Forestville Mystery Cave State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Forestville Mystery Cave State Park |
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A passage in Mystery Cave
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 Forestville Mystery Cave State Park
Location in Minnesota
Forestville Mystery Cave State Park
Location in the United States
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| Location | Fillmore, Minnesota, United States |
| Area | 3,170 acres (12.8 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,266 ft (386 m) |
| Established | 1941 |
| Governing body | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |
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Forestville Townsite--Meighan Store
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Historic bridge to Forestville
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 Location in Minnesota
Location in the United States
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| Architect | Robert Foster; Felix Meighen |
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| NRHP reference No. | 73000976 |
| Added to NRHP | April 13, 1973 |
Forestville Mystery Cave State Park is a cool place in Minnesota. It's a state park that has two main parts. One part is the old village of Forestville. This village looks just like it did in the 1800s! The Minnesota Historical Society helps keep it that way.
The other amazing part is underground. It's called Mystery Cave, and it's the longest cave in Minnesota. You can even go inside and explore it! The park is located between the towns of Spring Valley and Preston, Minnesota.
Contents
Exploring Mystery Cave
The park is in a special area called the Driftless Area. This means the land has unique features like sinkholes and caves. This type of landscape is known as karst topography.
Mystery Cave is about 5 miles (8 km) from the main park area. The park itself covers about 3,170 acres (12.8 km²). You can go camping, learn about nature, and hike on many trails. There are also trails for horseback riding and cross-country skiing. Cold water streams flow through the park, which are great for trout fishing.
Inside Mystery Cave, you'll see amazing rock formations. These include stalactites, which hang from the ceiling, and stalagmites, which grow up from the floor. There are also clear underground pools. The cave stays a constant 48°F (9°C) all year round, so it's always cool inside! The cave has over 13 miles (21 km) of passages. Volunteers are still exploring and mapping it today.
How Mystery Cave Was Formed
Let's go back in time about 450 million years ago! At that time, this land was often covered by shallow seas. Over millions of years, layers of mud and ocean stuff piled up. These layers were pressed together to form different kinds of rock. These rocks include limestone, shale, and sandstone.
Today, these rock layers are about 1,300 feet (400 m) above sea level. The cave itself formed much later, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 years ago. Floodwaters slowly dissolved the limestone bedrock, creating the cave passages. Rainwater, which is slightly acidic, also helped shape the land above the cave. This created thousands of sinkholes and other cool karst features in the area.
Wildlife in the Park
Forestville Mystery Cave State Park is home to many different animals. You might find some rare creatures like glacial snails and timber rattlesnakes. There are also many common animals. These include deer, raccoons, beavers, and two types of fox. You might also spot mink, opossums, woodchucks, and four kinds of squirrels. If you listen at dusk, you might hear coyotes howling!
Many different reptiles and amphibians live here too. Over 175 types of birds have been seen in the park. The South Branch of the Root River flows through the park. It's a great place to find brown trout, brook trout, and rainbow trout.
Visiting Historic Forestville
The Minnesota Historical Society runs Historic Forestville. It's like a living museum that takes you back to the year 1899. People dressed in old-fashioned clothes act like the people who lived there long ago. They do daily tasks in the general store, house, kitchen, farm, and barn. It's a fun way to see what life was like back then!
Forestville used to be a busy trading center in the 1800s. But then, in 1868, the railroad was built somewhere else. This made the town less important, and it slowly declined. By 1890, a man named Thomas Meighen owned the whole village. This included the general store. Many local people worked for him and got housing and credit at his store.
You need a separate ticket to visit Historic Forestville from the cave tours. Historic Forestville is open from May through October each year.
