Nelson-Trevino Bottoms State Natural Area

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Located below the confluence of the Chippewa and Mississippi Rivers, Nelson-Trevino Bottoms features an extensive, undisturbed wilderness portion of the largest delta floodplain forest in the upper Midwest. Roadless except for a short trail at the southwest corner, the bottoms are a maze of forested floodplain and ever-changing oxbow meanders, marshes, sloughs, and ephemeral ponds. Silver maple, river birch, American elm, and cottonwood dominate wooded areas. Additional canopy species include swamp white oak, bur oak, willow, and green and white ashes. Red osier dogwood occurs in small, scattered fringes and thickets. Herbaceous understory species include wood nettle, partridgeberry, Ontario aster, swamp loosestrife, cut-leaved coneflower, and northern water-horehound. Vines are abundant with poison ivy, common moonseed, Virginia creeper, and bristly greenbriar. Groundcover of open marsh and abandoned stream channels include river bulrush, prairie cord grass, blue-joint grass and sedges. The remoteness combined with a highly productive delta system has allowed extensive and large wildlife populations to flourish. The site is home to many rare or uncommon species such as great egret (Ardea alba), red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), northern harrier (Circus cyaneus), cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea), prothonotory warbler (Protonotaria citrea), pileated woodpecker, blue-gray gnatcatcher, and yellow-throated vireo. Other animals include wood duck, kingfisher, broad-winged hawk, mink, otter, and numerous reptiles and amphibians. Nelson-Trevino Bottoms is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 1970.