The second state park that we hit on our trip this past weekend was Split Rock Creek. This is a small park in SW Minnesota, that often causes confusion for those of us in the cities, as we’re all very familiar with Split Rock State Park in northern Minnesota, home of the famous lighthouse.

Split Rock Creek is basically a small park around a lake. They have a large bird population, and are home to a beautiful old dam and bridge that were built in the WPA era. I particularly liked the WPA dam as it is an amazing testament to an incredible social program. The lake did not exist until this dam was built, and making it put hundreds of people at work, earning a living during a difficult time.

We hiked around the park and took some photos of the birds, and the dam, and even a really cool shot of a bee. It was a nice little stop before our bigger visit of the day further up the road.