Fond du Lac is a neighborhood in Duluth , Minnesota , United States.
31-660: Savanna Portage State Park is a state park in the U.S. State of Minnesota established in 1961 to preserve the historic Savanna Portage , a difficult 6-mile (9.7 km) trail connecting the watersheds of the Mississippi River and Lake Superior . The portage trail crosses a drainage divide separating the West Savanna River , which drains to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico , from
62-650: A Sioux village at Big Sandy Lake during his exploration of the Lake Superior region and the Upper Mississippi River. Among the portage's users were fur traders who operated in the upper Mississippi River valley. Some went no further than the American Fur Company 's large regional trading post on Big Sandy Lake operated by William Aitkin in the 1820s and 1830s, the years of peak usage of the route. Explorers and scientists crossing
93-526: 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
124-589: 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
155-504: A hardwood forest, through which the trail ran to the West Savanna River, which drains Prairie Lake to Big Sandy Lake and the Upper Mississippi River. In times of low water, the portage was drier but the river became too shallow for canoes, so voyageurs would continue to hike overland to the northeast bay of Big Sandy Lake. The portage likely was used by Europeans as early as 1679, when Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut visited
186-699: 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
217-727: Is located on the divide between the watersheds of the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which drain to the Atlantic Ocean. The area is a low-relief plain which was once a glacial lakebed . During the last phase of the Wisconsinan glaciation , the deteriorating continental glacier left behind connected lakes, known as Glacial Lakes Aitkin and Upham . Formed by the retreat of the Saint Louis Sublobe of
248-669: Is part of the Tamarack Lowlands Subsection within the Northern Minnesota Drift Plains Section of the Laurentian Mixed Forest. Lacustrine sediments deposited by the glacial lake are parent to the present soils of peats, silt, and sand; the peats are in marshes which form large parts of the park. These wet lowlands adjoin rolling hills which are end moraines of the recent glaciation. The moraines are part of
279-482: Is the third-largest park in the state park system. It is nearly surrounded by the Savanna State Forest . At some 13.5 miles (21.7 km) long and nowhere more than 4 miles (6.4 km) wide, its shape is dictated in part by the portage corridor. 15,818 acres (64 km) of hills, lakes, and bogs now comprise the park. Activities include summer and winter camping, hiking, snowshoeing, and ski touring on
310-599: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Fond du Lac (Duluth) Evergreen Memorial Highway ( State Highway 23 ) serves as a main route in the community. The eastern terminus of State Highway 210 is in the Fond du Lac neighborhood near the Saint Louis River bridge. Fond du Lac (French: ' bottom of the lake ' ) was the site of an Ojibwe settlement in
341-606: The East Savanna River , which flows in an opposite direction to the Saint Louis River , Lake Superior and the Great Lakes , and the Saint Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. Savanna Portage was a canoe portage used by Native Americans for centuries before being used by European explorers, fur traders , Voyageurs , coureurs des bois , and missionaries of the 18th and 19th centuries. It
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#1732780048104372-489: The 16th through 19th centuries. The American Fur Company established a trading post in the community in 1817 and operated it for 25 years. Mission Creek was named for an Ojibwe mission located here in the 1830s. The American Fur Company post was purchased by the Missouri Fur Company in 1842 and continued operating until 1848. The 1826 and 1847 Treaties of Fond du Lac were signed at Fond du Lac. A village
403-570: The Mississippi River's source; Joseph Nicollet , French geographer and cartographer of the Upper Mississippi River, in 1836; and Laurence Oliphant , a British explorer and writer, in 1854. Tourists, including Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin , who crossed in 1863, also used the portage. When the Northern Pacific Railroad , building west from Duluth reached nearby McGregor in 1870, the portage fell out of use for through traffic, but continued to be used for local trade and access to
434-771: The Saint Louis Moraines Subdivision of the Northern Minnesota Drift Plain. The plain in the old lakebed provided a low and very swampy overland route across the divide between the East and West Savanna Rivers. Wolf Lake, source of the East Savanna River, is only about 800 yards (730 m) east of Savanna Lake on the West Savanna. As the areas adjoining Wolf Lake and the upper East Savanna River are quite wet,
465-532: The Superior Lobe of the glacier, Lake Upham drained through Lake Aitkin to the Mississippi River through Big Sandy Lake . The retreating glacier and the lakes deposited sand and sediments in the lakebed. As the lakes drained these sediments became the present plain. The plain at first was drained by the Cloquet River , which then ran west to the Mississippi River. By the process of stream piracy ,
496-897: The administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in 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
527-415: The area, sandhill cranes , trumpeter swans , and loons. State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at 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
558-738: 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
589-478: 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
620-447: The east exited Lake Superior near Fond du Lac ("end of the lake", or more idiomatically "head of the lake", where Duluth is now located), and ascended the steep, rocky, and difficult gorge of the lower Saint Louis River, which falls some 450 feet (140 m) from the location of Carlton, Minnesota , through what is now Jay Cooke State Park to its outlet at the lake. Above Carlton travelers proceeded upstream through quieter stretches to
651-406: The interior. The trail's location was traced and marked in 1926 and in the 1940s through the 1960s, and with the use of archaeological techniques, it was more precisely marked in 1981. Most of the route is now maintained as a hiking trail. The interest created by investigations into the trail's route inspired creation of Savanna Portage State Park in 1961. It is 14,000 acres (57 km) in size, and
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#1732780048104682-493: 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
713-438: The location of Floodwood, Minnesota , where they turned southwest up the sluggish East Savanna River in the bed of Glacial Lake Upham. Coming to a small rise, the travelers commenced the portage, which in its eastern reaches was marshy, mosquito-infested, and among the most unpleasant and tortuous of all the routes taken by the voyageurs. Struggling waist-deep through the morass of the "boundless swamp", travelers eventually reached
744-617: The old portage and other trails, mountain biking, and snowmobiling, as well as swimming, fishing, canoeing, and boating on Loon Lake. Named for its open marshy grassland, the park's peat bogs and marshes include sedges and black spruce, tamarack, and white cedar. Uplands host a mixed hardwood and conifer forest of maple, oak, poplar, birch, white pine, and red pine. Land animals in the area include moose , black bears , deer , timber wolves , coyotes , skunks , amphibians , and wood turtles . Birds include bald eagles , sharp-tailed grouse , warblers , boreal owls from Canada which winter in
775-463: The portage included David Thompson , British explorer of Canada and North West Fur Company cartographer, in 1798; Zebulon Pike , early explorer of the American west, in 1805; Lewis Cass , American general and explorer, in his unsuccessful 1820 search for the source of the Mississippi River; Henry Schoolcraft , geologist and explorer, who accompanied Cass in 1820 and led an expedition in 1832 to find
806-516: The route selected for the portage trail departed from the river further downstream, shortening the distance to be traveled through the bog. The portage, some 6 miles (9.7 km) long, starts in the swamp and then goes west in a wooded upland to reach the West Savanna River. Long used by Native Americans, it became a thoroughfare between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley for explorers, missionaries, and fur traders. Travelers from
837-689: The smaller Saint Louis River, which runs to Lake Superior, captured the Cloquet River and most of its drainage basin. This left behind the East Savanna River which drains into the Saint Louis River, Lake Superior, the lower Great Lakes, and the Saint Lawrence River, and to the west, the West Savanna River , which is tributary to the Mississippi River via the Prairie River and Big Sandy Lake . The old lake plain
868-474: 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
899-454: 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
930-586: Was a vital link connecting the Mississippi waterways to the west with the Great Lakes to the east. The portage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 for having state-level significance in the themes of commerce, exploration/settlement, and transportation. The park which contains it is 17 miles (27 km) north and east of McGregor, Minnesota , and approximately 50 miles (80 km) west of Duluth, Minnesota . The park
961-473: 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