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Home , Minneopa State Park, Oak savanna

MINNEOPA

FACILITIES AND FEATURES: • 2 picnic areas MINNEOPA • Picnic shelter w/electricity

• Semi-modern campground See This Area of Park • Heated camper cabin with Enlarged electricity Below • Hiking/Ski trails STATE • Primitive group camp PARK • Historic site • Native 68 • Visitor center statutory park boundary M inn • Geologic formations esota • Cross-country ski trails River • Volleyball court Seppman • Horseshoe pit Windmill

• RV dump station 0.6

VISITOR FAVORITES: • Twin waterfall JUDSON, 7 miles 1.2 er iv • Seppmann Windmill R TRAILS FACILITIES • Stream fishing 1.0 Hiking/Skiing Information • Wildlife viewing 0.2 0.2 • Hiking Hiking Club Trail/Ski Park Office 0.3 • Photography Biking Campground 0.2

Picnic Area 0.3 statu tory p All ski trails are rated easy. ark b oun dary

Creek 68 Directional arrows apply to Historic Site winter ski trails only. Overlook 117 1.0 Trail distances are shown in miles Waterfall Minneopa 69 169 MANKATO, 3 miles Primitive Group 120 Camp 60 NORTH 69

LOOKING FOR MORE INFORMATION? 0.1.2.3.4.5 Trailer Dump Station Miles The DNR has mapped the state showing federal, 0.1.2.3.4.5 M Note: Trail loop around state and county landswith their recreational Kilometers Private Property inneopa facilities. Public Use Prohibited falls is closed to skiers. Public Recreation Information Maps (PRIM) are (except on designated trails) Creek available for purchase from the DNR gift shop, DNR South Route regional offices, Minnesota state parks and major Bike Trail statutory park boundary sporting and map stores. 60 Check it out - you'll be glad you did. 90 Because lands exist within the boundaries of this park LAKE CRYSTAL, 6 miles that are not under the jurisdiction of the D.N.R., check 169 GARDEN CITY, 9 miles with the park manager if you plan to use facilities such © 2/2009 by State of Minnesota, as trails and roads other than those shown. Department of Natural Resources vantage points along trails and walkways. The hiker when a tornado carried away both arms again in C01 and cross-country skier will enjoy the opportunity to 1880, they were not replaced. By then, windmills had B18 stretch out on trails through , floodplain, become unprofitable to operate. B14 RED FOX CAMPGROUND , and . Birders will be B13 NORTH delighted to find species from woods and prairie in The short-lived town of Minneopa was built around B20 a depot near the falls. The townsite was laid out in B15 B11 Underlined site numbers one park. B12e October, 1870. There was a grain elevator, hotel, store, are RESERVABLE B22 Duluth GEOLOGY: The park has two outstanding geological blacksmith shop, and a lumber yard. Foot bridges • features—the double waterfalls and the giant boulders were built over Minneopa Creek near the falls, and B17 A26 A28 on the park’s grassland areas. large picnic excursions, some as large as 5,000 people, B24 B9 B10e A24 came from neighboring communities during the sum- B19 A30 A22 / The word Minneopa means “water falling twice” in mer. Minneopa Village was destroyed by the great A20 St. Paul the Dakota Indian language. This double waterfalls A23 MINNEOPA • grasshopper plagues of the 1870s. All crops were B7 B8e A25 is the result of Minneopa Creek cutting into and B26 A32 A21 STATE PARK wiped out for three consecutive years, and thus the B21 A18 eroding layers of Jordan sandstone at different rates. A5 village disappeared from the map. A3 A19 In all, the water drops 45 feet. The deep gorge below B6e the falls was formed by Minneopa Creek downcutting In 1905 the state legislature passed a law establishing B5 A16 B23 A7 A6 A17 and removing the soft sandstone. Minneopa State Park to set aside the area around A1 B4e Minneopa Falls for public use. Later purchases ex- B28 A34 A8 A14 A27 A4 MINNEOPA The park’s prairie area was called “TINTA-INYA- panded the park to its present-day size. A9 OTA” or prairie with many rocks by the Dakota. In B3 A15 B25 this grassland area, a thin layer of soil covers the WILDLIFE: Minneopa’s diverse habitats support a A13 STATE PARK A2 A12 boulders and limestone bedrock. The presence of myriad of wildlife. Searching for insects, pileated B2e A11 FOR MORE INFORMATION gopher mounds is a good indicator of where the soil woodpeckers carve out huge cavities in the dead and B30 B1 is deepest. The large boulders, or “glacial erratics,” diseased of the park’s . Western and B27 Minneopa State Park e Electrical Sites 54497 Gadwall Road scattered about the grassland area were transported eastern meadowlarks are commonly found through- and deposited here by the glaciers over 15,000 years out the park. Bluebirds dart between the bur oak and Water Mankato, MN 56001-5929 ago. These erratics were carried over a hundred miles the grasses of the . Look for them as they B32 B29 (507) 389-5464 from their bedrock source. Some of the larger rocks drop from low perches in pursuit of insects. Hidden Toilets ♦ are split in two. It is not known whether the forces in the sunny, short grasses, bobolinks fill the air with B34 Restrooms/Showers of nature or man are responsible for these fractures. their sweet tinkling song. fice Department of Natural Resources f Camper Cabin Information Center to O HISTORY: The first white settler to build a home on Garter and bull snakes—both absolutely harmless— 500 Lafayette Road Minneopa Creek was Isaac S. Lyons. He built his glide silently through the grass in search of insects St. Paul, MN 55155-4040 cabin in July, 1853 and opened a small water-operated and rodents. Shrikes hunt for mice and grasshoppers sawmill the following summer. Reports from pioneer and fox squirrels bury acorns to be eaten later. create the prairie that was the Indian’s Tinta-inya-ota park staff. Portable stoves or grills are permitted. (651) 296-6157 (Metro Area) settlers tell of their children playing lacrosse and hunting ground. • Daily or annual permits are required for all vehicles 1-888-646-6367 (MN Toll Free) other games with Native American children. A tribe Belted kingfishers clatter and flash up and down the entering a state park. They may be purchased at creek, stopping only long enough to dive for a minnow SO EVERYONE CAN ENJOY THE PARK... the park headquarters or the Information Center in TDD (Telecommunications that camped near the mouth of Minneopa Creek was known as the “Tribe of Sixes” because they always in the shimmering water. Gnawed, felled trees along • The park belongs to all Minnesotans. Please treat St. Paul (see “FOR MORE INFORMATION” to left). Device for Deaf) built their lodges in groups of six or multiples of six. the river are unmistakable signs of the largest rodent it with respect and help us to protect it by following (651) 296-5484 (Metro Area) In the spring of 1858, Miner Porter built a summer in the park, the beaver. the rules. ♦ 1-800-657-3929 (MN Toll Free) resort near the scenic Minneopa Falls. He planted • The park is open year-round. On a daily basis, the trees and flowers and built winding walkways and Restoration of the area surrounding the campground park gate is closed from 10:00 P. M. to 8:00 A.M. the that once was prairie will create additional diverse following morning except to registered campers. This information is available in DNR Web Site: www.dnr.state.mn.us arbors. The Civil War and the habitat for wildlife. The “prairie” of Minneopa had •Camp only in designated locations. alternative format upon request. State Parks page: www.mnstateparks.info interfered with the success of the enterprise and it was abandoned in 1870. been a sheep pasture for a long time before it became • The use of firearms, explosives, air guns, slingshots, part of the park. The grazing sheep destroyed many traps, seines, nets, bows and arrows, and all other “Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from programs of the Minnesota Department of Natural MINNEOPA STATE PARK is located off U.S. Highway The Seppmann windmill, in the northwest portion of the native prairie plants, allowing weedy non- weapons is prohibited in state parks. Resources is available to all individuals regardless of 169 and State Highway 68, five miles west of Mankato of the park, was donated to the state by Albert Sepp- native species to thrive. • Pets must be restrained on a leash no longer than six feet. Pets are not allowed in park buildings. race, color, creed or religion, national origin, sex, marital in Blue Earth County. Highway map index: 19-H. mann, son of its builder. It was patterned after the status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual mills in Louis Seppmann’s native Germany. Built Present management of the prairie includes periodic • Park in designated areas only. burning. Prairie plants are rejuvenated by fire. The orientation, age or disability. Discrimination inquires Within Minneopa State Park is southern Minnesota’s with the help of Louis’ neighbor Herman Hegley, it •Motor bikes and other licensed vehicles are allowed should be sent to the Minnesota Department of Natural largest waterfalls and the remains of the Seppmann was one of the first stone grist mills in Minnesota. the pioneers spoke of, started by lightning only on park roads, not on trails. Resources, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, windmill. The park includes 1145 acres of old glacial or sometimes by Indians, actually made the grasses The mill was completed in 1864, and in a favorable • Enjoy park wildlife and plants but please respect MN 55155-4031; or the Equal Opportunity terraces on the south side of the Minnesota River wind could grind 150 bushels of wheat per day into and wildflowers come back more vigorously than them. Do not pick or dig up plants, disturb or feed Office, Department of the Interior, Wash- ington, D.C. 20240.” and the beautiful Minneopa Creek gorge. flour. People from 20-30 miles away hauled their grist before. Controlled burns conducted by park person- animals, or scavenge dead wood. to it. Natural calamities plagued the mill. Lightning nel have the same invigorating effect on the plants. • Build fires only in designated locations—fire rings DEPARTMENT OF Changing with the seasons, the scenic double falls of Many of the prairie plants, which disappeared over NATURAL RESOURCES struck two arms in 1873. They were replaced, but or fireplaces. Wood is available for purchase from © 2/2009 by State of Minnesota, Minneopa Creek can be enjoyed from numerous the years of grazing will have to be replanted to Department of Natural Resources DNR Maps