Rib Mountain State Park #20

This was really the perfect year and summer for the State Park Challenge. We had another weekend planned with family, this time to celebrate my parent's 40th wedding anniversary, Happy Anniversary Pete and Sandy! We were heading up to Park Falls with my brothers, their families and our parents, so had a great opportunity to visit some state parks along the way. On the way there, we stopped at Rib Mountain. This was a beautiful park with one of my favorite hikes to date.

One of the upsides to this park is that there are roads to the summit, so anyone can see the outstanding view. As with many state parks established in the 1920s and 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the roads and hiking trails. We climbed to the top of the 60 foot observation tower and then hiked the blue trail, which wove in and out of huge rock formations, with glimpses of valleys below (a la The Princess Bride scene where they head into the Fire Swamp for you movie buffs out there, I think Pete did ask me about ROUSs at some point). There are more than 13 miles of hiking trails with 13 miles accessible to people with disabilities.

The hill itself is one of the oldest geological formations on earth (I know I couldn't believe it either!), dating back 1.7 billion years. It is the fourth highest point in the state and has an interesting history, which I don't have time to cover in its' entirety here. As early as 1893, the mountain was used in the manufacture of sandpaper, and later the quartzite from the mountain was crushed to be used for grinding and polishing purposes. It housed one of the first ski areas in the country, opening in 1938, and continues to this day as Granite Peak. This was one of our favorite parks to date (and the best picnic view), we can't wait to return! Next stop, Council Grounds State Park!