Editing Scott County, Minnesota (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Cedar Lake Farm Reg Park Area Wiki Version.JPG|thumb|right|Soils of Cedar Lake Regional Park area]]
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the county has an area of {{convert|368|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|356|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|12|sqmi}} (3.2%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{Cite web |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_27.txt |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060200/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_27.txt |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |access-date=October 25, 2014 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> It is the third-smallest county in Minnesota by land area and second-smallest by total area.

The Minnesota River is the county's boundary in both the north and the west. The broad river valley juts through glacial sediment into some of the oldest rock known. Now mostly farmland, it was an oak savanna and a mixture of grass and clusters of trees that grew parallel to the river valley. The savanna bordered the "[[Big Woods]]," a "closed-forest savanna" that covered most of Minnesota before it was logged in the mid-19th century. Scott is one of 17 Minnesota savanna counties with more savanna soils than either forest or prairie soils.
One example of native vegetation in Scott County:

===Lakes===
* Ahlswede Lake: in [[St. Lawrence Township, Scott County, Minnesota|St. Lawrence Township]]
* Blue Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Browns Lake: in [[St. Lawrence Township, Scott County, Minnesota|St. Lawrence Township]]
* Campbell Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Cedar Lake: western two-thirds is in [[Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Helena Township]]; eastern third is in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* Cedar Lake: there is a smaller Cedar Lake in the eastern part of [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* Clark Lake: in [[Blakeley Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Blakely Township]]
* Cleary Lake: mostly in [[Credit River, Minnesota|Credit River]]; the western part stretches into [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Crystal Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Cynthia Lake: northern two thirds is in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]; the rest is in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Township]]
* Deans Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Fish Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Fisher Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Gifford Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Hanrahan Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Hickey Lake: eastern two thirds is in [[Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Helena Township]]; western third is in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* Horseshoe Lake: in [[St. Lawrence Township, Scott County, Minnesota|St. Lawrence Township]]
* Howard Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Kane Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Lennon Lake: in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* Lower Prior Lake: in the city of [[Prior Lake, Minnesota|Prior Lake]]
* Markley Lake: eastern half is in [[Credit River, Minnesota|Credit River]]; the western half is in Prior Lake
* McMahon Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Mud Lake: in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* [[Murphy Lake (Scott County, Minnesota)|Murphy Lake]]: in [[Credit River, Minnesota|Credit River]]
* [[O'Dowd Lake]]: western third is in [[Louisville Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Louisville Township]]; eastern two thirds is in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Pike Lake: in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Pleasant Lake: in [[Helena Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Helena Township]]
* Rice Lake: west half is in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]; east half is in [[Dakota County, Minnesota|Dakota County]]
* Rice Lake: there is another Rice Lake in [[Jackson Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Jackson Township]]
* Rice Lake: there is a third Rice Lake in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]]
* Schneider Lake: in [[Louisville Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Louisville Township]]
* Spring Lake: in [[Spring Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Spring Lake Township]] and [[Prior Lake, Minnesota|Prior Lake]]
* St. Catherine Lake: in [[Cedar Lake Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Cedar Lake Township]]
* Thole Lake: in [[Louisville Township, Scott County, Minnesota|Louisville Township]]
* Upper Prior Lake: in [[Prior Lake, Minnesota|Prior Lake]]

===Major highways===
{{div col}}
* [[File:I-35.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 35 in Minnesota|Interstate 35]]
* [[File:US 169 (MN).svg|20px]] [[U.S. Route 169 in Minnesota|U.S. Highway 169]]
* [[File:MN-13.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 13]]
* [[File:MN-19.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 19]]
* [[File:MN-21.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 21]]
* [[File:MN-25.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 25]]
* [[File:MN-41.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 41]]
* [[File:MN-282.svg|20px]] [[Minnesota State Highway 282]]
* [[File:County 42 (MN).svg|20px]] [[County Road 42 (Minnesota)|County Road 42]]
* [[File:County 101 (MN).svg|23px]] [[County Road 101 (Scott County, Minnesota)|County Road 101]]
* ''[[County roads in Scott County, Minnesota|Other County Roads]]''
{{div col end}}

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Hennepin County, Minnesota|Hennepin County]] (north)
* [[Dakota County, Minnesota|Dakota County]] (east)
* [[Rice County, Minnesota|Rice County]] (southeast)
* [[Le Sueur County, Minnesota|Le Sueur County]] (southwest)
* [[Sibley County, Minnesota|Sibley County]] (west)
* [[Carver County, Minnesota|Carver County]] (northwest)

===National protected area===
* [[Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge]] (part)