Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along 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 managed to provide quieter, more nature-oriented recreation as a counterpoint to the busier William O'Brien and Interstate State Parks downstream.
Wild River State Park is named after the St. Croix's designation as a National Wild and Scenic River. The park contains the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road: Deer Creek Section, a surviving section of the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road built in 1853, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Natural history
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 Grantsburg. 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 gerardi), 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.
Wild River State Park is also trying to reduce or eliminate the population of non-native, invasive buckthorn within park boundaries. 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.
The park's narrowness reduces its quality as wildlife habitat somewhat. Nevertheless, it serves as north–south continuous corridor along the St. Croix River, which is used as a migration route for many birds. Prevalent mammals include beaver, raccoon, river otter, fox, coyote, 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.
History
Early history
Archaeological remains have been found in the park dating back 5000 years, but the majority of artifacts date from 1200 to 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 townships of Sunrise and Amador, and the community of 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.