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Trips

Weren't able to sign up for your trip of choice? We've put together several suggestions for striking out on your own to enjoy the wilds of Minnesota. Click here for a PDF.

MORNING TRIPS

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge is located about 50 miles northwest of the Twin Cities and covers 30,7000 acres of pools, marshes, and oak savanna. Gray and red fox, bobcats, and wolf are known on the refuge as well as loons, grebes, bald eagles, wild turkeys, and sandhill cranes. Spring flora include prairie violet, plains larkspur, hoary puccoon, porcupine grass, shell-leaf beardtongue, and sundial lupine. On-going projects include re-establishment of oak-savanna, wetlands, and the "Big Woods" maple-basswood forest. Cost: $35

Mississippi River Regional Geology
The geology of the Mississippi River corridor includes major waterfalls, limestone caves, and fossil beds, all in an urban setting. After visiting some of these remarkable features, the tour will stop at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the head of navigation on the Mississippi River. We will then continue to Burnsville, a suburb of Minneapolis, for an opportunity to examine dolostone quarries. This trip includes lunch. Cost: $35

FULL Collections of the Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota
The Bell Museum holds about 4.1 million specimens of worldwide plants, fungi (including an extensive collection of New World rusts), a world-renown lichen collection, a significant collection of upper Midwest mammals, New World birds, fish, and nearly 3 million insects. The tour will visit all these collections (located in three different neighboring buildings) and learn about current research of curators and associated graduate students. Cost: N/A

NEW IN THE MORNING! Collections of the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota Historical Society
Same as below. To register for this trip, please denote "AM" next to your indicated interest in the SMM/MHS Collections Tour on the registration form.

AFTERNOON TRIPS

FULL Collections of the Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota
Same as above.

FULL Collections of the Science Museum of Minnesota and the Minnesota Historical Society
The Science Museum of Minnesota houses over 1.5 million anthropological, biological, and paleontological specimens in a state of the art collections storage facility. The tour will include overviews of visible and research labs and the museum's Big Back Yard, featuring traditional Native American gardening techniques and heritage plants. Then we move up the road to the Minnesota Historical Society, a few blocks away. The Historical Society maintains maps, manuscripts, furniture, etc. associated with the region's history, including artifacts from the Fur Trade and Ojibwa arts and crafts. The behind-the-scenes tour will visit the state materials conservation lab and some of the climate-controlled storage areas. Cost: N/A

Collections Conservation at Midwest Art Conservation Center and Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Midwest Art Conservation Center provides a range of professional conservation services, including examination and treatment of art and cultural artifacts, indoor and outdoor sculpture, archaeological artifacts, documents, etc. Other services include x-radiography and materials analysis. MACC conservators also provide preservation management advice and assists local museums with emergency preparedness. The tour will also have an opportunity to visit the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which holds over 80,000 works spanning a variety of cultures and ages. Highlights include James J. Hill's collection of 19th century French Romantic and Realist paintings, a 3000-year-old jade Olmec mask, a 19th century sun mask from the Pacific Northwest, Kasmir shawls, an original reception hall from the late-Ming dynasty, and a Japanese chashitsu (teahouse). Cost: N/A

Visits to specific collections and facilities at the Bell Museum, Historical Society, and Science Museum can also be arranged with advanced notice. Please contact the Local Committee to get in touch with the appropriate curators at those institutions.

ALL-DAY TRIPS

CANCELLED St. Paul to Red Wing Mississippi River Birding Tour
This trip starts with an early morning bird tour in downtown St. Paul and proceeds downstream about 40 miles to the historic town of Red Wing. The spring migration will be in full swing and the tour will take advantage of riverine habitats, marshes, and deciduous forests. Bald eagles, numerous kinds of waterfowl and warblers, and maybe even trumpeter swans, might be seen along with spring floral ephemerals such as spring beauty, dutchman's-breeches, pasque-flower, and bloodroot. Science Museum Biologist and local legend Dick Oehlenschlager will keep you informed and entertained along the way. Lunch not included; you will have time for lunch on your own in Red Wing. Cost: $35

CANCELLED St. Croix Watershed Research Station and Canoe Trip
The St. Croix Watershed Research Station, a research facility affiliated with the Science Museum of Minnesota, sits on the banks of the St. Croix River. The field station emphasizes aquatic-based research such as eutrophication, erosion and sedimentation, and climate changes on aquatic biodiversity. Then spend three hours canoeing on the beautiful St. Croix, a National Scenic Riverway, sighting wildlife and ecosystems with a SCWRS scientist as your guide. This trip includes lunch. Cost: $50