Sec 19 Located 5 miles W of downtown Red Wing on US Hwy 61.
Access is easiest along the Cannon Valley bike trail.
Sand bars closed to visitation to protect wood turtle courtship and nesting. C annon River Turtle Preserve, located on the lower Cannon River, contains floodplain forest dominated by silver maple and cotton wood. American elm was formerly the most important species in this floodplain forest. The site provides habitat for the state-threatened wood turtle, which nests on the river's sand bars. While it is mostly found in the northeastern states, the wood turtle is rarely abundant anywhere.