If you've driven up County Road 5 in late October for the morning crane flight, where do you go this year when the usual wetland is running low?
Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge has already answered part of that. The other part depends on the alarm clock. This fall the guided tours are almost fully booked and the refuge expects the roosts to shift, so the dawn and dusk windows at the refuge's public spots are how most people in Zimmerman will catch the migration. Those windows are short and fixed. Getting there on time is the one thing you can control.
What the drought did to St. Francis Pool
The refuge posted its fall outlook on its main page. It's worth reading in the refuge's own words:
"The low water level in St Francis Pool will greatly reduce this impoundment's suitability for roosting sandhill cranes this fall unless the refuge receives considerable rainfall. Several hundred to several thousand cranes are expected to roost in alternate refuge impoundments west of County Highway 5 and fly to nearby harvested cornfields each morning."
The refuge's crane brochure explains why water level matters so much. Cranes roost overnight standing in up to two feet of water, usually on one foot. When a pool drops below what they need, the birds move. The refuge hasn't named the alternate impoundments or published a 2026 crane count. What it has given is a forecast and a direction: west of the highway. It suggests watching its website and the Friends of Sherburne NWR Facebook page for updates as the season goes on.
The drought shows up in other places too. The refuge says low water, especially in Long Pool, will affect waterfowl hunting and access this fall. The crane tour registration page warns that drought "may further influence sandhill crane migration patterns and roosting locations," and that viewing may vary as a result.
Why the shuttle isn't the backup plan this year
The refuge's free Sandhill Crane Viewing & Sightseeing Tours have always been the easy way to get behind the gates. Participants meet at the Oak Savanna Learning Center, 16797 289th Ave NW, and ride a refuge shuttle out near a roost site. Spotting scopes and binoculars are available to borrow. The shuttle holds up to 11 people.
The schedule is long. Morning tours run on dates from October 14 through October 31, and a set of late-afternoon tours from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. runs November 3 through 6. Registration opened September 14. As of this writing, the registration form offers only three choices, and all three are marked waitlist only: the October 23 program tour, the October 27 viewing tour, and the October 30 program tour. The form says that when a date no longer appears, both the tour and its waitlist are full. Each person is also limited to one tour per year.
So for most households, seeing cranes this October means going on your own. The refuge offers several public places to do that, and each one works at a different time of day.
The public spots, sorted by when they work
| Spot | Where | Best window | What the refuge says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parking lot A4 | County Road 70 | Dawn or dusk | Large flocks flying into or out of the refuge |
| Stickney and Nelson Pools | Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive, just past Woodland Trail | Morning or evening drive | Cranes and other wading birds in the shallow areas |
| School House Pool dock and blind | Oak Savanna Learning Center, 0.15-mile walk to the floating dock; blind off the Black Bear Loop | Morning or evening | Wetland and wildlife viewing; blind is first come, first served |
The CR 70 lot is the refuge's own crane recommendation. Its birding page says that in October, a visit to parking lot A4 on County Road 70 at dawn or dusk gives you "the rare treat of large flocks of birds flying in or out of the refuge." The crane brochure says the same about the CR 70 parking area.
The Prairie's Edge Wildlife Drive starts 1.2 miles north of Orrock on Sherburne County Road 5. It's a 7.3-mile gravel route that begins as a two-way road and turns into a one-way loop, with pull-offs, overlooks and three short trails. The refuge's route notes point drivers to the shallow areas of Stickney and Nelson Pools, just after the Woodland Trail, for cranes. The refuge hasn't said whether those pools are among this year's alternate roosts, so treat them as a reliable place to look, not a sure thing.
At the Learning Center, the walk to the School House Pool floating dock is 0.15 miles, and a wildlife observation blind off the Black Bear Loop looks over the same pool. It's also a good place to start if you're bringing someone who wants a short walk.
A dawn, minute by minute
The brochure lays out the crane day in four parts. That schedule is the most useful planning tool you have this fall:
- Sunrise. Cranes wake on their roost wetlands and take off to find food. Most leave within an hour after sunrise.
- Daytime. The birds feed in harvested fields of corn, wheat and sorghum north and west of the refuge. The brochure says large numbers of cranes aren't on the refuge during the day.
- Sunset. Cranes start arriving back about an hour before sunset.
- Night. They roost in shallow water on the refuge.
That gives you two windows a day, each about an hour long. Showing up at 9 a.m. means you're looking at empty sky over the wetlands. The Wildlife Drive opens to vehicles a half hour before sunrise, so a car at the gate at opening has the whole morning departure ahead of it.
Because cranes spend the day in farm fields, you'll also see them along roadsides. The brochure asks viewers to pull off the road, stay in their cars to avoid disturbing the birds, and stay off fields, since they're private property. On the Wildlife Drive the speed limit is 20 mph and dogs must be on a leash at all times.
The calendar squeeze
The good viewing days are fewer than the calendar suggests, and this year has a few complications.
First, there's road work. The refuge says several service roads west of County Highway 5 are being re-graveled in September, and several east of the highway are scheduled for early October. Walking and biking are still allowed, but dump trucks and equipment will be on those roads.
Second, the refuge's two sources disagree on the peak. Its current visit page says the last two weeks of October usually bring the most staging cranes. The crane brochure says numbers build through September and October and typically peak in early November. Taken together, the strongest stretch probably runs from about October 18 into the first days of November.
Third, early November gets cut short by deer season. Minnesota's 2026 statewide firearm deer opener is November 7. The refuge closes the Wildlife Drive to vehicles during the nine-day firearm deer season in November and closes it for the winter on December 1. Hiking and biking stay open daily from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. Before a November trip, call Refuge Headquarters at 763-389-3323 to confirm road conditions and closure dates.
That leaves a fairly short run of mornings from mid-October to November 6, with fixed sunrise times and the drought-related uncertainty about where the birds will roost.
After the birds leave
By the brochure's timing, a dawn trip is done by midmorning, and you're hungry. If you're starting early, Caribou Coffee at 12495 5th Ave N, near Highway 169 and 2nd St E, opens at 5:30 a.m. daily, according to its location page. It serves breakfast sandwiches all day.
For a sit-down breakfast after a weekend crane morning, Zimmerman Cafe Bar Bowl at 25920 Gateway Drive opens at 8 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and 9 a.m. on Fridays. Its menu includes egg breakfasts, omelets, pancakes and bottomless coffee. Bruno's Coffee on Fremont Ave is another local coffee stop. Check its hours before you go.
At Team Lundeen, we spend a lot of time talking with neighbors about what makes autumn in Zimmerman feel like home, and a cold morning at the CR 70 lot is high on that list. If watching the cranes this fall has you thinking about your own place on this side of the Highway 169 corridor, Michelle Lundeen and the team are glad to help. Let's Find Your Way Home. Request a Free Home Valuation.
