Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area is a natural area in southern

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, which is in size, and is located along the

Ice Age Trail The Ice Age Trail is a National Scenic Trail stretching in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. The trail is administered by the National Park Service, and is constructed and maintained by private and public agencies including the Ice ...

Location

Located in Columbia County, Wisconsin, Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area is in size. The Wisconsin River Valley and

Lake Wisconsin Lake Wisconsin is a reservoir on the Wisconsin River in southern Wisconsin in the United States. It is located in Columbia and Sauk counties, approximately southeast of Baraboo and NNW of Madison. Today it is home to the Wisconsin wine appella ...

are located within view of the higher-elevation points in the natural area. The Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area is located along the Ice Age Trail, which is a thousand miles long. It is located from the intersection of Highway 113 and County Highway V in the town of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. Wisconsin County Road V runs past the area, with a parking lot located off the road that allows access to it. From there, a walking trail leads off to gain access to Gibraltar Rock.

History

Early on, the Van Ness family owned the land and had a house on the property. Other early families living in the area includes the Richmond family. During the 1920s, Wisconsin landscape architect

Jens Jensen Jens Jensen may refer to: * Jens Jensen (footballer) (1890–1957), Danish football (soccer) player who played one game for the Denmark national football team * Jens Jensen (landscape architect) (1860–1951), Danish-born landscape architect in Chic ...

started efforts to protect the area. Forming a group at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

in 1920, the group was able to acquire the land in 1927. They named the area Richmond Park. The Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area became a Wisconsin-designated natural area in 1969. It was originally owned by the county until 2007, when they transferred ownership to the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

(WDNR). A celebration was held following the transfer of ownership.

Background

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources manages the Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area. Howard Van Ness made several paintings depicting the area prior to its designation as a state natural area. Friends of Gibraltar Rock exists and does "biological indexing of the flora and fauna in the area." The views from the natural area are a major tourist draw. The track for the area does not have wheelchair access. People are not allowed to climb the rocks in the park, though this has not always been the case.

Geology

The natural area is located on the outer part of the

Magnesian Escarpment The Magnesian escarpment is the most westerly of three prominent escarpments that run north-south in Wisconsin. All three escarpments are formed by the edges of layers of sedimentary rocks. The easternmost and most prominent escarpment is the Ni ...

/ Black River Escarpment, with the soil for the area being

glaciated A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

sandy loams, which sit on top of the

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

- Platteville

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

cap and

St. Peter sandstone The St. Peter Sandstone is an Ordovician geological formation. It belongs to the Chazyan stage of the Champlainian series in North American regional stratigraphy, equivalent to the late Darriwilian global stage. This sandstone originated as a sheet ...

. Inside the natural area is a flat-topped

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

called "Gibraltar Rock." It sits above sea level and is the highest point in Columbia County. There is a trail leading up to the Rock.

Wildlife and fauna

Cliff goldenrod, columbine, ferns, pale corydalis and red cedar, little blue-stem, side oats grama, prairie drop-seed,

blue-eyed grass ''Sisyrinchium'' is a large genus of annual to perennial flowering plant in the family Iridaceae. Native to the New World, the species are known as blue-eyed grasses and, though not true grasses and in varieties with flower colors other than blu ...

, bird's foot violet, bergamot,

pasque flower The genus ''Pulsatilla'' contains about 40 species of herbaceous perennial plants native to meadows and prairies of North America, Europe, and Asia. Derived from the Hebrew word for Passover, "pasakh", the common name pasque flower refers to th ...

, leadplant,

aster Aster or ASTER may refer to: Biology * ''Aster'' (genus), a genus of flowering plants ** List of ''Aster'' synonyms, other genera formerly included in ''Aster'' and still called asters in English * Aster (cell biology), a cellular structure shap ...

, whorled milkweed, and prairie smoke are located within the natural area.

References

{{Authority control State Natural Areas of Wisconsin Protected areas of Columbia County, Wisconsin Rock formations of Wisconsin Landforms of Columbia County, Wisconsin Protected areas established in 1969 1969 establishments in Wisconsin