Fish & WILDLIFE

SCENERY: The upper Snake’s banks are heavily forested with birch, aspen, oak, maple, ash, elm and some black spruce, tamarack and white pine. This stretch is dotted with granite outcrops, near the falls. From Mora to Pine City, the river travels through wooded banks that give way to a wide farming valley below Grasston. Below Cross Lake, forested banks as well as sandstone bluffs make this stretch very scenic. 

WILDLIFE: White-tailed deer, black bears, gray and red fox, beavers and muskrats as well as an occasional otter. Bobcats, coyotes, minks, and raccoons are also found in this region. Ruffed grouse, numerous waterfowl and songbirds may be sighted as well. 

FISH: Walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, and catfish. Some of the lakes along the route support panfish populations as well. Lake (Rock) sturgeon are also present-one of few rivers in Minnesota with lake sturgeon. 

GEOLOGY: Gently rolling hills as well as sharp granite outcrops are all evidences of glacial activity that predominates over the area. Sandstone bluffs are exposed below the Cross Lake stretch.