Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sandstone cont'd

Yesterday at the park, some hikers asked us about the caves along the river. (They assumed we were experts because, well, we are experts on most everything - just ask.) I was reading about the Kettle River and I found this:

"Robinson Ice Cave is a 200 foot deep cave in the bluffs between Wolf Creek Falls and Sandstone. The cave is not open to the public and the entrance is gated to protect the little brown bats, big brown bats, and Keen's myotis bats that hibernate in it. In winter large stalagmites of ice often form on the cave floor, but in a strict sense it is not an ice cave because the ice does not persist year-round."

The sandstone rock is Precambrian sandstone known as the Hinckley Formation. So that's a good thing, I guess.

kettle river

 

 

Here's a map of the whitewater route between Banning Park and Robinson Park.

2 comments:

Amy Ries said...

There is a non-gated cave (at least, it used to be) on the trail between Robinson Quarry and Banning State Park. I think it is a mining waste cave, but I am not positive. You used to be able to go down into holes in the ground, or across and up into some squeezy spaces in the hillside. The down side has some really neat ripple-marked Hinckley Sandstone Formation. There is also an inhabited black bear cave in this area.

Richard, do you own "Minnesota Geology"? Because you totally should.

Carrin Mahmood said...

So if aaron and Sandy had a thing, I can't wait to hear what happens at Mrs. Robinson Park!