The Highway 65 Ditch Ducks: Minnesota’s most colorful waterfowl

Last updated on January 5th, 2025

The Highway 65 ditch ducks are an accidental roadside attraction that gives northern Minnesota travelers an unexpected pop of color (and humor) amid wetlands and bogs.

Northern Minnesota’s ditch ducks spend the summer along Highway 65.

You’ll find Minnesota’s flock of colorful duck decoys along Trunk Highway 65 just south of McGregor. They spend the summer in a flooded roadside ditch, with the number of ducks increasing through the season. But don’t wait too late to visit, as Minnesota’s ditch ducks migrate each fall before the ice forms.

Why is this ditch filled with fanciful duck decoys?

Minnesota Highway 65 isn’t the most exciting road to drive. But that’s part of the reason I, and my parents before me, liked to take it when heading north. It’s a kind of boring route that usually doesn’t have a lot of weekday traffic.

A number of years ago I noticed a couple of oddly colorful ducks floating in the flooded ditch along the highway. My husband was convinced I was imagining things, so we didn’t stop immediately to check it out. But we did take a closer look when we headed back south.

The weirdly colorful ducks were still there. But they weren’t real ducks. They were painted duck decoys.

It was fun to see a couple spots of brilliant color in a vast landscape of green.

But why would anyone paint duck decoys and set them afloat in a roadside ditch?

And why do more of them end up in this ditch each year?

A private joke leads to a colorful community of ditch ducks

Of course, I’m not the only one who regularly drives this highway. Nor am I the only one keeping an eye out for ducks (the kind that actually fly), deer, or other wildlife along the way.

And, apparently, I’m not the only one with a habit of mistaking bushes, dead trees, partially submerged logs, and other materials for deer, ducks, or even turtles.

It seems a woman named Joanne regularly mistook the same partially submerged log in this flooded ditch as a turtle.

In 2017 her boyfriend Jeff decided to find a way to remind her that it was just a log and NOT a turtle. To do that, he set a yellow duck decoy afloat in the ditch.

And soon another colorful decoy showed up. . . and then another and another.

Probably not the original ditch duck. But maybe.  

The couple has said there were about 25 by the end of that first summer. Over the next summer the flock increased to around 80. These days there are probably 200 or more of them floating in the ditch by end of summer. (There were already well over 100 in July 2023.)

People add ducks to the ditch for all sorts of reasons. Some, like the original duck, are inside jokes. Others celebrate favorite places, sports teams, superheroes, beverages, or cartoon characters. Election years bring flocks of patriotic and political ducks. And some probably become part of the flock just because it is something fun to do on the long drive north.

But some have much more significance. There are ducks that celebrate the birth of child, a graduation, or a marriage. And many commemorate the lives of family members or beloved pets.

Some ducks are created just for fun, some celebrate joyous events, and some are memorials to loved ones.

Ditch duck care and maintenance

Even the finest duck decoys can’t fly south for the winter. To give them a hand, Jeff and Joanne (who started all of this) have taken responsibility for collecting ALL the ducks and bringing them inside for the winter.

To accomplish this, they haul a canoe into the ditch and paddle along plucking ditch ducks from the water and bringing them aboard. The ducks then migrate to a storage area at the couple’s cabin. But the ducks don’t just spend the winter there. During the winter they are cleaned and repaired. Then, when spring comes around, the couple returns the restored ducks to the ditch for the summer.

Of course, not every duck makes it back for the next season or the one after that. Some sink to the bottom of the ditch where it’s impossible to retrieve them. Others become too badly damaged to repair. But many do make it back, with many returning for at least a few years.

Those of us who look forward to seeing northern Minnesota’s ditch ducks return each spring are fortunate that Joanne and Jeff not only initiated this roadside attraction, but are so committed to maintaining it.

Just a few of the Highway 65 ditch ducks in summering in northern Minnesota.

Where are the Minnesota ditch ducks?

Minnesota state highway 65 heads north out of Minneapolis. (It’s Central Avenue when you are in the city.) The ditch ducks are just south of McGregor. (Minnesota 65 continues north almost all the way to International Falls.) Once you get north of Mora, this is a two-lane road through a very rural area. You’ll pass a few small farms, lots of wetlands and bogs, and forests. (If you are a highway geek, Wikipedia has lots of info on Minnesota Trunk Highway 65.) This area was once rich with wildlife. Before loggers came through, it was an important hunting ground for the region’s Ojibwe/Chippewa people and, before them, the Sioux.

The ducks are in a flooded logging ditch along the highway between milepost 101 and 102. They are easiest to spot if you are driving north, as they are on the east side of the road.

When you find the ducks, don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll have this rural highway to yourself. You might, but you probably won’t. Because there are many cabins, lake homes, and resorts in this part of the state, Highway 65 can be very, very busy on summer weekends. However, even when there isn’t much traffic, what traffic there is moves fast through here. And large trucks make up some of that traffic.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a safe place to pull off the road right along the ditch where the ducks are. Instead, visitors are asked to use a small driveway in the woods just north of the ditch. But be careful both when walking along the road and when turning in and out of the driveway.

Add your own duck along Highway 65

Despite the work involved in hauling in more than 100 ducks each fall, cleaning and repairing them, and then returning them to the ditch for the summer; Jeff and Joanne say they enjoy seeing new ducklings join their flock.

But ducks that fall apart or sink create trash in the bottom of the ditch. And the ditch duck keepers have no way to clean all that up. So, it’s important that get your ducks in a row and create sturdy ones that will stay afloat.

Here are a few tips for creating a ditch duck that will last more than one season:

• Use a sturdy plastic decoy.
• Seal all holes or cracks to keep water out of the decoy.
• Paint it with acrylic, latex, oil, or other durable paint.
• Don’t glue things onto the duck, as glue tends to come loose after a while and send those decorations to the bottom of the ditch.
• Thoroughly coat the entire duck with a clear weather seal to waterproof it and protect the paint.
• Attach at least a 6 oz weight to the bottom (most decoys will come with a ring for this) using a 6-foot line or “string” that won’t rot in the water. Avoid lead weights that can kill real birds.
• Release it in a spot where the line for the weight won’t get tangled up in other ducks!

Anyone can create a beautiful, long-lasting ditch duck.

Want to know more about the ditch ducks?

Kare 11 had one of the original stories about the ditch ducks of northern Minnesota. The AitkinAge (the county newspaper) also has a really nice piece on the ducks.

Are you a regular visitor or have your own duck in the ditch? Join the Ditch Duck Facebook group to find out the latest ditch duck news.

Other things to do on a ditch duck road trip

Most visitors travel through this area on their way to  resorts and cabins around Big Sandy or points farther north around Grand Rapids. If you are looking for a Minnesota northwoods vacation with few crowds, the area just north of the ditch ducks is a good choice.