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 "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

near the northeastern tip of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, USA. The park is in a rocky and rugged location where the Cascade River descends to meet

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. 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 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 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 a major part of ...

starting around July 1934. One of the projects was a huge overlook wall, built from locally quarried

gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is che ...

. 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 agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

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 decennia ...

, and some Canadian officials. The wayside was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

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