trail, are some of the most popular rock climbing areas.


Think about it - - -


Why would you live in a bunkhouse and dig dirt, carry rocks, pry boulders, put up buildings, sit on a bench to eat your chow, and sleep on a bunk at night for very little pay?


Turn right out of the CCC


parking lot and continue east. As you drive two miles, watch for:


9. A change from big


rocks to a hill of smaller loose rock and gravel on your left - From 1922 to 1967, there was a rock quarry and buildings near here. The smaller loose rocks on your left are leavings from that quarry. You can still find foundations of the workers’ quarters in the woods, though the quarry itself is officially off limits now. To retrieve the valuable quartzite rock, railroad tracks were laid right to the quarry. Before this quarry, there was a quarry on the east shore of Devil’s Lake until 1919.


10. In 1-¼ miles, watch


on your right for a small roadside pulloff – the Sandstone parking area. Roznos Meadow is the open area in this valley. Today, the meadow is kept open by periodic prescribed burning. On some summer nights, this vista is awash with the lights of thousands of fireflies. Hawks like to sit atop these few trees, watching the meadow for an easy lunch of mouse, vole, or rabbit.


Continue driving east (the


way you were going.) At the stop sign, turn right on Highway 113. Go about ¼ –mile, and turn right into the gravel parking lot by the Ice Age Trail sign.


11. Roznos Meadow


parking lot – The 1000- mile Ice Age Trail enters the


park near Parfrey’s Glen, loops around Devil’s Lake, and includes about 13 of the park’s 29 miles of trails. The valley you are in was not carved by a glacier, but a glacier was here. Look west (away from the road) and see what looks like a flat-topped earthen dam blocking the end of the valley. This is a textbook-perfect terminal moraine. Rock and dirt were pushed along by an advancing glacier, and then left in place at the end point of the glacier’s farthest advance. The C.C.C. parking lot and the Group Camp sit atop this moraine.


Think about it - - - what


would happen if there were two of these glacial “dams” a mile apart in the same valley?


Turn right out of the


parking lot, go 100 yards, and turn left on County Road DL. Go two miles and turn left into the Parfrey’s Glen parking lot.


12. Parfrey’s Glen


– is the first Wisconsin State Natural Area, designated in 1952.


It is a natural treasure,


harboring rare plants, animals, and birds within the sandstone conglomerate walls of the narrow gorge. Many plants found here are most commonly found much farther north in Wisconsin, Michigan and even Canada. It’s a dynamic place, usually placid and quiet, but punctuated by flooding and intense erosion that continues to reshape the ravine.


(If you choose, a walk into


the glen will take at least an hour, and will cover 1-½ miles roundtrip on foot.)


Think about it - - - why are


many species of plants in Parfrey’s Glen the same as plants a few hundred miles north of here?


Turn right out of the Parfrey’s Glen parking lot


31


onto County Road DL. Go back two miles to the stop sign. Turn right on Highway 113 and head uphill. Drive 1- ½ miles…


13. uphill on Highway


113 –As you crest the hill, you’ll cross the Ice Age Trail. The highest elevation in the park is a mile east of here, about 600’ higher than the lake level. This eastern section of the park seems to have more sightings of wildlife: deer, coyotes, rattlesnakes, eagles, hawks, owls, and even a badger.


Think about it - - - it


seems wildlife is a bit more abundant out here. Why?


Turn left on County Road


DL (about ½ -mile after you crest the top of the long winding hill.) Go about 1/2- mile and turn left into the Steinke Basin parking lot.


14. Steinke Basin


– You’re in an extinct glacial lake bed, about 240 feet higher than Devil’s Lake’s elevation. You’ll find it to be a diverse area with meadow, pine trees, hardwood forest, a stream, and ponds. Beavers dammed the stream and flooded some low areas. Trees that couldn’t tolerate “wet feet” died, but the slow decay of trees has created food for woodpeckers – insects in the dead wood. This area was farmed for generations, and some land is still leased for hay production. Steinke Basin is the hub of the park’s cross- country ski trails in the winter. To the north, across the road and in the woods, are some kettles – odd acre-sized round pits left after huge ice blocks from the retreating glacier melted. Also across the road to the north, behind the pine trees and north of the windmill frame, you might be able to find a large reddish rhyolite boulder, a geologic erratic all the way from


Michipicoten Island, Canada. Think about it - - - how did


a single distinctive rhyolite boulder get here all the way from Canada?


Turn left out of the Steinke


Basin parking lot onto County Road DL. Continue 1-½ miles all the way to the stop sign.


(Do NOT turn left into


the one-way exit road or into the Quartzite Campground) Turn left into the main north shore entrance of the park.


15. North Shore


Entrance - If you’re lucky, you’ll get to drive this road on a sunny autumn day when you’re entering a brilliant tunnel of luminous yellow maple leaves. Winding downhill, along thelast of the entrance road, you’ll pass the completely overgrown location of the elegant Claude house, which overlooked the lake from 1857 to 1953. In the early 1900’s private cabins, wall-tents, and “claim-it-and- use-it” campsites proliferated around the northeast corner of the lake. Over the years, there have been waterslides, toboggan runs, horse races, train stations, big band dances, and even a zoo here in the park.


Think about it - - -If Devil’s


Lake was not protected as a state park, how might it look today?


The driving tour finishes


at the same north shore area where you started. Hopefully you enjoyed your jaunt around this remarkable area. If you want to explore more of the park, you’ll have to use some shoe leather. Find Balanced Rock, have lunch at the historic Chateau, explore the West Bluff, swim at the beach, rent a canoe or 101 other things to do at Devil’s Lake State Park.


Enjoy your visit!


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