Pipestone National Monument

As part of our unofficial quest to visit all of Minnesota's state parks (and we'll just go ahead and include Minnesota's national parks and monuments into our tally), we detoured to Pipestone National Monument in southwestern Minnesota on our way back to Sioux Falls. This turned out to be a prudent move, since our regular, more southerly route would have taken us directly into the path of tornadoes. Also, it kept the regulars at home, so we had this beautiful park all to ourselves.

Pipestone is famous for its red pipestone, obviously, which is still quarried today and used for carvings, pipes, and ceremonial purposes. A good geologist (Ryan?) could fill you in on the details. I'm a sucker for native tallgrass prairies, however, and thrilled that Minnesota has so many opportunities to explore them. (Blue Mounds State Park, just south of Pipestone, would make another amazing side trip, especially as it shares much of its geology with Pipestone.)

I believe this is some variety of snowberry, which - ironically - we had to rip out of our front yard when we moved in. I keep trying to convince Adam to replant it, but he only remembers the bad days. I think it is just beautiful.

TJ Bear, smiling through the rain!

Notice the face among the quartzite cliffs?

Here's a closer look:

This photo makes me so happy! Where there's a will,... 

Adam threatened to jump out onto this free-standing rock, and I know he was only joking, but my heart still stops just thinking about it. (Especially because I think sometimes he would just do that.)

Love, love, love the grasses!

 Here's another face, apparently quite common among these rocks.

The sun finally appeared as we neared the end of the trail. 

An example of the red pipestone, already recovered, on the rock above.

After leaving the park, we stopped by to visit the Three Maidens (actually, granite glacial "erratics" left behind after the most recent ice age, according to knowledgeable sources). This was apparently a must-see for Adam, since he fondly remembered an episode of On the Road highlighting both the boulders and a world-famous Hiawatha pageant.

Unfortunately, I believe the pageant may have just ended its decades-long run, but those rocks aren't going anywhere. Time your trip for the next big storm. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.