State Park Saturday #5

Everyone knows about the Ice Ages and probably know about the Ice Age Floods known as the Missoula Floods that broke through an ice dam, scoured the topsoil off most of eastern Washington, tore a gap through the Cascade Mountains (Columbia River Gorge) and continued out to sea. Few people know the whole story about the floods: they happened hundreds of times throughout the Ice Ages, the flood water backed up into the Snake River when it got to the eastern edge of the Columbia Gorge, and also backed up in the Willamette Valley. 

As you can see from the photo above, the hike to the rock is pet friendly.

When the floodwater backed up in the Willamette Valley, it created a
400-ft deep lake. Icebergs from the collapsed ice dam floated into parts of the valley, and as the water receded, those icebergs were set down when they bumped into a hill that kept them from flowing out. Some of those icebergs had rocks from Montana inside them; those rocks are now called glacial erratics.

That brings us to the state park featured today: Glacial Erratic State Park. With roadside parking long enough to hold four or five cars, this little-known state park does not have a fee to visit.

A quarter mile trail leads up to several glacial erratics, the largest thought to be 90 tons, provides a perfect place for a picnic that has a great view of the surrounding landscape. The 90-ton boulder is thought to be the largest glacial erratic in the Willamette Valley, is composed of a metamorphic rock called Argillite.

 The view from the top of the hill.

So if you plan on going to Erratic Rock State Park, remember to leave the rock alone for others to enjoy as it has been estimated the people have broken off about 70 tons over the past several thousand years. And who knows, there might be Native American archeological evidence in the area that shows the rock being used as a millstone or something else. Until next Saturday, get outside and enjoy one of the many state parks in the great Oregon Outdoors.