Uncas Dunes SNA

Overview
Photos
Slideshows
Videos
Sightings


	About

	Ownership


	Links
	Minnesota DNR

	Overview


	History


	Management


	Comments


	Location

	Maps
	Detail map (MN DNR)

	Printable Map(s) with GPS coordinates
	Complete


	Northwest Unit		Southeast Unit


	Size
	Northwest Unit: 606 acres Southeast Unit: 69 acres

	Parking
	Northwest Unit Ann Lake Campground and Day Use Area To get to the parking area follow the directions on the Minnesota DNR Web page to get to the Ann Lake Campground and Day Use Area. Drive through the campground until you get to the parking area for the SNA just past campsite #28. N45 25.399, W93 41.594 Northwest Unit 245th Ave. NW – park on shoulder N45 24.905, W93 41.976 Southeast Unit 233rd Ave. N45 23.599, W93 40.457


	Driving Directions
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					Sherburne County
					Central Minnesota


	Activities

	Hiking Trails
	A hiking trail follows the northern boundary of the SNA. Another trail follows about half of the southern boundary. The North Orock Trail, a horse/hiking trail, passes through the SNA and connects the SNA boundary trails. All of the trails are former forest roads.

	Hunting
	All hunting. See Hunting and Trapping Regulations (MN DNR) for details.


	Ecology

	Ecological Classification
	Ecological Province			Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province
	Ecological Section			Minnesota & NE Iowa Morainal
	Ecological Subsection			Anoka Sand Plain
	Land Type Association			Anoka Lake Plain

	Native Plant Communities*
	Alder - (Maple - Loosestrife) Swamp Dry Barrens Oak Savanna (Southern): Oak Subtype Northern Rich Fen (Basin) Sedge Meadow Southern Dry-Mesic Oak (Maple) Woodland Tamarack Swamp (Southern)
	* Source: The Minnesota Biological Survey, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Ecological Resources

	Natural Features

Long pants recommended

This site is memorable for, among other things, an overabundance of poison ivy. Long pants are strongly recommended, even for the trails.

Mosquito headnet recommended

Deer flies can be bothersome here in June and July. Bring a mosquito headnet and do not leave it in the car. At some point you will want to use it.


	Visitor Photos

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	Kirk Nelson

	Jensen Slough


	Upturned Tree Roots




	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

	Northwest Unit
	Parking (245th Ave. NW)


	Wood Routed Sign (245th Ave. NW)


	Parking (Ann Lake Campground)


	Wood Routed Sign and Interpretive Sign (Ann Lake Campground)


	Prairie


	Trails


	Southeast Unit
	Parking (233rd Ave. NW)

Camera


	Slideshows


	Uncas Dunes SNA Brett Whaley

	About Sherburne County, Minnesota



	Uncas Dunes SNA Restoration Evaluation

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

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	Other Videos


	Uncas Sand Dunes SNA August 29, 2020 Much Wilder Me

	About Aug 29, 2020 Today's adventure was back to Uncas Sand Dunes, a Minnesota Scientific and Natural Area. You may need to turn your volume up to hear the birds! Uncas Sand Dunes is an amazing place. It's far enough out of the city that there isn't a ton of city noise...although there were airplanes that flew over. The area has some hiking trails and a beach, but the inner road is a bit rugged. it doesn't really have potholes, but it has big ruts and angles where the road sort of falls off.



	Uncas Dunes RX burn windows MN SNA

	About Jun 4, 2015

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings

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Crystal Boyd

Birds

common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) [nesting?]

scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea)

turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Fungi and Lichens

British soldiers (Cladonia cristatella)

earthstar puffball (Astraeus sp.)

Insects and Arachnids

Bee flies (Bombylidae) [on puccoon]

common eastern bumblebee (Bombus impatiens--queen)

duskywing moth (Erynnis sp.)

green june bug (Cotinis nitida)

hobomok skipper (Lon hobomok)

monarch (Danaus plexippus)

mournful thyris (Thyris sepulchris)

mourning cloak butterfly (Nymphalis antiopa)

multicolored Asian ladybeetle (Harmonia axyridis)

Neighbor moth (Haploa contigua)

northern green-striped grasshopper (Chortophaga viridifasciata)

predatory stink bug (Podisus modestus)

silvery blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)

two-spotted bumble bee (Bombus bimaculatus)

Mammals

Whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Plants in Bloom

Amur maple (Acer ginnala)
[Amur maple had the most bee activity, even though it's an invasive species in a protected site!]

birds-foot violet (Viola pedata)

chickweed (Stellaria sp.)

columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

false lily-of-the-valley (Mianthemum canadense)

orange honeysuckle (Lonicera cilosa)

poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

prairie buttercup (Ranunculus rhomboideus)

puccoon (Lithospermum sp.)

wild strawberry (Fragaria sp.)

MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings


Visits
6/19/2005		7/21/2011

Amphibians

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Amphibians and Reptiles List

American toad (Anaxyrus americanus)

wood frog (Rana sylvatica)

Birds

Eight bird species with conservation status in Minnesota have been seen here:

Special Concern

American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)

Forster’s Tern (Sterna forsteri)

Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus)

Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Purple Martin (Progne subis)

Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)

Minnesota DNR Bird checklist

eBird Field Checklist

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)

Eastern Wood-peewee (Contopus virens)

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)

Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis)

Fungi and Lichens

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Fungi List

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Lichens List

Black Knot (Apiosporina morbosa)

British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella)

Insects and Arachnids


One insect and arachnid species with conservation status in Minnesota has been seen here:
Endangered	Uncas skipper (Hesperia uncas)

Minnesota Bee Atlas

Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Insects List

American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis)

autumn meadowhawk (Sympetrum vicinum)

band-winged meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum)

belted whiteface (Leucorrhinia proxima)

black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)

cabbage white (Pieris rapae)

Carolina grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina)

common green darner (Anax junius)

common whitetail (Plathemis lydia)

common wood nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

deer fly (Chrysops sp.)

dog day cicada (Neotibicen canicularis)

dot-tailed whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta)

eastern tent caterpillar moth (Malacosoma americanum)

frosted whiteface (Leucorrhinia frigida)

great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele)

Halloween pennant (Celithemis eponina)

monarch (Danaus plexippus)

mustached clubtail (Hylogomphus adelphus)

northern pearly eye (Lethe anthedon)

twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella)

white admiral (Limenitis arthemis arthemis)

white-faced meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum)

widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa)

Mammals

plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius)

whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Plants


Five plant species with conservation status in Minnesota are found here:
Threatened	beaked skeletonweed (Shinnersoseris rostrata) lance-leaved violet (Viola lanceolata ssp. lanceolata) seaside three-awn (Aristida tuberculosa) woolly beachheather (Hudsonia tomentosa)
Special Concern	blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis)