John A. Latsch 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 ...

of Minnesota, USA, on the Mississippi River, northwest of

Winona Winona, Wynona or Wynonna may refer to: Places Canada * Winona, Ontario United States * Winona, Arizona * Winona, Indiana * Winona Lake, Indiana * Winona, Kansas * Winona, Michigan * Winona County, Minnesota ** Winona, Minnesota, the seat of Wi ...

. The park contains three steep bluffs rising above the river which are named Mount Faith, Mount Hope, and Mount Charity. The park is nearly undeveloped, with a small walk-in campground (closed to use currently) and only one trail. It functions primarily as a wayside on

U.S. Route 61 U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designated ...

, which runs between the river and the base of the bluffs. Lock and Dam No. 5 is adjacent to the park.

Natural history

The park sits on limestone laid down on the floor of a shallow sea 500 million years ago. Torrents of runoff at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation 10,000 years ago carved the bed of the Mississippi River down into this limestone, leaving high bluffs along its banks. The park is situated in the Driftless Area, an atypically rugged region of the Upper

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

because it was never glaciated and covered with a layer of glacial till, or drift.

Flora and fauna

The steepness of the three bluffs deterred logging, and the forest cover today is a high quality mix of many different species. These include several kinds of oak, maple, elm, cedar, and ash, as well as black walnut, hickory, basswood, ironwood, birch, and poplar. A great variety of birds migrate past the park along the Mississippi Flyway. Terrestrial species include white-tailed deer,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

es,

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

s, and timber rattlesnakes.

Cultural history

The three bluffs were named by

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

captains, who used them as landmarks. A logging town with its own steamboat landing was active here in the 1850s, supplying lumber to sawmills in newly founded Winona. The townsite has since been submerged by water backed up by the

lock and dam Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. John A. Latsch was a Winona businessman who loved fishing beneath these three bluffs. He purchased some of the property and, along with an adjacent landowner, donated for a state park in 1925. Latsch was a lifelong patron of conservation;

Whitewater State Park Whitewater State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, preserving a stretch of the Whitewater River surrounded by rocky bluffs. It is located in Winona County in the southeastern blufflands area of the state. The park features s ...

and Wisconsin's

Perrot State Park Perrot State Park is a state park in Wisconsin's Driftless Area at the confluence of the Trempealeau and Mississippi rivers. The park features views of steep limestone bluffs and the river valleys. It has observation platforms for watching wil ...

both grew out of other parcels he donated. He was also a founder of the Izaak Walton League, an early environmental non-profit organization. Development at this park stagnated, largely because the only level land was at the mouths of the small ravines that separated the three bluffs. The Civilian Conservation Corps blazed a trail to the top of Mount Charity, the highest of the trio, in 1933. Latsch, who died the following year, recorded his regret that he hadn't acquired more property in the beginning. In 1963 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 ...

authorized an extension of the park's boundaries, to include a sizeable area behind the bluffs. However this property is yet to be acquired from its private owners, and the publicly held land in the park amounts to only . A 1971 analysis recommended that John A. Latsch State Park be reclassified as a Scientific and Natural Area, though this has not been acted upon either.

Recreation

The park features a picnic ground and 7 primitive walk-in campsites (which are currently closed to the public). Water is available seasonally from a pump. The only trail is the steep, Riverview Trail, which climbs to the top of Mount Charity, offering a panoramic view of the Mississippi River Valley.

References

*Arthur, Anne. ''Minnesota's State Parks''. Adventure Publications, Inc.: Cambridge, MN, 1998. *Bewer, Tim. ''Moon Handbooks: Minnesota''. Avalon Travel Publishing: Emeryville, CA, 2004. *Meyer, Roy W. ''Everyone's Country Estate: A History of Minnesota's State Parks''. Minnesota Historical Society Press: St. Paul, 1991. *Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2006. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Web Site (online).

External links

John A. Latsch State Park
{{authority control 1925 establishments in Minnesota Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota Driftless Area Protected areas established in 1925 Protected areas of Winona County, Minnesota Protected areas on the Mississippi River State parks of Minnesota