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68-653: Interstate Park comprises two adjacent state parks on the Minnesota – Wisconsin border, both named Interstate State Park . They straddle the Dalles of the St. Croix River , a deep basalt gorge with glacial potholes and other rock formations. The Wisconsin park is 1,330 acres (538 ha) and the Minnesota park is 298 acres (121 ha). The towns of Taylors Falls, Minnesota and St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin are adjacent to

136-526: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of

204-401: A campground with showers and 37 sites, 22 of which have electrical hookups. A group campsite accommodates up to 100 people. There are four miles (6.4 km) of trail. A long-standing concession offers scenic boat cruises and canoe and kayak rentals with shuttle service back from near Osceola, Wisconsin , and William O'Brien State Park . There is a swimming beach on Lake O' the Dalles, in

272-624: A deeply weathered, pre- Sangamonian Stage, reddish-brown, sandy loam till with normal magnetic polarity . Both the landforms and deposits related to these earlier glaciations have been either eroded or buried by the latest advance of the Laurentide Ice Sheet over this area of the Last Glacial Maximum. The region of Interstate Park was deglaciated sometime between about 19,000 and 14,000  BP calibrated (16,000 and 12,000 C uncalibrated). During this time,

340-464: A depressed fresh-water lake in a single catastrophe that has been the inspiration for the flood mythology" (Ryan and Pitman, 1998). The marine incursion, caused by the rising level of the Mediterranean, apparently occurred around 7,600 years ago. It remains an active subject of debate among geologists, with subsequent evidence discovered to both support and refute the existence of the flood, while

408-594: A different cause. According to Tchepalyga, global warming beginning from about 16,000 BP caused the melting of the Scandinavia Ice Sheet , resulting in massive river discharge that flowed into the Caspian Sea , raising it to as much as 50 metres (160 ft) above normal present-day levels. The Sea of Azov rose so high that it overflowed into the Caspian Sea. The rise was extremely rapid and

476-589: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about

544-540: A flattened-out Antarctica with a sheet of water 10 metres (33 ft) deep. That volume was added to the world's oceans in a matter of months. The detailed timing and rates of change after the onset of melting of the great ice-sheets are subjects of continuing study. A theory proposed by Andrey Tchepalyga of the Russian Academy of Sciences dates the flooding of the Black Sea basin to an earlier time and from

612-537: A megaflood (Gilbert, 1890) describes this event. The last of the North American proglacial lakes, north of the present Great Lakes, has been designated Glacial Lake Ojibway by geologists. It reached its largest volume around 8,500 years ago, when joined with Lake Agassiz. But its outlet was blocked by the great wall of the glaciers and it drained by tributaries, into the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers far to

680-802: A more difficult time lobbying the Wisconsin Legislature , but succeeded in 1900 with the creation of the first state park in Wisconsin, resulting in the first interstate parkland collaboration in the United States. In 1906 the commissioner of the Minnesota park asked a family from Stillwater to conduct boat tours of the Dalles. Beginning with a small powerboat, this concession business grew quickly. In 1910 they began renting canoes and rowboats, and offered tours on progressively larger boats. Today they are still in business, family-owned for four generations. U.S. Route 8 descends through

748-699: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use

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816-412: A thousand a day. In the 1860s businessmen from St. Paul proposed mining the basalt of the Dalles to make gravel, a plan which galvanized interest in protecting the area. Locals had also been growing concerned by encroaching buildings and vandalism of the rock formations. A travel agent named George Hazzard became the leading advocate for a park, and gained the support of newspapers, several landowners in

884-435: Is believed to have been the worst in history; at least 150 million board feet of logs were backed up for three miles (4.8 km). Neither dynamite nor steamboats with tow ropes were able to budge the jam. A crew of 175 men working 24 hours a day under electric lights took six weeks to break the jam, during which time several mills downstream went out of business. To control the water flow and prevent further catastrophic jams,

952-423: Is the lake overflow that caused one of the worst landslide-related disasters in history on June 10, 1786. A landslide dam on Sichuan's Dadu River , created by an earthquake ten days earlier, burst and caused a flood that extended 1,400 km (870 mi) downstream and killed 100,000 people. Postglacial rebound changes the tilt of ground. In lakes, this means that shores sink in the direction farther away from

1020-660: The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with

1088-543: The Channeled Scablands . Lake Bonneville , a pluvial lake , burst catastrophically in the Bonneville Flood about 14,500 years ago, due to its water overflowing and washing away a sill composed of two opposing alluvial fans which had blocked a gorge . Lake Bonneville was not a glacial lake, but glacial age climate change determined the lake level and its overflow. The first scientific report of

1156-622: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Outburst flood Megafloods are paleofloods (past floods) that involved rates of water flow larger than those in the historical record. They are studied through the sedimentary deposits and the erosional and constructional landforms that individual megafloods have created. Floods that are known to us through historical descriptions are mostly related to meteorological events, such as heavy rains, rapid melting of snowpacks, or combination of these. In

1224-622: The Strait of Gibraltar into the desiccated Mediterranean basin , following the Messinian salinity crisis during which it repeatedly became dry and re-flooded, dated by consensus to before the emergence of modern humans. The Mediterranean did not dry out during the most recent glacial maximum . Sea level during glacial periods within the Pleistocene is estimated to have dropped only about 110 to 120 metres (361 to 394 ft). In contrast,

1292-496: The logging era from 1837 to 1898, logs were rafted down the St. Croix River. By 1857 a sawmill was operating near what is now the Minnesota campground, joined in 1867 by a boat-building yard. Both were owned by a leading citizen of Taylors Falls, W.H.C. Folsom , after whom an island in the park is named. The narrow gorge and the sharp turn at Angle Rock caused severe logjams in 1865, 1877, 1883, and 1886. The 1886 St. Croix River log jam

1360-923: The 4610th Company of the Works Progress Administration in July 1938. Using basalt quarried in the park by the CCC, they built restrooms, picnic shelters, water fountains, and retaining walls. These historical structures are clustered in two separate areas of the Minnesota park: in the campground and near the Glacial Gardens. The two areas were listed as separate historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. They are considered significant as examples of New Deal federal work relief, early state park development, National Park Service rustic design, and—in separating

1428-623: The Caspian basin could not contain all the floodwater, which flowed from the northwest coastline of the Caspian Sea, through the Kuma-Manych Depression and Kerch Strait into the Black Sea basin. By the end of the Pleistocene this would have raised the level of the Black Sea by some 60 to 70 metres (200 to 230 ft) 20 metres (66 ft) below its present-day level, flooding large areas that were formerly available for settlement or hunting. Tchepalyga suggests this may have formed

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1496-460: The Chengwatana surface provides evidence for the occurrence of the first drainage event. The Chengwatana surface is a scoured surface marked by distinct lemniscate landforms; bar-shaped lndforms composed of sand; and a lag layer of cobbles and boulders. This lag layer overlies an unconformity eroded into older glacial till, lake sediment, or bedrock. This surface extends from the lower reaches of

1564-780: The Croixian in North America because the layers exposed in this area were its type locality . The presence of older glacial deposits south of the Interstate Park demonstrates that the Laurentide Ice Sheet repeated glaciated it and surrounding areas over the Pleistocene Epoch . Within Wisconsin, these older glacial deposits consist of remnants of, highly weathered dark-gray loam till and lake sediment with reversed magnetic polarity and

1632-541: The Dalles on the Wisconsin shore resembles a human face. Another formation resembling a Maltese cross has been erroneously claimed as the origin of the name St. Croix ('holy cross' in the French language ). A former formation on the Minnesota side called the Devil's Chair looked like a high-backed throne. Several habitats are found within the parks. Originally most of the land was forested with large eastern white pines , but

1700-561: The Dalles , that forms the modern St. Croix River valley was excavated by a second drainage event. This inner channel is incised as a narrower valley cut into, and hence younger than, the Chengwatana surface. This demonstrates that the St. Croix valley is slightly younger than the Kettle River valley and Moose Lake outlet and was cut by water flowing out of the lower and younger Brule outlet of the Duluth level of glacial Lake Duluth. Because

1768-607: The Kettle River valley as far south as Sunrise, Minnesota. The Chengwatana surface likely was cut by water flowing down the Kettle River from the Moose Lake outlet of glacial Lake Nemadji and the Epi-Duluth level of glacial Lake Duluth. The association of the Chengwatana surface with glacial Lake Nemadji and the Epi-Duluth level of glacial Lake Duluth would make it most likely range in age from before 12,100 to about 11,700 BP calibrated. The deep inner channel, which includes

1836-688: The Lake Superior Lobe retreated, the Brule outlet opened and the higher Moose Lake was abandoned as a lower Duluth level was quickly established by massive and sudden outflow through the lower Brule outlet and down St. Croix River. The Brule outlet was abandoned when Lake Superior Lobe retreated from the Keweenaw Peninsula and opened lower eastward draining outlets. This caused the Duluth level to drop abruptly to post-Duluth levels and water to cease flowing into lower Brule outlet and down

1904-410: The Minnesota park contains six contributing properties as well. These consist of three buildings—the 1938 Sanitation Building (restrooms at the west end of the picnic area), 1938 Shelter/Refectory (in the center of the picnic area), and 1941 Combination Building (restrooms in the campground)—and three objects (the drinking fountains scattered in the picnic area) also built in 1938. The Combination Building

1972-462: The Minnesota park in a road cut blasted in 1931. The Minnesota Department of Transportation built stone overlooks and guardrails along the highway in the mid-1930s. Civilian Conservation Corps Company 633 arrived in 1935, building roads, trails, picnic grounds, plumbing, the beach and beach house on Lake O' the Dalles, and retaining walls. The CCC camp departed in December 1937 and were replaced by

2040-469: The Nevers Dam was built upstream in 1890 in what is now Wild River State Park . The walls of the Dalles rise from 50 to 250 feet (76 m) above the river. During this same period, the Dalles of the St. Croix became a popular visitor attraction. Steamboat service to Taylors Falls began in 1838, and a railroad connection was finished in 1880. The catastrophic logjams drew tourists in droves, as many as

2108-506: The St. Croix River. It was during the regional retreat of the Lake Superior Lobe and glacial meltwater flow from deglaciation and glacial Lake Nemadji and Lake Duluth caused the entrenchment of the St. Croix River and the formation of the deep gorge of the St. Croix River of the St. Croix River valley and its famous potholes occurred. In and surrounding Polk County, Minnesota, geomorphic and stratigraphic relationships evidence exists for at least two drainage events. A strath terrace, known as

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2176-561: The Superior Lobe had retreated from the St. Croix Moraine northeastward to the Thompson Moraine. Between 14,000 and 11,500  BP calibrated (12,000 and 10,000 C uncalibrated), an extensive set of ice marginal channels drained meltwater from the Thompson Moraine by way of the Brule channel into the newly formed St. Croix River. The glacial landforms and sediments of Interstate Park were largely created during

2244-439: The Wisconsin park. Swimming in the river is dangerous because of strong currents . Rock climbing is permitted on many of the cliffs on either side of the river. In addition to the cliffs, there are many boulders on both sides of the river that are open to climbing. Certain sensitive areas, as well as all potholes, are off limits to climbing. State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at

2312-542: The area, influential people like W.H.C. Folsom, and ultimately the state senator and representative. These last two introduced a bill to the Minnesota Legislature calling for the creation of the State Park of the Dalles of the St. Croix and urging cooperation with Wisconsin to protect both sides of the Dalles. The bill passed in 1895, creating the second state park in Minnesota. Hazzard and his allies had

2380-662: The areas of the modern lakes, but their drainage sometimes passed south, into the Mississippi system; sometimes into the Arctic, or east into the Atlantic. The most famous of these proglacial lakes was Lake Agassiz . As ice-dam configurations failed, a series of great floods were released from Lake Agassiz, resulting in massive pulses of freshwater added to the world's oceans. The Missoula Floods of Oregon and Washington states were also caused by breaking ice dams, resulting in

2448-670: The barrier failed or was overtopped, loosing a catastrophic flood that permanently diverted the Rhine into the English Channel and replacing the "Isthmus of Dover" watershed by a much lower watershed running from East Anglia east then southeast to the Hook of Holland and (as at modern sea level) separated Britain from the continent of Europe; a sonar study of the sea bed of the English Channel published in Nature , July 2007, revealed

2516-441: The basalt pinnacle was toppled by vandals using crowbars and possibly a hydraulic spreader . Despite a reward for tips, the culprits have never been identified. Located an hour's drive from Minneapolis–Saint Paul , Interstate Park has received annual visitation comparable to many U.S. national parks since the 1930s. The two parks are administered separately and require separate vehicle permits. In 1987 each park began honoring

2584-458: The basis for legends of the great Deluge . The barrier across Bab-el-Mandeb , between Ethiopia and Yemen, seems to have been the source of outbreak flooding similar to that found in the Mediterranean. The Lake Toba event, approximately between 69,000 and 77,000 years ago, caused a massive drop in sea levels , exposing the barrier and enabling modern Homo sapiens to leave Africa via a route other than Sinai. The finding of saline evaporites on

2652-675: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with

2720-400: The current visitor center . The two contributing structures are the 1937 stone curb in the parking lot and a 150-foot-long (46 m) retaining wall built in 1938 at the south end of the Glacial Gardens. The contributing object is a 1938 water fountain at the south end of the parking lot. The 22-acre (8.9 ha) Interstate State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style Campground at the southwest end of

2788-478: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are

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2856-635: The discovery of unmistakable marks of a megaflood on the English Channel seabed: deeply eroded channels and braided features have left the remnants of streamlined islands among deeply gouged channels where the collapse occurred. A catastrophic flood refilled the Mediterranean Sea 5.3 million years ago, at the beginning of the Zanclean age that ended the Messinian salinity crisis . The flood occurred when Atlantic waters found their way through

2924-417: The eddies, the sand and gravel were swirled around with such force that they drilled holes straight down into the rock. Larger rocks caught in the spin would polish the shafts smooth. The Glacial Gardens area on the Minnesota shore contains more than 80 of these glacial potholes , the greatest concentration in the world. When the massive flow of water through the Brule outlet and down the St. Croix River ceased,

2992-418: The exposed basalt rocks. Over 400 species of ferns and flowering plants have been catalogued in the Wisconsin park. Mammals found in the parks include white-tailed deer , foxes , raccoons , gray squirrels , river otters , minks , skunks , muskrats , and beavers , and 150 species of birds have been identified in the park, of which at least 75 species are known to nest in the area. The St. Croix River

3060-489: The federal developments and influenced the WPA's use of rustic style in the park. These two buildings are situated at the north end of the parking lot; the men's rest room is noted for its placement relative to the rock outcroppings and the women's rest room was modified by the WPA in 1941. The third contributing building is the 1939 Refectory, originally a concession building renovated in 1981 with restrooms and office space to become

3128-569: The floor of the Red Sea confirms that this dam has functioned at various periods in the past. Rising sea levels during the Flandrian transgression (and in earlier interglacial periods) suggest that this area may have been subject to outburst flooding. Originally there was an isthmus across the Strait of Dover . During an earlier glacial maximum, the exit from the North Sea was blocked to

3196-543: The former maximum depth of ice. When the lake rests against an esker , water pressure increases with the increased depth. The esker may then fail under the load and burst, creating a new outflow. Lake Pielinen in Finland is an example of this. A rising sea flood, the proposed and much-discussed refilling of the freshwater glacial Black Sea with water from the Aegean , has been described as "a violent rush of salt water into

3264-480: The geological past of the Earth, however, geological research has shown that much larger events have occurred. In the case of outburst floods, such floods are typically linked to the collapse of a barrier which formed a lake. They fall in the following classification according to the mechanism responsible: Examples where evidence for large ancient water flows has been documented or is under scrutiny include: An example

3332-523: The intensive use of camping and picnicking from the open-air museum of the Glacial Gardens—landscape architecture. The 6-acre (2.4 ha) Interstate State Park CCC/WPA/Rustic Style Historic District at the northeast end of the Minnesota park contains six contributing properties . These consist of three buildings, two structures, and an object. Noteworthy are the women's rest room (built c. 1920) and men's rest room (built 1928), which predate

3400-493: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to

3468-554: The north by an ice dam , and the water flowing out of rivers backed up into a vast lake with freshwater glacial melt on the bed of what is now the North Sea. A gently upfolding chalk ridge linking the Weald of Kent and Artois , perhaps some 30 metres (100 feet) higher than the current sea level, contained the glacial lake at the Strait of Dover . At some time, probably around 425,000 years ago and again around 225,000 years later

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3536-401: The other state's permit on weekdays, but the practice has since ceased. It is possible to walk between the parks by crossing the U.S. Route 8 bridge. Both parks have a visitor center with interpretive displays and a gift shop. The Wisconsin park has two campgrounds with 85 sites. A group campsite accommodates up to 60 people. There are nine miles (14 km) of trail. The Minnesota park has

3604-943: The park. Interstate Park is within the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway and the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve . The western terminus of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail is on the Wisconsin side. On the Minnesota side, two areas contain National Park Service rustic style buildings and structures that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Rocks or sediment from three short intervals of geologic time, each from three different geological eras, Precambrian, Paleozoic, and Cenozoic, are exposed at

3672-504: The potholes became exposed to the air. Dirt, vegetation, and rainwater have collected in them, disguising their true depths. Some have been excavated; one, the Bottomless Pit, is 10 feet (3.0 m) wide and 60 feet (18 m) deep, the deepest explored pothole in the world. Other unexcavated potholes in the park are even wider, suggesting that they may be deeper as well. Weathering has created other rock formations. The Old Man of

3740-637: The region of Interstate Park. Since their accumulation, these strata within Interstate Park area have undergone very low to low-grade metamorphism . In the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic Era, between 530 and 470 million years ago, the region was covered by a shallow sea which deposited sandstone and siltstone atop the basalt. This epoch of the Cambrian, the Furongian , was originally called

3808-609: The retreat of the Superior Lobe from this region and periodic outburst flood events from proglacial lakes , e.g. Lake Duluth , since the Last Glacial Maximum . First, the retreat of the Superior lobe into the Lake Superior basin created proglacial lakes. Initially, these lakes consisted of small, proglacial lakes. Later, these lakes coalesced to form a large proglacial lake called glacial Lake Duluth , which

3876-448: The south. About 8,300 to 7,700 years ago, the melting ice dam over Hudson Bay 's southernmost extension narrowed to the point where pressure and its buoyancy lifted it free, and the ice-dam failed catastrophically. Lake Ojibway's beach terraces show that it was 250 metres (820 ft) above sea level. The volume of Lake Ojibway is commonly estimated to have been about 163,000 km (39,000 cu mi), more than enough water to cover

3944-474: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by

4012-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park

4080-506: The sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in

4148-525: The surface within Interstate Park. The oldest strata are of the Keweenawan Supergroup, which is a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) thick sequence of volcanic and sedimentary strata that fill a segment of the Midcontinent Rift System . During the formation of the Midcontinent Rift System, these strata accumulated about 1.1 billion years ago as a series of basaltic lava flows and alluvial fans filled an ancient rift valley to depth of over 2.5 miles (4.0 km). At least ten separate lava flows are exposed within

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4216-544: The theory that it is the basis of later flood myths is not proven. Flooding of this area scattered peoples to both sides of the gulf depression. It was an area fed by four rivers. Rose calls it the "Gulf Oasis" which may have been a demographic refuge fed by the Tigris, Euphrates, Karun, and Wadi Batin rivers. It was suggested to be an area of freshwater springs and rivers. In North America , during glacial maximum, there were no Great Lakes as we know them, but "proglacial" (ice-frontage) lakes formed and shifted. They lay in

4284-535: The trace of the Chengwatana surface grades to a terrace level higher than the potholes in International State Park, they were eroded by spillway water from Duluth level of glacial Lake Duluth. The association of the Duluth level of glacial Lake Duluth with the second discharge event and creation of the St. Croix valley and the potholes indicates that they were created between 10,800 and 10,600 BP calibrated. The before-mentioned potholes were created starting with sand and gravel caught in eddies or whirlpools . Within

4352-429: Was an important transportation route for Native Americans . Prehistoric tools have been found in the park, but no village sites. The first Europeans to pass through the Dalles were Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut , and his 1680 expedition, though he made no particular mention of the site Fur traders used the river extensively, and a French fort was located near the Minnesota campground in the early 18th century. During

4420-413: Was based on a design also used in Whitewater State Park in 1938, though the use of different local materials gives them a very different appearance. An open-sided picnic shelter with a free-standing metal fireplace was actually built in 1980 and is considered a non-contributing property to the district. In April 2005 a landmark rock formation called the Devil's Chair collapsed. An investigation found that

4488-411: Was confined to the western Superior basin. The most prominent of multiple lake levels of glacial Lake Duluth is known as the Duluth level . There also was an older epi-Duluth level that lay above the Duluth level. The epi-Duluth level and a smaller precursor proglacial lake, named Lake Nemadji , drained through the higher Moose Lake (Portage) outlet into the Kettle River and into the St. Croix River. As

4556-401: Was denuded by loggers. Most of the vegetation today is second-growth forest, with some sections dominated by maples and basswoods and others by eastern white pines. Drier areas support oak savanna while wetter areas bear floodplain forest. The driest hilltops even support the brittle prickly pear cactus, the only cactus species native to Wisconsin. Early successional species take hold on

4624-417: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like

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