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Mississippi Dunes Reserve
Cottage Grove, Washington county, MN
20 acres; shoreline, small pockets of basswood and mesic oak, grasses

Reserve Notes

This fairly new reserve (opened to the public in Sep 2023) is a property in transition. Once part of a 200 acre golf course, the area along the river has been set aside to create public access to Mooers Lake (a backwater channel of the Mississippi River).

Site History
The 18 hole golf course permanently closed the fall of 2017 at which time the land went up for sale. Considered to be a prime location for real estate development, some citizens advocated for turning the property into a nature park. With the future of the land still undecided, the old clubhouse burned to the ground early August of 2021. (for any with insatiable curiosity, the burned clubhouse is currently visible on Google Maps satellite view and the golf course while in operation is visible on Google Earth.) In June 2023, the city closed on a deal to purchase a 20 acre portion adjoining Mooers Lake.

Current Status
Access to the site is achieved along a public road easement (which is slated to become a housing development). There are 3,455 linear feet of paved and unpaved walking trails. The paved trails are holdovers from the golf course. They provide a fairly stable walking surface but are buckled enough that anyone with wheeled mobility aids might have difficulty navigating them. These paved trails travel out of Reserve land into privately held land and boundaries are indicated by minimal "No Trespassing" signs.

The parking lot can easily accommodate 4 dozen or more cars. I can't remember if there was a port-a-john at the SE corner of the parking lot. There are currently no other amenities.

Future Plans
It sounds to me like some of these plans are in flux and sources I referenced came from various points of the planning and may be out of date. Some of the plans depend on future funding that will be decided in 2024. Potential goals for the site include a boat launch, additional 500 feet of paved trails and 4,200 feet of rock/grass hiking trails, and a more developed section that would house buildings, playground, and picnic area.

Additionally, there is currently a small band of land that separates this property from Grey Cloud Dunes SNA. There are plans for the SNA to acquire part of that land that adjoins the Reserve so that the two nature areas abut each other. At the moment, it has been noted that "the vegetation in the
Grey Cloud Dunes SNA has a distinct and different quality of natural vegetation than the [Mississippi Dunes] Project Area" [source 1, pg 26]

Potential Wildlife
The golf course wouldn't have been conducive to much native wildlife other than rabbits, squirrels, deer, birds, and some birds.

Since this site is located next to Grey Cloud Dunes SNA, so some of the wildlife found on that property may also be discovered in the Reserve or make its way from the SNA to the Reserve. Wildlife found at the SNA include "Blue Racer Snake, Prairie Skink, Lark Buntings and Henslow’s, Clay-colored, and Grasshopper Sparrow." [source 1, pg 26]

It also sits along the Mississippi (Migration) Flyway and the backwaters nature of the area make it good habitat for various wildlife.

Assessment of the site included a list of rare species that had been found in an approximate one-mile radius of the project. That list [source 1, pg 27] included Seaside Three-awn, Hill's Thistle, Louisiana Broomrape, Purple Sandgrass, Henslow's Sparrow, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, Lark Sparrow, North American Racer, Leonard's Skipper, Regal Fritillary, Loggerhead Shrike, and Bell's Vireo. The Northern Long-eared Bat has been found 'in the vicinity' of the Reserve and the site has the potential to house "the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, the Higgens Eye pearly mussel, the Sheepnose Mussel, the Snuff Box Mussel." [source 1, pg 30].

Nearby Features
Grey Cloud Dunes SNA: The land is just east of Mississippi Dunes Reserve. But, at the moment, one would need to drive to one of two parking areas for the SNA. The north parking lot would be the closest. If the SNA expands, as planned, a trail between the two properties will like be created.

100th St Marsh: This is a small marsh where one can pull over on the road to observe birds in or proximate to the marsh. It is 3 miles east of Mississippi Dunes Reserve and 2 miles east of Grey Cloud Dunes SNA north parking lot. Prime viewing is in the spring, March through May, although the summer months can be fruitful, as well.

Visits

30 Nov 2023
We were trying to grab a decent weather day to get out and decided to check out this new nature area. As could be expected in an area previously used for a golf course in late Nov, there wasn't a lot to see. We did observe American Crows, Blue Jays, Cedar Waxwings, Pine Siskins, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Goldfinch, Northern Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Bald Eagle on the ice as well as two doing aerial acrobatics with each other over the slough.

I'm not sure if this will quickly become a site where lots of species can be observed. But it would be really easy to pair a visit to this site with one to Grey Cloud Dunes SNA. And I think it would be interesting to track this site over time to see how nature can (hopefully) reclaim this space.

Useful links/info

parking lot address: 10351 Grey Cloud Trail S, Cottage Grove, MN 55016
google plus code: Q2VG+2W Cottage Grove, Minnesota

[1] Former Mississippi Dunes Golf Course; ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET (22 Nov 2021)
Cottage Grove website | Mississippi Dunes Reserve page (links to Master Plan and Property Boundary and Trail Map)
Bring Me The News: Clubhouse at now-closed Mississippi Dunes golf course destroyed in fire (2 Aug 2021)
StarTribune: Former Cottage Grove golf course to reopen as riverside city park (15 Jul 2023)
Cottage Grove Journal: Local riverfront access soon to be reality with Dunes Reserve Park (20 Jul 2023)
Friends of the Mississippi River: Mississippi Dunes; Cottage Grove's great missed opportunity (15 Dec 2023)
eBird Hotspot reports: Mississippi Dunes Reserve
eBird Checklist: Mississippi Dunes Reserve (as of Dec 2023, a checklist hasn't yet been created)
iNaturalist: approximate bounding box of Mississippi Dunes Reserve Some of this bounding box lies outside the Reserve's boundaries. If one expands the bounding box to the north, one can see that others are observing in the area marked 'No Trespassing' as of Nov 2023. At this time, the area is undeveloped and I'm not sure there is any patrolling of the area to keep individuals out but we can't advocate ignoring the signs.