Wild River State Park

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Wild River State Park
Minnesota State Park
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Chisago
City	Almelund
Coordinates	45°34′5″N 92°52′33″W / 45.56806, -92.87583
Area	28.33 km² (11 sq mi)
Founded	1973
IUCN category	V - Protected Landscape/Seascape
Website: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/wild_river/index.html

Wild River State Park is a 6,803 acre Minnesota state park curving along 18 miles (29 km) of the St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped somewhat like a sideways 'S', with development largely concentrated in the lower third. The remote upper sections flank the mouth of a tributary called the Sunrise River. The park is named after the St. Croix's designation as a National Wild and Scenic River.

[edit] Geology

The bedrock of the park is basalt formed by volcanic activity 1.1 billion years ago. This is overlain by a thick layer of glacial debris. During the Wisconsin glaciation 16,000 years ago a small glacial lobe branched northeast off the Des Moines Lobe, blocking drainage from farther north. Water backed up into Glacial Lake Grantburg. The soil in the park is quite sandy from the sediments that accumulated in this now vanished lake. At the end of this ice age 10,000 years ago, meltwater flowing out of Glacial Lake Duluth carved the St. Croix River Valley. Today the river is one hundred times smaller than its glacial maximum. The ancient bank of the river is a bluff running through the park, well back from the current riverbed.

[edit] Flora and Fauna

This area was originally a transition zone between pine forest, hardwood forest, and oak savanna. These habitats were disrupted by logging and farming. Today the park is a mix of second-growth forest and meadow. As the river tends to overflow its banks in spring, inundation-tolerant species like silver maple and basswood dominate the floodplain. Wetlands are scattered throughout the park. Berries are prevalent along the trails as are wild roses.

Restoration ecology is currently taking place to rehabilitate oak savanna and prairie areas. These efforts involve controlled burning and clearing out pines (planted by farmers as windbreaks) and aspen. The park encourages volunteers to participate in seed collection and buckthorn removal.

The park’s narrowness reduces its quality as wildlife habitat somewhat. Nevertheless prevalent mammals include beaver, raccoon, fox, coyote, otter, squirrel, mink, and white-tailed deer. Black bear sightings are on the rise. Ducks, herons, and bitterns frequent the wetlands.

[edit] History

Archaeological remains have been found in the park dating back 5000 years, but the majority of artifacts date from 1200-500 years ago. A village site from this time has been identified near the mouth of the Sunrise River. A fur trading post was built on top of the ancient village site in 1847. Together with a post established nearby in 1850, these were the last trading posts in the St. Croix Valley, and only operated for a few years.

The towns of Sunrise, Amador, and Almelund were founded in the 1850s. Land was also sold in the town of Nashua, which may have been a confidence trick. The town never existed except on paper and was in fact sited in a marsh.

In 1855 the federal government began building the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road. Although intended as a highway for troop movement, this route from Hastings, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin was one of the first roads in the territory and attracted a flood of civilian and commercial traffic. When Minnesota achieved statehood in 1858, responsibility for the road devolved to the state, which did not have the funds to finish the project. Although very rough and in places incomplete, the road was still the best route north until railroads were built in 1870. Traces of the military road can still be seen here and in Banning State Park.

Following an 1837 treaty with the Ojibwa, territory including the park was opened up to logging. The primary target was the massive Eastern White Pine, which could grow up to 200 feet tall. Timber felled here and farther north was floated down the St. Croix River to sawmills in Stillwater. The lumber industry was bedeviled by massive log jams in 1867, 1877, 1883, and 1886. The 1883 jam, at Angle Rock in what is now Interstate Park, was the world’s biggest log jam and took 57 days to break, during which the sawmill in Marine on St. Croix went out of business. To alleviate the problem, the Nevers Dam was built here in 1889-90 to control the flow of logs downstream. The dam created a 10 mile lake in which logs could be safely massed. Gates were opened at two-week intervals to send a steady supply of lumber to Stillwater. The biweekly batch of logs could be up to a mile and a half long. A 600-foot long earthen dike, still visible, was built back from the dam to prevent the reservoir from overflowing. The park’s usable timber was gone by 1902, and the following year Northern States Power bought the dam to control the river’s flow while they built a hydroelectric dam at St. Croix Falls. Log drives from farther upriver continued occasionally until 1912. In the 1940s public sentiment turned against the dam because of its impacts on recreation and conservation. The sluicegates began to be left open each summer. Severe floodwaters in 1954 left Nevers Dam structurally unsafe, and NSP removed it the following year.

In addition to Nevers Dam, NSP had acquired much of the land on either side of the river. With the St. Croix Falls Dam completed in 1907, NSP had little further need for this property 11 miles upstream. They discussed contributing the land to the state as early as the 1930s. However, it was the creation of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway in 1968 that finally prompted action by both parties. The main objection to the trade had always been that Chisago County would lose a sizeable amount of property tax income. Bills died twice in the Minnesota Legislature until the state park was finally authorized in 1973. As a compromise the state agreed to pay the county a declining percentage of the lost tax revenue for 10 years. NSP donated 4,497 acres and the value was matched by federal funds to buy land from other owners. The Nature Conservancy also assisted in acquiring property. Development began in 1976 and the park opened two years later. Originally called St. Croix Wild River State Park, the name was shortened to avoid confusion with St. Croix State Park.

[edit] Recreation

• Boating:
  • A concessionaire based inside the park rents canoes hourly and daily, and provides shuttle service back from take-out points.
  • Boat ramps in the main part of park and at the Sunrise access. Jetskis are prohibited.
• Camping:
  • Campground with 96 sites (17 with electrical hookups)
  • Group camp (200 capacity)
  • Horse camp (100 capacity)
  • Guest house (8 capacity)
  • 2 camping cabins
  • 8 backpacking sites scattered mostly at the very southern end of the park
  • 8 canoe-camp sites spaced along the shore
• Events: Naturalist programs are held at the visitor center year round and the park rangers facilitate educational programs for schools and other groups. Evening events are conducted at the amphitheater adjacent to the campground.
• Fishing: Walleye, northern pike, and smallmouth bass can be caught in the St. Croix River.
• Trails: 35 miles of hiking/cross-country skiing trails and 20 miles of horse trails. The Aspen Knob Loop and Goose Creek Loop are primarily winter trails that receive minimal summer maintenance.
  • Universal Trail (hiking/skiing/biking/accessible): A paved path from the trail center to the campground. The Old Logging Trail section follows the ancient river bluff (3 mi).
  • River Trail (hiking/skiing): Crosses the floodplain from the visitor center to the Nevers Dam site (1.5 mi).
  • River Terrace Loop (hiking/skiing): Descends the ancient bluff from the picnic area to the Nevers Dam site (1.5 mi).
  • Mitigwaki Loop (hiking/skiing): Circles through oak woods near the visitor center (1 mi).
  • Deer Creek Loop (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circles through the floodplain and riverbank south of the visitor center (3 mi).
  • Amik’s Pond Trail (hiking): An interpretive loop from the visitor center passing 2 beaver ponds. Amik means "beaver" in the Ojibwe language (1 mi).
  • Windfall Trail (hiking): An interpretive loop from the visitor center through second-growth forest (1 mi).
  • Amador Prairie Loops (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circle through restoration prairie and oak islands from the trail center (1 or 2 mi option).
  • Pioneer Loop (hiking/skiing/horseback): Circles through oak woods, savanna, and grassland (2 mi).
  • Aspen Knob Loop (skiing/hiking): Circles through the hilly oak woods and white pine stands south of the park office (2 mi).
  • White Pine Ridge Loop (hiking/skiing): Ascends a hill between the Aspen Knob and Pioneer loops for a view of the river valley (0.5 mi).
  • Sunrise Loop (horseback/hiking/skiing): Circles east through bottomland forest from the Sunrise River access (5 mi).
  • Sunrise Trail (horseback/hiking/skiing): Connects the Sunrise area to the main part of the park (10 mi).
  • Goose Creek Loop (skiing/hiking/horseback): Circles northwest through bottomland forest from the Sunrise River access. Prone to flooding in spring (3 mi).
• Tubing: A business in the town of Sunrise offers tube trips down the Sunrise River with shuttle pickup.
• There is no official swimming area, but sandbars at the Nevers Dam site and elsewhere attract many beachgoers.

Wetlands west of the St. Croix River.

Trails in the spring are prone to flooding. This is the river trail, but the St. Croix has flooded the trail making it impassable.

Another flooded trail along the St. Croix.

The St. Croix River.

[edit] External links

• Wild River State Park website
• St. Croix National Scenic Riverway website

[edit] References

• Arthur, Anne. Minnesota's State Parks. Adventure Publications, Inc.: Cambridge, MN, 1998.
• Bewer, Tim. Moon Handbooks: Minnesota. Avalon Travel Publishing: Emeryville, CA, 2004.
• Meyer, Roy W. Everyone's Country Estate: A History of Minnesota's State Parks. Minnesota Historical Society Press: St. Paul, 1991.
• Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2006. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Web Site (online).