Roche-a-Cri State Park (from the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 for crevice in the rock) is a state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 north of Adams

Adams, Wisconsin

Adams is a city in Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 1,914 at the 2000 census. The city is located within the Town of Adams.-Geography:...

 and Friendship

Friendship, Wisconsin

Friendship is a village in Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 698 at the 2000 census.-Geology:The Friendship Mound sits just to the north of town. It is a castillated mound formed from the last glaciers to cover the area during the Ice Age. Another mound, Roche-A-Cri,...

 in central Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. The park, 605 acres (244.8 ha) in area, was established in 1949.

The park features a 300 feet (91.4 m) rock outcropping with Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 petroglyph

Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...

s—the Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs

Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs

The Roche-a-Cri Petroglyphs, also known as the Friendship Glyphs, are a Registered Historic Place in Roche-a-Cri State Park, near Friendship, Wisconsin. They consist of Oneota rock art, mostly petroglyphs resembling birds, canoes and geometric designs. They were added to the National Register of...

—and a wooden stairway to the top, as well as more than 5 miles (8 km) of hiking trails.http://areas.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=WISPRC&CU_ID=1

Natural History

The striking 300 feet (91.4 m) bluff is a hard core that remains from a larger sheet of Cambrian

Cambrian

The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...

 sandstone which has mostly eroded away. 19,000 to 15,000 years ago it was an island rising above Glacial Lake Wisconsin

Glacial Lake Wisconsin

Glacial Lake Wisconsin was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed from approximately 19,000 to 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, in the central part of present-day Wisconsin in the United States....

. On top of the bluff grow red oak, black oak, white oak, red pine

Red Pine

Pinus resinosa, commonly known as the red pine or Norway pine, is pine native to North America. The Red Pine occurs from Newfoundland west to Manitoba, and south to Pennsylvania, with several smaller, disjunct populations occurring in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia and West Virginia, as well...

, white pine

Eastern White Pine

Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

, and jack pine

Jack Pine

Jack pine is a North American pine with its native range in Canada east of the Rocky Mountains from Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, and the northeast of the United States from Minnesota to Maine, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest Indiana...

. Buzzards

Turkey Vulture

The Turkey Vulture is a bird found throughout most of the Americas. It is also known in some North American regions as the Turkey Buzzard , and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John Crow or Carrion Crow...

also haunt the top.

External links

• Roche-A-Cri State Park official website