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May 3, 2025
September 13, 2023
Waite Park, Minnesota
Quarry Park and Nature Center Hike |
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Barb Kolbe Jan Swanberg |
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Click on the small pictures to view the full-size photos |
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| Quarry Park & Nature Preserve On Sept.13, five Ullr's (Karen H, Nancy S, Linda H, Barb K and Jan S) made the drive to Quarry Park & Nature Preserve near St. Cloud. The day started out chilly but sunny and after hiking 3+ miles we warmed up. The trail options were marked well so we could easily find and explore around some of the nicest quarry pits, the path to a lookout tower, as well as the Liberty Derrick Exhibit (mining tools) to make for an interesting hike. Mining operations of the granite from these quarries started in the late 1800's and early 1900's and continued until the mid-1950's. The granite was called Saint Cloud Red Granite, giving St. Cloud the nickname of “Granite City”. Some of this granite is present in the Landmark Center and James J Hill house in St. Paul. Stearns Co. purchased the Quarry lands from the Cold Spring Granite Co. in 1992 and officially opened this park in 1998. Activities available in the park are hiking, biking, snowshoeing swimming, trout fishing in several ponds, and with a permit you can rock climb or Scuba dive in a couple of the pits. The 684 acre park also features oak woodland forest, a wet meadow & prairie, bluff lands and rock outcroppings. |
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