Attractions and Places To See around Nerstrand - Top 10

The Valley Grove Preservation Society manages this 50-acre property featuring restored oak savanna and prairie, along with a well-maintained trail network. The easiest access to the trails is from the Valley Grove Church parking lot on Johnson Trail (Rice County Road 30).

Located in Rice County, Minnesota, Prairie Creek Woods Scientific and Natural Area (SNA) is a 93-acre protected site within Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. The area primarily preserves southern mesic hardwood forests, including maple–basswood and oak–basswood communities. The site’s primary ecological purpose is to protect the Minnesota dwarf trout lily (Erythronium propullans), a federally endangered wildflower found only in three Minnesota counties. The landscape features a steep-sided ravine and Prairie Creek, a spring-fed stream. Public access is limited to low-impact activities such as hiking, birding, and photography. There are no maintained trails or developed facilities within the SNA. If you want to photograph the Scientific and Natural Area’s iconic brown wooden sign, you may need to look carefully, as it is often hidden by thick sumac. The sign is located up the hillside, about 50 feet to the left of the closed gate at the small parking area on the south side of 155th Street East.

Valley Grove Cemetery is known as the burial place of two important Minnesota families, the Quies and the Veblens. Thomas and Kari Veblen, parents of the famous economist Thorstein Veblen, are buried here, and their large gravestone shows the cemetery’s strong connection to the Veblen family. Thorstein himself is not buried here—his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off California—but he was confirmed at the Valley Grove church, and his siblings often mentioned the place in their letters. His family farm, now a National Historic Landmark, is very close to the cemetery. The cemetery is also the resting place of Al Quie, the 35th Governor of Minnesota and long-time U.S. Representative, who was buried here in September 2023, and his wife, Gretchen Quie, a former First Lady of Minnesota and accomplished artist. In addition, the cemetery holds the graves of the original Norwegian "Kvi" family, whose name later became Quie, and who were among the early settlers in the Nerstrand area. Finally, my Infectious Diseases and Immunology professor from medical school, who is Al Quie’s brother, is still living at age 102 but will one day be laid to rest here as well.

About Valley Grove Church: Two historic Norwegian immigrant churches sit on a hill in the farm valley south of Northfield, Minnesota near Big Woods State Park in a panorama of prairie and oak savanna. The Valley Grove Preservation Society members are stewards for the two Valley Grove churches, the 1862 stone church and the white clapboard church built in 1894 and also for the surrounding 50 acres of rolling prairie grasses and trees. See https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/08/18/wander-wonder-best-iconic-views-minnesota#:~:text=3)%20Valley&20Grove

1862 stone church and 1894 wood church - great starting point for a hike in the prairie and a calm place

1862 stone church and 1894 wood church - nice cemetery and a neat launching place for a hike or bike on the grass mowed trails in the back of the cemetery

Great to see all year round. It is definitely the most busy place in the park, but well worth stopping down to see it. I especially enjoy going there a few times in the winter to see the falls frozen up. I see some nice pictures of it frozen in this collection.

Prairie Creek flows over Hidden Falls as it winds its way through Nearstrand Big Woods State Park. There are many hiking trails in the park that lead to this scenic spot.