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MN State Parks: State Parks and Trails Wildlife Safari ended 5/2/12. Watch for the new challenge, Avian Adventures, to start June 9, 2012. [;)]

GC1P512 ▼

A cache by Minnesota State Parks Message this owner

Hidden : 3/25/2009

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

The cache at William O'Brien SP is a 4 part multi that starts at the interpretative center and will bring you along a riverside trail with lots of interpretative signs along the way. You may drive to the parking lot near the second stage in the summer. In the winter you will have to park at the interpretative center and hike ski or snowshoe down the road to the second stage or you will have an option to go straight to the final. Please do not bushwack, stay on the trails! You should be prepared for a hike of over a mile and a half.

There is also 3 other caches in the park to find. GC1G6RT, GC1G6TK, and GC1H9Z1 (which you'll walk past at one point during this cache).

A great "get away" park only one hour from the Twin Cities, William O'Brien provides a beautiful setting for quality recreation along the banks of the St. Croix River. Hiking trails offer quiet exploration of the park's rolling, wooded hills. For anglers, the channels of the St. Croix have northerns, walleye, bass and trout. Ideal for canoeing, the river is also a migratory pathway that offers visitors an exciting diversity of sights and sounds. In the winter, snowshoeing, skiing and camping attract enthusiasts.

History

The Dakota and Ojibwe Indians utilized the resources of the valley rich in fur-bearing animals, wild game, and useful plants. In the 1600s, European trappers arrived to engage in the lucrative fur-trade industry. Later, lumberjacks began to harvest the stands of white pine. Sawmills began to dot the St. Croix riverway and the industry flourished in the mid-1800s until the valley was cleared of white pine. William O'Brien, a lumber baron, bought much of the land once owned by the lumber companies. In 1947, his daughter donated 180 acres to be developed as a state park in memory of her father. Over the years, other privately owned pieces of land were added to the park which now totals 1,653 acres

Landscape

The variety of vegetation types, the St. Croix River floodplain, oak-hickory forests, scattered white pine areas, marshes, oak savanna, upland prairie and rolling meadows, provides habitat for diverse wildlife populations. Wildflowers give color to the spring woods and the summer fields. One of the best canoeing rivers in the nation, the St.Croix offers pristine scenery just minutes from a major metropolitan area.

Wildlife

Racoon, mink, beaver and woodchucks are prevalent. Upland meadows and woods provide a great environment for white-tail deer and fox. Birdwatchers frequently spot woodpeckers, bluebirds, orioles, herons, raptors and a variety of warblers.

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