We had to act quickly when we learned that the organization that had worked for 16 years to develop the Little Elk Heritage Preserve was having financial trouble and could no longer manage it.

That group, the Institute for Minnesota Archeology (IMA), asked if we could help transfer ownership and management of the property to another agency to ensure its continued existence as a heritage preserve.

With Charles A. Lindbergh State Park just 3.5 miles south of this property, we began discussions to transfer the land to the park.

“The Parks & Trails Council came to the rescue like Paul Revere galloping in and providing an answer,” said Chuck Stone, one of the founders of the Friends of the Lindbergh Heritage, a nonprofit group that will help the DNR with the operation of the preserve. “They had the finances to buy it and get it in the hands of a different agency that could keep this special place accessible. Parks & Trails Council deserves a great deal of credit.”

The Little Elk Heritage Preserve is a 93-acre archaeological and nature park at the confluence of the Little Elk and Mississippi rivers about two miles north of the city of Little Falls. In addition to its significant natural features, Little Elk Heritage Preserve also contains numerous archaeological sites that reflect human interactions with local resources and ecosystems dating back thousands of years. The preserve also contains a one-mile looped hiking trail that will soon allow visitors to once again see and learn about such archaeological sites as a 1700s French fur-trading post, an 1800s Ojibwe Mission and a settlement called Elk City to name a few. The trail and a self-guided walking tour that were developed by the IMA are great additions to the state park system. In fact, Chuck Stone and the Friends of the Lindbergh Heritage have even designed a study guide for student groups to use when they begin returning to the site for field trips.