Prairie Smoke Karst Sinkhole tour- August 23rd, 2025
Prairie Smoke arranged a tour on August 23rd, 2025 of several Karst topography features including sinkholes and a large spring, guided by retired MN DNR hydrologist Jeff Green.
The Driftless Region with its unique Karst topography encompasses parts of SE Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. We toured near Fountain MN, “Sinkhole Capital of the USA”. Starting on 320th Street at the intersection with Highway 52, south of Chatfield, near the Parsley Bridge Canoe Access, we viewed a road cut showing some of the exposed limestone strata typical of this region. From there we drove to Fountain and walked a quarter mile down the Root River Trail to the Sinkhole Education Kiosk where we were able to take a close-up look at a sinkhole as Jeff provided detail about stormwater as it relates to sinkholes. From there, we drove to the Fountain Big Spring, five minutes from the city. This spring is connected to several local sinkholes and runs cold water year-round. In the past, local youths stored watermelons in the stream until they were washed away by increased flow after a large rainstorm! The tour wrapped up around 3:00 pm when we met at the Karst Brewery in Fountain for further discussions of sinkholes and prairies.
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Prairie Smoke members ended the Karst tour at the Big Spring in Fountain before heading to Karst Brewing for refreshments and discussion.
Grand Meadow Chert Quarry tour July 12, 2025
The Chert Quarry is located about 30 minutes southwest of Rochester, near the intersection of 730th Ave and 255th St. just north of Grand Meadow.
Prairie Smoke arranged a guided tour of the Grand Meadow Chert Quarry on Saturday July 12 beginning at 4pm for members of the Mower county Audubon society, Izaak Walton league and Prairie Smoke led by lead archaeologist Tom Trow. This archaeological site consists of 8 acres of oak savannah and 5 acres of restored prairie among which there are pits that were dug between 400 and 3000 years ago by Native Americans to mine chert (or flint) for tools. The site is open to the public for self-guided tours, but this was a great opportunity to see an interesting local historical landmark and learn a lot more details directly from the lead archaeologist and Director of the site! We were also able to meet folks from other groups with similar interests.
There is a groomed walking path that winds among several pits conserved on this site. These are all that remain of what once cover almost 200 acres, most of which have been filled and subsequently farmed. Early on, the pits were thought to be a result of military bombing target runs until their true nature was discovered by archaeologists. Informational signs throughout the site are illustrated and written in both English and indigenous language. The Dakota title of the preserve, Wanhi Yukan, means, “There is chert here.” As an oak savannah, this is also a site where several pairs of redheaded woodpecker nest and can be viewed.