Where you stand right now you are in the "Pillager Gap" named by early geologists for this area that was created by a huge flow of glacial waters that broke through the St. Croix moraine If you would follow the road to the top of the hill, archeologist Douglas Birk writes, "From that access one gets the most spectacular view from the brink of the south moraine where the highway drops abruptly to the level valley floor below." The moraine -- a series of hills that stretch from Leech Lake to St. Cloud were pushed back by the strong push of water from the melted glaciers which carved a path and covered the area with sand and ROCKS. These hills were a barrier to east/west movement, but the Pillager Gap was a doorway to the prairies and as flat as a table top, Birk said. Because of this "gap", this hole in the high ridges and hills, travelers used the route for western travel between the Great Lakes and the northern prairies. And because of the heavy timber cover, the area was know as the best hunting grounds in the Upper Midwest.