Tag Archives: MN Buffalo Ridge

Destination, Nature, Photography, Wildlife

Blue Mound State Park | MN Buffalo Ridge

June 13, 2013 Dan Traun

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

From Pipestone, MN we traveled South 30 minutes to Blue Mound State Park. This is another fine example of the wild beauty that nature has provided for us. Situated minutes North of Luverne, MN in Rock County, Blue Mound State Park is touted in local folklore as the mound that was used as a buffalo jump before European settlements – no archaeological evidence exist however. That would be quite the sight.

The “mound” definitely sticks out of the landscape with cliffs up to 100 feet high. The Sioux Quartzite bedrock can been seen from quite a distance; even though it is pink in color, it appeared to early settlers as a blueish mound – hence the name. There are well maintained trails all about the park, but be sure to wear suitable shoes – seems like common sense, I know – however we ran out of that when we pulled into the park. The excitement to get out and see the huge rock formation had us on a 5+ mile hike with no water and I with dead batteries in one of the two cameras I was lugging along for the excursion. We should have turned back and dropped my one camera off and acquired some portable H2O, but that didn’t happen (my fault). It didn’t seem like the hike was going to be that far until it was….ever been there? Beware of a small creek crossing on the South end of the park on Bur Oak Trail. The big hunk of wood in the middle of the stream that appears to be a worthy stepping stone is an invitation to get acquainted with the muddy banks of this innocent looking creek crossing. Thankfully the interpretive center, on the opposite end of the park from where we parked, was not far. It was a welcomed oasis. Some water to wet your parched whistle was just the ticket.

The lower path provides nice views of cliffs where the upper provides sweeping views from atop the mound to the surrounding farm land. There were lots of Western Prickly Pear and some Prairie Smoke, but with the odd Spring weather we had, it was still pretty early and nothing much was in bloom. There were plenty of birds, butterflies and other critters to hold our interest. We spied a very interesting bird; it looked like it had a yellow helmet on. I have never encountered anything like that before. If anyone knows what it is please comment below. We saw the buffalo heard on the way in close to the road, however, when we were done with our hike they were way off away from any photo opportunity. Oh well, perhaps another time.

Cyndie and I very much enjoyed this wonderful state park despite being prepared to really enjoy it. Next time there will need to be more time, comfortable footwear and plenty of aqua. We are very lucky in Minnesota to have so many great state parks. Get out there and explore a state park near you! You may be surprised with what you find and maybe stumble upon other interesting things in between.

Destination, Nature, Photography

Pipestone National Monument | MN Buffalo Ridge

June 13, 2013 Dan Traun

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

We had wonderful weather for our exploration of Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone, MN. It is amazing to see these quarries and the amount of Sioux Quartzite rock that was removed by hand with only hand tools to expose the pipestone. We were not fortunate enough to witness the actual mining of the pipestone, but did speak with the artisans inside that were carving pipestone and working with sumac to form the pipe stems.

I won’t ramble on with the complete history of this very interesting place. Just let you imagination wonder while viewing the photos of what it must have been like in a different time. If you want to know more, visit Pipestone, MN and see it first-hand. The National Park Services has a wonderful website about all things in Pipestone, MN.

Catlinite (also called pipestone or pipeclay) is a type of argillite, usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans for use in making sacred pipes such as calumets (Fr: “hollow reed”) and chanunpas. Pipestone quarries are located and preserved in Pipestone National Monument outside of Pipestone, Minnesota, in Pipestone County, Minnesota, and at the Pipestone River in Ontario, Canada.
~Wikipedia

Destination, Photography

The To And From – Desitination Pipestone | MN Buffalo Ridge

June 12, 2013 Dan Traun

MN Buffalo Ridge series [The To and From] [Gibbon, MN] [Pipestone National Monument] [Blue Mound State Park] [Morton, MN Monuments]

After a short drive to drop off the furry kids at grandma’s house, we set out for Buffalo Ridge – specifically Pipestone, MN. I have wanted to make this in-state journey for some time now and just haven’t gotten around to it.

Back in-the-day, when I would travel anywhere, it was balls to wall (just recently learned the origin of this) with no time spent in between stopping for anything. These days, when Cyndie and I travel, I look for most any excuse to take a back road or generally deviate from the prescribed path the GPS has set forth. We stop for bakery’s, ice cream, antique stores, nursery & greenhouses, interesting small towns – we’ve managed to create an exhaustive list of excuses to stop. More often than not, we stumble upon fun, interesting, and often times tasty things. For all these reasons, if the route says 2 hours, you can count on it taking use at least 4 hours. After all, it is all about the journey.

This is the first of five post detailing our recent excursion to Buffalo Ridge and as the title states, these are the shots heading to and back home from our destination.