UPPER SIOUX GRANITE FALLS AGENCY 8 miles STATE PARK 67

1.8 mi. River

VISITOR FAVORITES 0.4 mi. • River fishing 0.4 mi.

k e

• overlook 0.2 mi. e r

wetlands C

• Interpretive center 0.1 mi. k w 0.1 mi. 0.5 mi. 0.2 mi. a • Historic Upper Sioux H 0.5 mi. Park Entrance Agency site 0.3 mi. • Winter sliding hill 1.3 mi. 0.6 mi. 0.2 mi. 0.5 mi. 0.5 mi. 0.1 mi. FACILITIES AND 0.4 mi. prairie 67 1.1 mi. FEATURES 0.7 mi. Y 0.5 mi. e ll prairie 0.3 mi. • Public canoe access to ow well 0.6 mi. M ed Minnesota River i 0.1 0.3 mi. 0.3 mi. ci mi. 0.4 mi. 10 ne • Picnic area R iv 0.2 mi. er • Equestrian camp prairie US HWY 212 • Picnic shelter building 6 miles • Interpretive center 0.6 mi. 21 Y • Trails: el low M 1.6 mi. ed 19 miles hiking icin e R 16 miles snowmobiling WINTER TRAILS iver 16 miles horseback Snowmobile Park Statutory Boundary Cross-Country Ski / groomed Cross-Country Ski / ungroomed

Park Statutory Boundary A1 FACILITIES

Interpretive Center & Park Office Picnic Area

Campground Parking A3 67 Boat Ramp Watercraft Camping LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION? NORTH The DNR has mappedf the state showing federal, Fishing Access Equestrian Camping state and county lands with their recreational facilities. Public Recreation Information Maps (PRIM) are Sliding Hill Overlook 0.1.2.3.4.5 available for purchase from the DNR gift shop, DNR Miles regional offices, Minnesota state parks and major sporting and map stores. Historic Site Private Property 0.1.2.3.4.5 1 Kilometers Because lands exist within the boundaries of this park Check it out - you'll be glad you did. Upper Sioux Agency Public Use Prohibited ECHO (except on designated trails) that are not under the jurisdiction of the D.N.R., check with the park manager if you plan to use facilities such 10 miles as trails and roads other than those shown. © 11/2002 by State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources weave through open prairie knolls and bluffs, cool rabbit, and ground squirrel. On the openings’ wooded slopes, sunny old-field meadows‚ and edges, bluebirds nest in the cavities of dead trees. Parking to Minnesota River wander along the . The Eastern kingbirds can be seen perched on small rugged scenic beauty of the river valley can be cedar trees, occasionally darting out after flying Restrooms/Showers NORTH enjoyed from the many vantage points in the park. insects. Late in the summer, hundreds of monarch Wildlife is readily observed along the trails and butterflies feed on the prairie’s wildflowers, such Walk-in Campsites 31e from the prairie knolls. The peaceful silence of this as blazing star and butterfly milkweed. On the e Electrical Sites 29e Duluth hilly river valley park is broken only by the prairie’s last warm sunny days of autumn, bull, garter and Drinking Water ¥ wind, sounds of wildlife and people enjoying the red-bellied snakes can be found in the browning natural beauty. grasses of the prairie knolls. Vault Toilet 27 19e 30e Ski Trail GEOLOGY: For tens of thousands of years, glaciers The blossoms of spring wildflowers dot the Snowmobile Trail 18e 28e Minneapolis/ advanced, covered and retreated over central woodland floor about the same time the yellow- (50 amp) St. Paul ¥ Minnesota. These glaciers left several hundred rumped warblers migrate through. The quiet hiker feet of rock, sand and gravel, known as glacial may find hollow trees drilled full of circular holes UPPER SIOUX 26 AGENCY drift‚ covering the bedrock of granite and gneiss. that contain the woodland nest sites of downy STATE PARK Upper Sioux Agency State Park sits on a plateau woodpeckers or barred owls. Look for large to 67 25e of this glacial drift between the Minnesota and spreading bur oaks in the woods. These are the 1 Yellow Medicine Rivers. The lower reaches of the oldest trees in the park. The patient visitor standing 23e park are alluvial, water carried materials, deposits near one of these large oaks can usually find deer, 16e 17e 24 from the Yellow Medicine and Minnesota Rivers. squirrels and woodducks feeding on the annual (50 amp) UPPER SIOUX crop of acorns. When the last glacier retreated, its meltwater formed 14e AGENCY glacial Lake Agassiz in the area of the present Red HISTORY: For hundreds of years before the first 12 15e 22e River Valley. Meltwater in the lake drained south white men explored the Minnesota River Valley, 6 STATE PARK through an already existing river valley forming the Dakota (Sioux) people hunted, fished and lived 10 the glacial River Warren. The valley was cut wider here. The Dakota’s intimate knowledge of the 2 8 21e FOR MORE INFORMATION and deeper in many spots, all the way to bedrock. valley’s plants and wildlife allowed them to utilize 3 13 20 As Lake Agassiz declined, water no longer drained 4 Upper Sioux Agency State Park their environment to its fullest extent. In spring 5 11 5908 Highway 67 south. Left behind was a huge valley with only a and summer, bison were hunted on the tiny river, the Minnesota, to meander on the valley surrounding prairies. Roots, berries, nuts and Granite Falls, MN 56241-3609 9 floor 200 feet below the bluffs. acorns were collected when ripe, from the prairie 7 (320) 564-4777 or then sparse woodland. The once abundant ♦ Starting at Big Stone Lake, the Minnesota River wetlands teemed with muskrat, the main winter travels through 330 miles of central Minnesota on food of the Dakota. Once the white man set foot YELLOW MEDICINE RIVER CAMPGROUND Department of Natural Resources its way to the . in the river valley, changes in the Dakota lifestyle Information Center were inevitable and irreversible. 500 Lafayette Road WILDLIFE: Upper Sioux Agency's grasslands, extending from Big Stone Lake to Fort Ridgely. • Motorized vehicles may not use park trails. St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 wetlands, woods and rivers abound with wildlife No accurate record exists of the date or identity • Loud noises or other disturbances are prohibited and opportunities to observe them. of the first white man to travel into the Minnesota In summer of 1862, the Dakota attempted to drive after 10:00 P.M. 651-296-6157 (Metro Area) River Valley wilderness. It is assumed independent the whites from their ancestral homeland. The • Park is closed from 10:00 P.M. until 8:00 A.M. 1-888-646-6367 (MN Toll Free) Slowly and peacefully the Minnesota River flows French fur traders called “coureurs de bois” came agency was destroyed in their unsuccessful • Park permits are required on all vehicles. along the park’s northern boundary. Patient anglers into the valley in the late 1600s. uprising. TDD (Telecommunications catch walleye, northern, catfish, bullhead and carp while fishing from the river’s bank. Great blue These traders deliberately distorted the truth of Upper Sioux Agency State Park was established ♦ Device for Deaf) herons stalk the shallows for frogs and fish. their travels and gave inaccurate accounts of the to preserve the old agency site and provide 651-296-5484 (Metro Area) Pelicans can be spotted hunting along edges of region’s inhabitants and natural wealth, and for recreational opportunities in the scenic Minnesota 1-800-657-3929 (MN Toll Free) shallow pools. Woodducks explode from good reason. They needed to protect themselves, River Valley. In 1969, the historic site was given This information is available in backwaters and oxbows when disturbed by for the area was officially off limits to traders and to the Minnesota Historical Society for research, alternative format upon request. canoeists and hikers. settlers. More importantly, they wished to protect preservation and development purposes. UPPER SIOUX AGENCY STATE PARK is located their lucrative Indian trade from outsiders. on Minnesota State Highway 67, eight miles Falling rapidly over rocks and beaver dams, the SO EVERYONE CAN ENJOY THE PARK ... “Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from southeast of Granite Falls in Yellow Medicine wildly meandering Yellow Medicine River holds A few adventurers openly entered the area and State parks were established to preserve and protect programs of the Minnesota Department of Natural County, Highway Map index: E-17. scrappy smallmouth bass for the clever angler. accurately recorded the customs and manners of the natural and scenic features of Minnesota. Please Resources is available to all individuals regardless of Pools in slow water areas or behind beaver dams its inhabitants. George Catlin, an amateur artist, help us protect your park by observing these rules: race, color, creed or religion, national origin, sex, marital GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Established in 1963, attract belted kingfisher, muskrat and turtles. naively, but authentically painted the Dakota and status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual Upper Sioux Agency State Park contains the Spotted sandpiper, killdeer and other shorebirds their lifestyle. • Plants, flowers, rocks or artifacts are for all to orientation, age or disability. Discrimination inquires historic site of the Upper Sioux or Yellow Medicine frequently hunt the gravel bars and mud flats in enjoy. Please leave them where they are. should be sent to the Minnesota Depart- Indian Agency. The park covers 1,066 acres on the the river for insects. Song sparrows and People in the east began clamoring for southern • Buy firewood from the park manager. Leave ment of Natural Resources, 500 Lafayette Minnesota southern bluffs of the Minnesota River and the yellowthroats sing amongst the grasses and shrubs Minnesota to be opened for settlement. The dead wood on the forest floor. Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4031; or the Equal confluence with the Yellow Medicine River. along the river bank. momentum of events led to the treaty of Traverse • Build fires only in fire rings or fireplaces Opportunity Office, Department of the des Sioux of 1851. This treaty removed the Dakota provided. Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.” DEPARTMENT OF Challenging as well as relaxing, all-season trails Circling high over the open prairie knolls and old- Indians from Iowa and Minnesota to a reservation • Pets must be kept on a leash not longer than six © 11/2002 by State of Minnesota, NATURAL RESOURCES field meadows, redtailed hawks hunt for mice, 20 miles wide along the Minnesota River Valley feet. Department of Natural Resources DNR Maps