Roche-a-Cri State Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Roche-a-Cri State Park |
|
|---|---|
|
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
|
|
|
|
 Roche-a-Cri State Park
Location in Wisconsin
Roche-a-Cri State Park
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Adams, Wisconsin, United States |
| Area | 605 acres (245 ha) |
| Established | 1948 |
| Governing body | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
Roche-a-Cri State Park is a cool place in central Wisconsin, located north of the towns of Adams and Friendship. This park covers about 605 acres and was created in 1948. Its name, "Roche-a-Cri," comes from the French words for "crevice in the rock." This name perfectly describes the park's most famous feature!
Contents
Discovering Roche-a-Cri State Park
The most amazing part of Roche-a-Cri State Park is a huge rock formation that stands about 300 feet tall. This giant rock has special drawings on it called petroglyphs. These ancient drawings were made by Native American people a very long time ago.
Exploring Ancient Rock Art
The petroglyphs at Roche-a-Cri are the only rock art site in Wisconsin that you can visit publicly. Besides the petroglyphs, you can also find other kinds of rock art here. For example, there's a pictograph (a painting on rock) of a thunderbird and a horned human figure. It's like a giant outdoor art gallery from the past!
Hiking and Views
If you're feeling adventurous, there's a wooden stairway that leads all the way to the top of the rock outcropping. From up there, you can get amazing views of the park and the surrounding area. The park also has more than 5 miles of hiking trails, perfect for exploring the natural beauty around you.
Nature at Roche-a-Cri
The striking 300-foot bluff is a very hard part of rock that was left behind after a much larger sheet of sandstone wore away. Imagine it like a giant, ancient island!
How the Bluff Formed
Around 19,000 to 15,000 years ago, this bluff was actually an island sticking out of a huge body of water called Glacial Lake Wisconsin. Over thousands of years, the softer rock around it eroded, but this tough core remained.
Trees and Wildlife
On top of the bluff, you can find different kinds of trees, including red oak, black oak, white oak, red pine, white pine, and jack pine. You might also spot turkey vultures, sometimes called buzzards, flying around the top of the bluff.
-
Outcropping rock
-
Sign
-
The park from the south
