Nature & Science

Sunrise at Grand Portage Bay

NPS Photo / G.M. Spoto

In addition to being an important location in the fur trade, Gichi Onigaming, the Great Carrying Place, is within the southern boreal forest. This largely intact ecosystem provides important habitat for northern species such as moose, as well as migratory birds, and a variety of mammals, amphibians, and fish.

The exposed rock you see as you make your way along the bay to the Heritage Center or up the Mount Rose trail gives clues to the geologic story embedded in this landscape.

 

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  Geology

  Rugged hills and boggy lowlands, shear rock cliffs, shallow incised bays and Lake Superior, all come together in Grand Portage's highlands.

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  Wildlife

  Northern Minnesota's extreme change in climate and landscape driven habitats create important niches for wildlife.

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  Plants

  The historic Grand Portage footpath preserves an important component of the largest terrestrial ecosystem in the world, the boreal forest.

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  Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) Moons

  Traditionally, Anishinaabe followed a 13 month lunar calendar. Each giizis (moon) corresponds an event in the cycle of life and nature.

 

 

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  Landscape Disturbances at Grand Portage National Monument, 1995-2018

  A series of maps show the locations and extent of landscape disturbances in and around Grand Portage National Monument (Minnesota) from the period 1995 through 2018. This video resource brief is a product of the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network's Landscape Dynamics monitoring program and accompanies a report found at https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2293284.

  Duration:

  8 minutes, 14 seconds