Inspiration Peak is a glacial feature of the

Leaf Hills Moraines The Leaf Hills Moraines, sometimes called the Leaf Mountains, are a range of hills in west-central Minnesota. The land does not exhibit many characteristics of mountains, but nevertheless rises typically to a height of above the surrounding farmla ...

and of

Otter Tail County Otter Tail County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, its population was 60,081. Its county seat is Fergus Falls. Otter Tail County comprises the Fergus Falls micropolitan statistical area. With 1,048 lakes in it ...

in the U.S. State 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 ...

and is the second highest peak in Otter Tail County. It is northwest of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. The peak rises about above the surrounding plains, to an elevation of about above sea level. It is the central feature of Inspiration Peak State Wayside, a small recreation area maintained by the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recre ...

, which manages it from nearby

Lake Carlos State Park Lake Carlos State Park is a state park about 10 miles north of Alexandria, Minnesota, USA. The park was established in 1937 to provide a public recreational facility in one of Minnesota's summer resort centers, and attracts tourists from Minnes ...

. The wayside has a paved parking lot and a picnic area. The hike to the top is a short but strenuous walk up a well-worn trail from the parking lot. Higher terrain is located about five miles northeast of Inspiration Peak. Pekan Peak (unofficial name) in Section 32, Folden Township, Otter Tail County, discovered by John Sandy in February 2022, at coordinates 46°11′54.744″ N 95°30′4.248″ W (DMS), Latitude 46.19854 Longitude -95.50118 (DD), has an elevation of , measured by LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. A conical-shaped hill, Inspiration Peak is a

kame A kame, or ''knob'', is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the g ...

formed atop the

Alexandria Moraine Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, a terminal moraine left by the Wadena and Des Moines lobes of the

Wisconsonian 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 Cor ...

. It is on the boundary between the

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

to the east and prairie to the west. In fact both

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

s are present on the hill; its foot is covered with a predominantly

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forest, while its open upper reaches have prairie species such as pasqueflower,

blazing star ''Blazing Star'' is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Yumekobo and published by SNK in 1998 for the Neo Geo arcade and home systems. It is a follow-up to '' Pulstar'' (1995) and features side-scrolling action similar to its predecessor an ...

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 ...

s, and goldenrod. Author Sinclair Lewis, a native of nearby

Sauk Centre, Minnesota Sauk Centre is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Sauk Centre is part of the St. Cloud, Minnesota, St. Cloud St. Cloud metropolita ...

, said of Inspiration Peak, "there's to be seen a glorious 20-mile circle of some 50 lakes scattered among fields and pastures, like sequins fallen on an old Paisley shawl."

References

{{authority control Kames State parks of Minnesota Mountains of Minnesota Protected areas of Otter Tail County, Minnesota Landforms of Otter Tail County, Minnesota