Wild River State Park

Geobox|Protected area
name = Wild River State Park
category = Minnesota State Park
category_iucn = V

---

image_caption = Wild River State Park protects shoreline along the St. Croix, a National Wild and Scenic River.
country = United States
country_

state = Minnesota
state_

state_type = State
region_type = County
region = Chisago
city_type = City
city = Almelund
lat_d = 45
lat_m = 34
lat_s = 5
lat_NS = N
long_d = 92
long_m = 52
long_s = 33
long_EW = W
area_unit = acre
area_imperial = 6803
area_round = 1
established = 1973
map_locator = Minnesota


management_body = Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Wild River State Park is a convert|6803|acre|km2|sing=on 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.

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.

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. Each month throughout spring and summer brings different wildflowers in bloom. Some common spring flowers include wild columbine ("Aquilegia canadensis"), wild Geranium ("Geranium maculatum"), and Carolina puccoon ("Lithospermum caroliniense"). During the summer, visitors can see Black-eyed Susan ("Rudbeckia hirta"), butterfly milkweed ("Asclepias tuberosa"), and rough blazing star ("Liatris aspera"). Fall brings its own mix of wildflowers, including many asters and goldenrods. There is also a variety of native grasses, including big bluestem ("Andropogon gerardii"), little bluestem ("Schizachyrium scoparium"), and indian grass ("Sorghastrum nutans").

Restoration is currently taking place through the park's Prairie Care Project, to rehabilitate oak savanna and prairie areas. These efforts involve controlled burning to reduce built-up thatch and clearing plantations of farmer-introduced pines. The Prairie Care Project allows and encourages volunteers to participate in seed collection in the fall and seed sowing in the spring. Volunteers can also help with seed processing in the winter months. Species Stewards are special volunteers who "adopt" a species in the park. They come to the park at least once every two weeks to locate their plant, check its progress towards bloom and seed production, and collect seed to be sown in new locations. To volunteer as a seed collector, seed sower, or species steward, contact the Park Naturalist at [phone]. Families, school groups, and individuals are welcome.

Wild River State Park is also trying to reduce or eliminate the population of non-native, invasive buckthorn within park boundaries. Volunteers are again encouraged to join in, either by simply stopping to pull buckthorn for a few hours or by getting more involved by joining the Buckthorn-Free Zone initiative. The Buckthorn-Free Zone initiative allows volunteers to claim a portion, or "zone", of the park as their own with the responsibility of eventually making it Buckthorn-Free. There are a variety of zone sizes and difficulty levels, ranging from a small zone that can be cleared of buckthorn in a few days to some zones that may never fully be Buckthorn-Free. Once a volunteer has claimed a zone, cleared all the buckthorn plants (by hand pulling, using Weed-Wrenches, or flagging large trees for chemical treatment), and come back to remove re-sprouts for a year, he or she will be awarded a "Die Buckthorn Scum" t-shirt. Volunteers are asked to return at least once annually to maintain their zone, even after it has been declared Buckthorn-Free.

The park's narrowness reduces its quality as wildlife habitat somewhat. Nevertheless, it serves as north-south continuous corrider along the St. Croix River, which is used as a migration route for many birds. 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. Wild River State Park's bird list documents 200 species that can be viewed at different times throughout the year. One birding highlight is in May, an excellent time to view the warbler migration.

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 convert|200|ft|m 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 convert|10|mi|km|sing=on 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 convert|600|ft|m|sing=on 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 convert|11|mi|km 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 convert|4497|acre|km2 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.

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 (5 sites each accommodating 30 people)
**20 rustic sites within the horse camp with picket lines available
**Guest house (8 capacity)
**6 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: convert|35|mi|km of hiking/cross-country skiing trails and convert|20|mi|km 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 convert|2|mi|km|abbr=on 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.
*Geocaching opportunities include the Minnesota State Parks Geocaching History Challenge (Wild River State Park is a multi-cache with the starting coordinates N 45 31.583 W 092 44.645), Wild River State Park History Cache I (a puzzle cache which requires you to solve clues in order to determine the coordinates of the cache), and several other caches that are not sponsored by the park. More information can be found at geocaching.com.

External links

* [http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/wild_river/index.html Wild River State Park website]
* [http://www.nps.gov/sacn/ St. Croix National Scenic Riverway website]

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).