Gooseberry Falls State Park
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Gooseberry Falls State Park
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 Waterfalls of the Gooseberry River |
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| location | Lake County in Minnesota (USA) | |
| surface | 678 ha | |
| WDPA ID | 4444529 | |
| Geographical location | 47 ° 8 ′ N , 91 ° 28 ′ W | |
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| Setup date | 1937 | |
| administration | Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources | |
Gooseberry Falls State Park is a 678-acre state park on the shoreline of Lake Superior in Minnesota . It is located approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Two Harbors in Lake County . The main attraction of the state park is the waterfalls of the Gooseberry River .
The Gooseberry River is first mentioned in a map from 1670. The river was named after the French explorer and fur trader Médard des Groseilliers or the word Shab-on-im-i-kan-i-sibi from the Anishinabe Indians, which translates both gooseberry ( engl. gooseberry) means. Commercial fishing began in the area in the 1870s. From around 1890 the region was used for forestry . In 1900 the Nestor Logging Company built its headquarters at the mouth of the Gooseberry River. The cleared wood was transported to the coast and shipped there. In the early 1920s, clearing and various forest fires almost completely destroyed the region's pine population . After tourism began on the north coast of Lake Superior in the 1920s, the population feared that the scenic area around the Gooseberry River would one day only be accessible to "the rich". For this reason, the area was declared a protected zone by the Minnesota Parliament in 1933. The Civilian Conservation Corps began planning and building a state park. In 1937 the area was named Gooseberry Falls State Park .
The rocky coastline and the five waterfalls that split into upper, middle, and lower falls before the river joins Lake Superior, are some of the park's greatest attractions. A total of around 30 kilometers of hiking and mountain bike trails lead through the area. The state park also has a campground. In 1996, a Joseph N. Alexander Visitor Center was opened. The annual number of visitors is around 593,000 (as of 2004).
Web links
- Information of the DNR (English)