The Ice Age National Scientific Reserve is an affiliated area of the

National Park System 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 ...

of the United States comprising nine sites in

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 ...

that preserve geological evidence of

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

. To protect the scientific and scenic value of the landforms, the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a cooperative reserve in 1964. The scientific reserve was established in 1971 and today encompasses some . The landforms are the result of the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...

during the last glacial period, which lasted from about 110,000 to 10,000 years ago. The nine units of the reserve, mostly Wisconsin

state parks 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 ...

or other protected areas, are administered by 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 ...

. Several units are not yet developed for visitation, having only minimal trails and no interpretive installations. Planning was underway for the future development and management of the Cross Plains unit. Several of the sites are joined by the

Ice Age National Scenic 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 ...

, but the reserve is a separate entity. Units of the reserve that charge state park access fees also accept federal passes.

Units

References

External links

Ice Age National Scientific Reserve
��Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

{{authority control Parks in Wisconsin National Reserves of the United States Glaciology of the United States National Park Service areas in Wisconsin 1971 establishments in Wisconsin Protected areas established in 1971