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Overview

This substantial north suburban park includes Vadnais and Sucker lakes, and Grass/Snail Lake Regional Park is adjacent to its West edge. It is also near a freeway and major housing developments, and is split up by some major roads.

Despite its inclusion in this "regional park", much of the land around Vadnais Lake has limited public access because it is part of St. Paul's municipal water supply. Access to Vadnais Lake is easy because there are public or park roads around most of the shoreline, including a raised roadway which splits the lake in half. It should be easy to spot any birds in the lake from the shore, and there are no boats to scare water birds away. However, within the park it is not always clear what land is accessible and what is restricted. Some locals ignore many of the "no trespassing" signs. I used to fish on the lake when I was a kid, where there are now abundant "no fishing" signs. The only part of the lake shore that isn't on a public road (i.e. good for a quiet walk) is the gravel park road that follows the North shore of the lake from the parking area on County Road F to Edgerton Road. Watch for signs and use your best judgement.

Unfortunately they used conifers to reforest the land on the North shore of the lake, which doesn't seem to provide great forest bird habitat. I saw and heard very few birds in February. In the warmer seasons my "Traveller's Guide to Wildlife in Minnesota" (Minnesota DNR, nice book) describes Vadnais Lake as the best place in the metro area to see loons, along with other water birds like cormorants, mergansers and herons.

This park also extends North around the smaller Sucker Lake ("Sucker" is a kind of fish), though the two sections are split by County Road F and very weakly linked. I haven't been been to that section of the park or to the Grass/Snail Lake section yet.

Birds

Notable Species

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Rarities

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Check-list

Birds you can see here include:

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Other Wildlife

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Site Information

History and Use

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Areas of Interest

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Access and Facilities

Vadnais Lake is just Northeast of the Rice Street (County 49) exit off of I-694.

Contact Details

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External Links

• Ramsey County Parks

Content and images originally posted by bkrownd