Minnesota Seasons - Pigeon River Cliffs


	About

	Ownership


	Links
	The Nature Conservancy

	Overview
	Pigeon River Cliffs lies within the Grand Portage State Forest.

	History


	Management


	Comments


	Location

	Maps
	Grand Portage State Forest Map

	Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates
	Pigeon River Cliffs		Approach


	Size
	103 acres

	Parking
	Park at the end of South Fowl Road. Follow the narrow, unimproved road north 0.3 miles (540 yards) to the Border Route Trail. The road continues north to South Fowl Lake and is heavily used by OHVs. The trail crossing is easy to miss. It is unmarked and, depending on the time of year, overgrown. Look for a blaze in the form of two pieces of surveyor’s tape, one blue and one pink, hanging from a branch of a quaking aspen sapling on the east side of the road. See the map for the GPS coordinates of this trail crossing. N48 2.182, W90 0.721


	Driving Directions
	Get driving directions from Google Maps to this destination from any address, and send those directions to your phone. Your Address (street address and either city and state or ZIP code)

					Cook County
					Northeast Minnesota


	Activities

	Hiking Trails
	The Border Route Trail passes through this preserve. The Border Route Trail is flagged with blue, sometimes pink, surveyor’s tape. In a few places there is a pile of stones (cairn) marking the trail. Visitors are asked to stay on the trail to avoid trampling endangered plant species. The North Country Trail has been routed onto the Border Route Trail for 65 miles.

	Hunting
	Contact NE MN Program Office (218) 727-6119 for more information.


	Ecology

	Ecological Classification
	Ecological Province			Laurentian Mixed Forest
	Ecological Section			Northern Superior Uplands
	Ecological Subsection			Border Lakes
	Land Type Association			Rove Slate Bedrock Complex

	Native Plant Communities*
	Aspen - Birch Forest, Balsam Fir Subtype Black Spruce - Jack Pine Woodland, Jack Pine - Black Spruce - Aspen Subtype Crystalline Bedrock Outcrop (Northern) Leatherleaf - Sweet Gale Shore Fen Mesic Open Talus (Northern) Mesic Rove Cliff (Northern)
	* Source: The Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Ecological Resources

	Natural Features
	Rove Slate Hills

GPS recommended

A GPS unit and detailed map are highly recommended.


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this destination.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.









	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

	The Approach
	Parking


	Trail Blazes and Cairns


	The Preserve




	The View
	South Fowl Lake

Camera

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

	Share your video of this destination.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.










	Other Videos

Camcorder

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.


One bird species with conservation status in Minnesota has been seen here:
Special Concern	Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)

Cavern Beard Lichen (Usnea cavernosa)

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

Special Concern

Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis)


Nine plant species with conservation status in Minnesota are found here:
Endangered	rough-fruited fairybells (Prosartes trachycarpa) sticky locoweed (Oxytropis borealis var. viscida)
Threatened	Franklin’s phacelia (Phacelia franklinii) large-leaved sandwort (Moehringia macrophylla) Laurent’s cliff fern (Woodsia scopulina ssp. laurentiana) Ross’ sedge (Carex rossii)
Special Concern	blunt-fruited sweet cicely (Osmorhiza depauperata) rock whitlow-grass (Draba arabisans) White Mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga paniculata)