Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is located within the urban and suburban areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is a green belt of large marsh areas bordered by office buildings, highways, residential areas, and grain terminals. The refuge is comprised of eight linear units totaling approximately 12,500 acres, spanning 34 miles of the Minnesota River. <P>Refuge habitats include riverine wetlands, fens, seeps, floodplain forests, oak savannas and forest, and native grasslands. More than 250 species of birds use the area at some time during the year, including nesting bald eagles and peregrine falcons. The avian diversity is complemented by at least fifty species of mammals and thirty species of reptiles and amphibians. <P>The focal point of the refuge is the Visitor Center, which features 8,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 125-seat auditorium, two multi-purpose classrooms, a bookstore, an art gallery, and an observation deck. Environmental education and interpretation are conducted from this facility. Recreational activities include hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, hunting, and fishing. <P>

You are surrounded by history as you travel through the Minnesota River Valley. The Dakota people gave the river its name: Mini Sota and fished, hunted, and harvested wild rice from floodplain lakes. Many names that we see today are reminders of Dakota leaders whose villages were located along the lower Minnesota River: Black Dog, Shakopee, and Mazomani. In the early 1600s, European explorers, fur traders, and missionaries traveled the Minnesota River and by the 1860s settlers built homesteads and farmed along the river's fertile banks. As railroads replaced steamboats, many river towns became ghost towns. In the Minnesota Valley Recreation Area you can see the only remaining building from the town of St. Lawrence or visit the Jabs Farm Homestead. You can also enjoy the landscape and wildlife that has attracted people here for centuries.