National and State Parks - Recreational Areas
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Lake Carlos State Park
State Park Information
State Park Overview
History of the Area
More Info
Nature Programs
The parks 1,305 acres lie within a hardwood transition zone between the prairies to the southwest and the coniferous forest to the northeast. The parks glacial moraine topography is dotted with woodland ponds, marshes, wet meadows and
lakes cradled among the hills. Visitors can hike or ski from a tamarack bog to a maple-basswood stand, or from open grassland to forested ridges...all within minutes.
Receding glaciers left most of Douglas County blanketed with layers of gravel and sand. This "drift"contains pebbles and round stones of all sizes. Retreating glaciers also left huge chunks of broken ice. When these blocks melted, they formed the areas lakes. Lake Carlos is 150 feet deep in places. The outlet at the northeast corner is thesource of the Long Prairie River. Although no rock outcrops occur in this area, boulders taken from glacial drift supplied farmers in the area with building blocks for the foundations and walls of their homes and barns. This granite masonry can also be seen in the parks beach house and pump station.
One third of Minnesotas 80 mammals and over 150 species of birds inhabit the park seasonally or year around. Visitors often see beaver, deer, loons, grebes, ducks and heron.
Lake Carlos State Park