Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Location

9700 170th Street East
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Policies

Max stay

14 nights

About

Enjoy this park, any season of the year-- In the spring, the forest floor is a spectacular wildflower garden where many plants like hepatica, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, and the rare dwarf trout lily bloom. Relax by Hidden Falls or take a peaceful hike in the summer. The autumn brings bursts of red, orange, and gold in the maple-brasswood forest, one of the last extensive strands of the " Big Woods ." When winter comes, hike, snowshoe, or snowmobile the trails through picturesque woods. History For thousands of years the ancestors of today's indigenous people, including the Dakota, managed the woodlands here. Forests like what is present at the park once covered 3,000 square miles of Southcentral Minnesota. By 1854, European immigrants displaced native people and began to manage the woods in a very different way. It didn't take long for most of the forest, about 96%, to be converted into fields and homes. The Big Woods persists here today because of unique local management that prioritized small, family-woodlots that made it difficult to fully cut large areas of the forest. It was formally protected as state park in 1945. Wildlife Hollow trees provide red and hoary woodland bats shelter. Other mammals like raccoon, fox, and deer are abundant. Gray treefrogs, wood frogs, American toads, red-bellied and garter snakes are usually easy to find. Bird watchers will enjoy viewing scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, wood thrush, bobolinks, meadowlarks, and seven species of woodpeckers, including the "Species of Special Concern" red-headed woodpecker. Naturalist A naturalist offers programs year-round. Landscape Sugar maple, basswood, oak, hickory, aspen, elm, ash, and ironwood trees shade the land. Over 200 varieties of wildflowers, along with countless varieties of ferns and mushrooms grew in the Big Woods. Much of the park is deeply eroded with streams and is hilly, especially north of County Hwy 29. Park lands south of County Hwy 29 are generally flatter with a soil top layer that contains a lot of clay. Recently, changes in rainfall amounts have had a dramatic impact on the forest. Here is a link to more information on climate change impacts on the Big Woods. Geology Ancient seas and massive blocks of ice shaped the land within the park. Approximately 500 to 440 million years ago the area was covered by a shallow sea that deposited layers of limestone and shale that today form the area's bedrock. These layers are exposed at Hidden Falls and have been given names by Geologists. The harder Platteville limestone is the cap on top of the softer Glenwood shale formation. Flowing waters of Prairie Creek have an easier time removing the soft shale creating an undercut noticeable at bottom of the falls. Much later in time, glaciers advanced and retreated covering the limestone and shale bedrock with a thick layer of glacial sediments called till. The end of the ice age resulted in massive amounts of water flowing over the land carving out a network of hills and valleys. Today, Prairie Creek flows through these areas providing a subtle picture of these ancient waterways.