Itasca County and Chippewa National Forest Birding

11. Mud Goose WMA – Chippewa National Forest

Mud Goose WMA can be accessed from a number of locations. You can head west about 1.5 miles out of Ball Club on Hwy 2 until you reach 2171 going south—2171 loops back to Hwy 2 near Six Mile Lake. This road is nearly 20 miles long and much of it runs along the north end of Mud Goose WMA. You should be able to find plenty of warblers in the woods as well as ducks and marsh birds in the numerous wetlands. There is also a public access to Goose Lake just down an access road from Cass CR 65. This access road gives you great views of fields, ditchbanks, and deciduous woods and you can scan Goose Lake from the access itself. There are also some wet trails you can walk here.

The best place to view the birds at this WMA would be to take CR 3 to CR 139 and bird it in a loop that would include the Mud Lake access, several overlooks, a managed sedge meadow, the Leech River, the Leech River Dam, and some woods. If you have time, you can walk the trail going south from the Mud Lake access. These habitats along the CR 139 section of Mud Lake could be good for nearly any species of water bird. Lots of forest birds can be found in the area as well. If you’re looking for just one spot to bird easily where you can achieve a high diversity of species including waterfowl, shorebirds, pelicans, raptors, gulls, and terns, this is the place to check.