Wabasha

Kellogg-Weaver Unit:
N44 16.548
W91 56.484

Weaver Dunes Unit:
N44 15.490
W91 55.949

1,004 acres

Rolling sand dunes; dry prairie, oak savanna

None

Minnesota DNR

Nature Conservancy

Kellogg-Weaver Dunes Scientific and Natural Area consists of two unconnected sections on a terrace above the Mississippi River. The 592-acre section to the south (Weaver Dunes Unit) is owned by the Nature Conservancy.

The Minnesota DNR Web page for this site instructs visitors to “Park on the E side of the road”. In fact, there are off-road parking areas for each unit. Parking for the Kellogg-Weaver Unit (the north unit) is at a small parking area with an information kiosk on the west side of the road at the GPS coordinates shown above. Parking for the Weaver Dunes Unit (the south unit) is at a parking area at the end of Township Road 141.

The McCarthy Lake WMA is adjacent to both sections, east of Wabasha County Road 84. Weaver Bottoms is four miles south on US Highway 61.

One bird species with protected status in Minnesota is found here:

Threatened – loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)

Two insect species with protected status in Minnesota are found here:

Threatened – Ottoe skipper (Hesperia ottoe)

Special concern – regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia)

One mammal species with protected status in Minnesota is found here:

Special concern – plains pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens)

Several plant species with protected status in Minnesota are found here:

Endangered – rough-seeded fameflower (Talinum rugospermum)

Special concern – yellow-fruited sedge (Carex annectens), seaside three-awn (Aristida tuberculosa), purple sand-grass (Triplasis purpurea), woolly beachheather (Hudsonia tomentosa), clasping milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis), longbract wild indigo (Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea), goat’s rue (Tephrosia virginiana), cliff goldenrod (Solidago sciaphila)

In mid-summer, rough-seeded fameflower blooms daily after 4:30 p.m. for only three hours.

Minnesota DNR Plant List

Two reptile species with protected status in Minnesota are found here:

Threatened – Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

Special concern – gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer)

This area hosts one of the largest populations of the Blanding’s turtle. In June, females migrate to here to lay their eggs, and in August the hatchlings return to the wetlands.