There are 12 refuge units, listed east to west.
Long Meadow Lake Unit This unit, on the left bank of the Minnesota River in
Bloomington, is the most visited in the refuge. Lakes and ponds surrounded by
wetlands are bordered by
floodplain forest. Eleven miles (18 km) of trails lead into the valley from the visitor center and three other access points. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to cross the
Cedar Avenue Bridge into
Fort Snelling State Park as soon as the spring of 2017. An
interpretive trail circles the man-made Bass Ponds, where the
Izaak Walton League raised several fish
species to stock lakes
statewide in Minnesota from 1926 to the 1950s. The bridge contractor finished refurbishing the dilapidated, long-closed old Cedar Avenue Bridge in late October 2016. The bridge has a new concrete deck with two striped bike lanes down the middle and pedestrian paths on either side of the bridge. The old concrete piers were raised, poor steel was replaced, and the entire bridge was sand blasted and painted in an original gray color over its five refurbished trusses. One can now cross Long Meadow Lake from the as yet not repaved Old Cedar Avenue Parking lot and take the former car road to the beginning of the long, one-way Long Meadow Lake Trail. This takes one back to the Bloomington Visitor Center at 3815 American Boulevard East in Bloomington. Once one reaches the old road's terminus at the Minnesota River, one also can take a single-track trail west (right) towards the Lyndale Avenue trailhead. This is about in length and follows the bank of the river. One can also take the pedestrian/bike bridge over the Minnesota River to the Jens Caspersen State Landing parking lot. From there begins a state trail in
Fort Snelling State Park that leads down the Minnesota River to the
Interstate 494 freeway bridge and then on to the Village of
Mendota. The parking lot, Old Cedar Avenue, bathroom structures, and other area improvements will take place in the spring and summer of 2017. Road access to this area will be very restricted until the work is done. To date, the USFWS has done extensive restoration work to the Bluff Trail which heads west to the Lyndale Avenue trailhead. It has built a new elevated
boardwalk trail system to the edge of Long Meadow Lake about up-lake from the refurbished Cedar Bridge. It has high safety rails and a very large wildlife viewing platform. The USFWS has plans to mount two heavy-duty
telescopes here next year. One will be for chair users and the other for people who stand. Access is about up the new Bluff Trail as it follows Orchard Spring Marsh. The USFWS has carried out trail and landscaping improvements going down-lake from the old Cedar Bridge toward the
Minnesota Route 77 Bridge underpass. Work has stopped for the season with about 75% of the trail now fiber-matted and regraded with Class V aggregate. This trail runs alongside Kidder Marsh and Cedar Pond. Once it gets to the MN 77 Bridge a dirt trail passes under the bridge and emerges at Pond C. The old trails then continue farther east toward the Bass Ponds, Hogback Ridge Pond, Fisher Pond, and Skimmer Pond and the exit road to the Bass Ponds parking lot at Old Shakopee Road and East 86th Street in Bloomington.
Black Dog Preserve This unit surrounds Black Dog Lake, on the right bank of the Minnesota River in
Burnsville. The lake is named after Chief Black Dog, leader of a band of Mdewakanton
Sioux who established a permanent summer village here around 1750 and later sold game to American soldiers and settlers at
Fort Snelling. The unit preserves prairie and calcareous
fen.
Xcel Energy’s
Black Dog Power Plant rises in the center of the unit. Clean wastewater from the plant is pumped into Black Dog Lake so it may cool before reentering the Minnesota River. Because of this certain waterfowl remain on the lake longer into the winter. The unit was created in 1982 when Xcel Energy agreed to lease the lands to the USFWS. The southwestern corner of the unit is managed as
Black Dog Nature Preserve Scientific and Natural Area by the Minnesota DNR. A two-mile (3.2 km) trail runs through wetlands south of the lake. There is parking at either end of the trail, off River Hills Drive and Cliff Road. There is an observation platform on the north shore of the lake off Black Dog Road.
Bloomington Ferry Unit The unit, located in the southwest corner of Bloomington, comprises of
marsh and floodplain forest. It is located predominantly in the river bottoms on the north side of the Minnesota River. A significant wetland area, Opus Marsh, encompasses a portion of the east half of the unit. A connecting trail and pedestrian bridge also allow access to the Refuge's Wilkie Unit. From a parking area there is a one-mile (1.6 km) linear trail along the riverbank and a bridge to the Wilkie Unit.
Wilkie Unit Consisting of , the Wilkie Unit is located just south of the Minnesota River in
Savage and
Shakopee. The Wilkie Unit is located predominantly in the river bottoms, and features three lakes (Blue, Rice, and Fisher) and large areas of associated marsh. There are also extensive areas of bottomland forest, as well as stands of coniferous trees. A connecting trail and pedestrian bridge also allow access to the Refuge's Bloomington Ferry Unit. Five miles (8 km) of trail and abandoned farm roads are open for hiking and cross-country skiing year-round. Additionally, the state's largest
great blue heron rookery, with over 600 nests, was found on the western shore of Blue Lake. The rookery no longer exists due to severe weather events in 1980 and 1998 that blew trees and nests down.
Upgrala Unit Although are authorized for this unit, most of the land has not yet been acquired from private owners. There is currently no public access to this mosaic of marshes,
prairie, and floodplain forest. The authorized area for this unit stretches from the Old Highway 169 bridge (now County Road 101) north of Shakopee and eastward along the bluffs in the southern part of
Eden Praire, Minnesota. "Upgrala" is a shortened name for Upper Grass Lake.
Chaska Unit This unit was acquired in 2001 and occupies a bend in the Minnesota River stretching between the towns of
Chaska and
Carver. It consists of lake, marsh, old fields, and river bottom hardwood forest and a two-mile (3.2 km) trail runs through these habitats. There are ample opportunities for observing waterfowl, shorebirds and other waders during spring, late summer, and fall. There is parking at either end, at the Chaska Ballpark and Riverside Park in Carver.
Louisville Swamp Unit The centerpiece of this unit is the marsh called Louisville Swamp. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service staff estimate that Louisville Swamp floods three out of every five years, and trail closures are common. A water control structure helps regulate the outflow into Sand Creek, a short course which flows into the Minnesota River. The unit also includes dry lands above the bluffs which bear old fields, prairie, and oak savanna. The unit is located on the Eastern bank of the river just north of
Jordan, Minnesota. There was once a Wahpeton
Sioux village called
Inyan Ceyaka Otonwe, or Little Rapids, here. The unit's Mazomani Trail is named after a Wahpeton chief.
Jean-Baptiste Faribault built a fur trading post near the village in 1802 and lived here for seven years. The exact site of the village and trading post are lost, but the remains of two historic farmsteads are still visible. The Ehmiller Farmstead is in ruins, but at the Jabs Farm two buildings have been restored and a third stabilized. The barn was built in 1880 by Robert and Anna Riedel. Frederick Jabs bought the farmstead in 1905 and his family lived there as
subsistence farmers until 1952. The unit has of trail for hiking and cross-country skiing. The parking lot for this unit is a few dozen yards past the
Minnesota Renaissance Festival parking. Traffic during the festival (weekends from mid-August through September) significantly impedes access to the Louisville Swamp unit.
Rapids Lake and San Francisco Units This unit is on the left bank of the river across from the Louisville Swamp Unit. Old fields were restored to prairie and oak savanna and there is also bottom-land forest and a wetland that were restored in 1992. Part of the unit was once a turkey farm. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has constructed the Rapids Lake Education and Visitor Center, which includes the visitor center, an outdoor education center, a bunkhouse for interns and a maintenance shop. The visitor center facility includes an outdoor restroom that is open sunrise to sunset. There are of trails in the unit. The two access points are on County Road 45, apart. Two small parcels in the southwest corner of the Rapids Lake Unit are considered part of a distinct unit: the San Francisco Unit.
St. Lawrence, Jessenland and Blakeley Units These three units are new additions to the refuge. The St. Lawrence Unit covers and is located in
St. Lawrence Township. The Jessenland Unit covers and is located in
Blakely Township and
Henderson Township. The Blakeley Unit covers and is located in
Blakely Township south of the town of Blakeley and north of Salisbury Hill Road. ==History==