The View from King's Bluff by John Shepard

This view of the Mississippi River valley was taken at sunset from the crest of King's Bluff in southeastern Minnesota. Just right of center is neighboring Queen's Bluff, and to its left Mississippi River islands, backwater channels and, in the background, the bluffs on the Wisconsin side of the river. Oak and hickory cover much of the visible bluff-top landscape and surround an open area lacking vegation on the steep flanks of Queens Bluff. This is a rare priairie ecosystem remnant called goat prairie. Occuring only on sunny southwest bluffland slopes and one of the few places in Minnesota where rattlesnakes can be found, goat prairies need periodic fires to keep cedars and other vegetation from encroaching. Kings and Queens bluff are mangaged as Scientific and Natural Areas by the Minnesota DNR, and their goat prairies are occasionally subjected to controlled burns.