The Best Way to Spend an Afternoon

The Best Way to Spend an Afternoon, originally uploaded by jw_creations.

Foraging Waterfowl, originally uploaded by jw_creations.

Remnant of Ancient Errosion, originally uploaded by jw_creations.

Devil's Lake State Park’s bluffs are part of the Baraboo Range, which scientists believe were formed 1.6 billion years ago, making them one of the most ancient rock outcrops in North America.

These ancient hills are formed of quartzite rock, which consists of grains of sand tightly cemented together. According to geologists, the sand was deposited by rivers as they drained into shallow seas covering this area a billion years ago. As the sand accumulated, it first formed sandstone (a porous sedimentary rock) and then, under great heat and pressure, became quartzite (a non-porous metamorphic rock).

Prior to the last Ice Age roughly 15,000 years ago, the ancient Wisconsin River flowed between these hills before being diverted to it's present location to the East by massive continental ice sheets. The resulting terminal moraines effectively dammed the river at the north and south ends, and formed the lake that resides here today.