wood frog (Rana sylvatica)

Birds


Nineteen bird species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:
Endangered	Henslow’s Sparrow (Centronyx henslowii) Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
Threatened	Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
Special Concern	American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea) Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri) Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina) Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) Purple Martin (Progne subis) Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis)

eBird Field Checklist

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Birds List

A printed bird list for Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center is available at the visitor center. It includes birds that have been see here and also birds “predicted to occur in this particular area.”

Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center

About

Ownership

Links

Overview

History

Management

Comments

Location

Maps

Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates

Size

Parking

Hours

Fees

Driving Directions

Activities

Hiking Trails

Hunting

Ecology

Ecological Classification

Native Plant Communities*

Natural Features

Visitor Photos

Share your photo of this destination.

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Slideshows

Visitor Videos

Share your video of this destination.

Other Videos

Visitor Sightings

Share your sightings or comments about of this destination.

MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Visits

Amphibians

Birds

Fungi and Lichens

Insects and Arachnids

Mammals

Plants

Reptiles