This cache is one of 31 caches - part of the WGA IAT Series - hidden to highlight Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail. See the bookmark list for all of the geocaches included in this series!
The Juneau County segment of the Ice Age Trail winds itself through many picturesque landscapes and a unique geological portion of Wisconsin. The trail itself uses and is made up of entirely U.S. and State Highways, County Highways, and County Roads. No portion of the trail in this county goes ‘off-road’.
At the southernmost portion of the trail, where it crosses from Sauk County into Juneau County, is Rocky Arbor State Park. The trail moves along US Hwy 12 and State Hwy 16 and takes you through the middle of the gorge that was formed by the Wisconsin River many years ago. This is the area where the geocache is located as it’s the most interesting and probably the ‘signature’ stretch of the Ice Age Trail in this county.
The rock forming Rocky Arbor's gorge is sandstone that geologists have aged at about 500 million years. The rock's sand grains are thought to have been deposited by rivers draining into shallow seas. The seas receded and the sand compacted into sandstone.
Eons later, the Wisconsin River cut a gorge through this stone and thus formed the park's picturesque rock walls and ledges.
The river has long since changed its course and now flows about a mile and a half to the east. The tiny stream that now occupies the gorge flows in the opposite direction that the mighty river did when it carved this scenic area.
Credit: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/rockyarbor/nature
At the northernmost portion of the trail, where the trail crosses from Juneau County into Adams County, is where the trail also crosses the Wisconsin River utilizing the State Hwy 82 bridge.
The Wisconsin River is described as the hardest working river in the world. With many dams regulating the flow and providing power for communities along the upper stretches, it may well be.
Wisconsin's Last Glacier
Movement of the Laurentide Ice Sheet was shaped—to a certain extent—by the landscape. Highlands diverted the glacier into lobes (tongues or fingers of ice) that advanced into the lowland areas.
The Lake Michigan Lobe of the glacier flowed down the Lake Michigan lowland to central Indiana and Illinois. The Langlade, Wisconsin Valley, Chippewa, and Superior Lobes covered northern Wisconsin. The Green Bay Lobe flowed south in the Green Bay lowland, advancing over the east end of the Baraboo Hills and into both ends of Devils Lake gorge.
The edge of the Green Bay Lobe was probably a steep ice slope, perhaps several hundred feet high, littered with rock debris. Behind the steep slope, the ice surface probably rose very gently toward the center of the ice sheet, where the ice was thousands of feet thick.
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail is one of only 11 national scenic trails in the U.S. It is approximately 1,200 miles long and the entire trail is located within Wisconsin! The trail follows the edge of Wisconsin's most recent glacier and highlights many geological features along the way. The western terminus is located in Interstate State Park in Polk County and continues through a total of 30 counties with the eastern terminus located in Potawatomi State Park in Door County.
WISCONSIN GEOCACHING ASSOCIATION
The Wisconsin Geocaching Association (WGA) is a group of geocachers dedicated to promoting and protecting geocaching within the state of Wisconsin. The WGA organizes geocaching events, works with land owners/managers on geocaching policies, educates the public at large about geocaching, and facilitates communication between WGA members. To learn more about the WGA click on our logo below!
This cache placed by the WGA
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Permission to place cache in park granted by Becky Green, Rocky Arbor SP Park Manager - WISDNR. The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at the Wisconsin DNR website.