Travel Wisconsin, Castle Rock


About 76 miles north west of Madison Wisconsin, and startlingly visible as you travel up U.S. Highway 90/94. Castle Rock is a dramatic sight because as you are driving through gently rolling scenic countryside the towering Castle Rock formations suddenly come into view. While the rock formations seem completely out of place here in the center of Wisconsin, these formations are actually the remains of a prehistoric island that existed roughly 18,000 years ago.
	When you are standing beneath Castle Rock you are on the bottom of what was once a glacial lake from the last Ice Age. The lake, known as Glacial Lake Wisconsin, covered over 1,800 square miles and was as much as 150 feet deep. One can only imagine the prehistoric creatures who may have made these islands their home. Castle Rock, as we see it today, was created through thousands of years of erosion by wind, water, and ice.
Exploring Castle Rock: In exploring Castle Rock you do need to exercise a bit of caution. The base area beneath the rock tower is a soft sandy soil, but there are rough, uneven, and very hard rocks beneath. There are a few crude steps cut into the rock face but uneven surfaces along narrow ledges are the only means of exploring beyond the base of the tower. Photographers will enjoy the many dramatic perspectives and interesting formations.
	It is particularly intriguing how the trees cling tenaciously to the rocks with their root systems punching down through any available crevice. "Life will find a way" as they say! The other rock formations you see in the area, called buttes or bluffs were also islands in the prehistoric glacial lake. Climbing to the top of one of these ancient islands will allow you to see the outline of the old lake bed.
Glacial Lakes A glacial lake is a lake that was formed by the melting of the massive ice sheets of the last ice age. In many cases a glacial lake was formed in depressions cased by the incredible weight of a slow moving glacier, or in a massive trench literally gouged out by the ice sheet. As a glacier retreats (melts) scattered deposits of ice remain in the valleys or gaps between the hills or drumlins. The ice forms natural dams, trapping the melt water causing it to pool in the valley forming a lake. Over time debris may form behind the ice dam making it a bit more permanent. The ancient lake that covered the land around Castle Rock was such a formation, that is until the naturally formed dam finally collapsed. When the dam burst, the huge torrent of millions upon millions of gallons of rushing water swept across the land and created the Wisconsin River and also carved out the scenic sand stone gorges of the Wisconsin Dells. Glacial lakes generally have vivid colors of green due to heavy concentrations of glacier pulverized minerals. These mineral deposits can support a large population of algae that create the colors. The largest glacial lakes in the world are the Great Lakes that straddle the boarders of the United States and Canada. For possible philosophical reflection; keep in mind that ancient man did inhabit these regions 18,000 years ago. Could it be that natural disasters such as these created the stories and legends of "Floods of Cataclysmic Proportions?" Many cultures and religions of the world have such stories . . . and yet scholars fail to pin point their origins.

by: Dr. Von Zuko 2009