Palisades State Park

Palisades State Park
South Dakota State Park
King and Queen Rock in Palisades State Park
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
County	Minnehaha

Location	Garretson
- coordinates	43°41′15″N 96°31′1″W / 43.68750°N 96.51694°W / 43.68750; -96.51694Coordinates: 43°41′15″N 96°31′1″W / 43.68750°N 96.51694°W / 43.68750; -96.51694

Area	157 acres (63.5 ha)

Location of Palisades State Park in South Dakota

Palisades State Park is a state park of South Dakota, USA, featuring cliffs and rock formations eroded out of pink Sioux Quartzite. The park is located just south of Garretson, 10 miles (16 km) off Interstate 90. At only 157 acres (64 ha), it is South Dakota's second-smallest state park.^[1]

Natural history

The Sioux Quartzite rocks are 1.2 billion years old and up to 50 feet (15 m) high. They are exposed on either side of Split Rock Creek, which also flows through Split Rock Creek State Park in Minnesota. Within the quartzite are deposits of catlinite, a softer mineral essential to many Native American groups to make ceremonial pipes. The park lies on the Coteau des Prairies, a plateau on the northern Great Plains.^[1]

Cultural history

Pioneers settled in the area beginning in 1865. In the 1870s Split Rock Creek was harnessed to power a large flour and feed mill, and a town called Palisades formed around it. Silver was discovered shortly downstream in 1886, prompting a short-lived silver rush but the ore was found to be low quality. Three years later Garretson became a railroad junction and most of Palisades relocated to the north.^[2]^[3] A steel truss bridge built over Split Rock Creek in 1908 is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Recreation

Palisades State Park has a campground with 37 sites, 6 camper cabins, and a group tenting area. There is also a 4-bedroom lodge which can be reserved for private events. Four hiking trails wind through the park. Rock climbing is permitted on the quartzite formations, though the use of bolts is prohibited.^[2]

References

1 2 SouthDakota.com. "Palisades State Park". Retrieved 2011-02-28.
1 2 South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. "Palisades State Park". Retrieved 2011-02-28.
↑ South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks, Palisades State Park signage

External links

Palisades State Park

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Palisades State Park.

Summer camps in the U.S. state of South Dakota

Camps	Camp Rapid (Rapid City) Custer State Park Palisades State Park (Garretson) Sica Hollow State Park

Boy Scout camps	Lewis and Clark Scout Camp (Tabor) Medicine Mountain Scout Ranch (Custer)

Protected areas of South Dakota

Federal

National Parks	Badlands Wind Cave

National Historic Sites and Memorials	Minuteman Missile NHS Mount Rushmore NMem

National Monument	Jewel Cave

National Forests	Black Hills Custer

National Grasslands	Buffalo Gap Dakota Prairie Fort Pierre Grand River

National Historic Trail	Lewis and Clark

National Recreational River	Missouri

National Wildlife Refuges	Huron WMD Karl E. Mundt Lacreek Lake Andes Madison WMD Sand Lake Sand Lake WMD Waubay Waubay WMD

National Wilderness Areas	Badlands Black Elk

State

State Parks	Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve Bear Butte Custer Fisher Grove Fort Sisseton Good Earth Hartford Beach Lake Herman Newton Hills Oakwood Lakes Palisades Roy Lake Sica Hollow Union Grove

State Recreation Areas	Angostura Beaver Creek Big Sioux Big Stone Island Burke Lake Buryanek Chief White Crane Cow Creek Farm Island George S. Mickelson Trail Indian Creek LaFramboise Island Lake Alvin Lake Cochrane Lake Hiddenwood Lake Louise Lake Poinsett Lake Thompson Lake Vermillion Lewis and Clark Little Moreau Llewellyn Johns Mina Lake North Point North Wheeler Oahe Downstream Okobojo Point Pease Creek Pelican Lake Pickerel Lake Pierson Ranch Platte Creek Randall Creek Richmond Lake Sandy Shore Shadehill Snake Creek Spirit Mound Historic Prairie Springfield Swan Creek Walker's Point West Bend West Pollack West Whitlock

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/17/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.