Dells of the Eau Claire County Park, County park near Wausau, United States
Dells of the Eau Claire County Park is a county park in Marathon County, Wisconsin, built around a rocky gorge where the Eau Claire River runs over large boulders and forms a series of cascades. Hiking trails wind along the gorge edges and through the woods, and the site has campsites and stone shelters scattered across the area.
The park was created in 1923 when Marathon County acquired the land around the gorge, making it one of the county's first protected natural areas open to the public. The stone shelters and other structures were added in the 1930s by workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The stone shelters in the park were built in the National Park Service rustic style, a method that uses local materials so the buildings seem to grow out of the ground around them. Walking through the gorge, visitors often find it hard to tell where the natural rock ends and the built structures begin.
The park is open year-round, but spring and summer offer the best conditions for walking the gorge trails and seeing the river at its most active. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes, especially near the water, where rock surfaces can get slippery after rain.
The boulders and rock walls lining the gorge are made of quartzite, one of the hardest rock types on Earth, formed well over a billion years ago. This hardness is why the river could not wear them down and instead carved its path around them, creating the gorge shape seen today.
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