Geology of Beaver Creek Valley

The geology at Beaver Creek Valley State Park is what sets this apart from other state parks of this size.  
Houston County lies on the later Paleozoic plateau of Southeastern Minnesota that extends into Wisconsin and Iowa.  Cambrian and Ordovician sedimentary rocks are exposed and creates a stunning landscape.  The Mississippi river valley attests to these formations.  


This area is also known as the "Driftless area".  It is an area composed of Karst terrain.  


What is the "Driftless area"? 
Basically, it's the area that glaciers missed as they expanded and retreated during the last ice age. So this area was not scoured down to the bedrock and the original geology has continued to stay natural without any glacial scouring as you might find around the rest of Minnesota and on the north shore of Lake Superior and northern areas of Wisconsin.  In those areas you find more lakes, kettles, moraines and more level terrain. The driftless area, it's natural bluffs, valleys, caves make it worth investigating to see.


What is Karst? 
It is a land formation formed by different types of soluble rocks.  Dolomite & limestone  were layered together.  Rainwater mixed with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and the ground becomes acidic and dissolves the minerals as it seeps down into the rock.  In turn that causes sinkholes, caves, lots of underwater drainage systems.  This causes an underground plumbing system.  

At Beaver Creek Valley State Park, the water pushes toward the surface as the water filters through crevices.  


The headwaters of East Beaver Creek happen at Big Spring, which is east of the camping cabins.  There is a big plaque on a boulder close to the trail leading to the spring.  It gives you good information about the spring.  

Here is the mouth of the Big Spring where water percolates up through the layers of rock. 

 The spring feeds into a small pond before it leaves the confines and continues down to form Beaver Creek.

Steep Rock Trail dolomite foundation

Switch Back Trail

Overlook at Switch Back Trail

The hike up to the overlook is about a mile from the parking lot by the picnic area and picnic shelter.  You'll see wildflowers and migrating birds and the view is stunning.