Cascade River State Park is a
state park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...
near the northeastern tip of
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, US. The park is in a rocky and rugged location where the
Cascade River descends to meet
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
. It has many different types of wildlife including various birds and mammals.
Cascade River State Park is also connected to the
Superior Hiking Trail
The Superior Hiking Trail, also known as the SHT, is a long hiking trail in northeastern Minnesota that follows the rocky ridges overlooking Lake Superior for most of its length. The trail travels through forests of birch, aspen, pine, fir, and ...
.
The site was originally named Cascade River State Wayside. It was developed by the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
starting around July 1934. One of the projects was a huge overlook wall, built from locally quarried
gabbro
Gabbro ( ) is a phaneritic (coarse-grained and magnesium- and iron-rich), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...
.
The roadside development plans were drawn by
Arthur R. Nichols and Harold E. Olson. The project was considered a model for roadside development. The development work was supervised and inspected not just by
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
employees, but also by members of the
Minnesota Highway Department, staff of the Minneapolis Park Board, Civilian Conservation Corps individuals, members of the
Minnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...
, and some Canadian officials.
The wayside was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on August 4, 2003.
Gallery
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf.JPG, The Cascade River
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf (3).JPG, The Cascade River
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf (4).JPG, A rainbow over the Cascade River
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf (5).JPG, A rainbow over the Cascade River
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf (6).JPG, The Cascade River
Image:CascadeParkMN_arf (8).JPG, Lake Superior just South of Cascade River State Park
References
External links
Cascade River State Park
{{authority control
1957 establishments in Minnesota
Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
Protected areas established in 1957
Protected areas of Cook County, Minnesota
State parks of Minnesota
National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Minnesota
Arthur R. Nichols works
Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota
Roadside parks