Devil's Doorway (Wisconsin)
{{Short description|Rock formation in Wisconsin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox place geography
| name = Devil's Doorway
| image name = Devil's Doorway 1898.jpg
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| image caption = Devil's Doorway {{circa}} (1898)
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| map = File:Map of Wisconsin highlighting Sauk County.svg
| map size = 150px
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| continent = North America
| region = East North Central states
| coordinates = {{coord|43.4141|-89.7202|type:landmark_region:US-WI|display=inline,title}}
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| largest lake = Devil's Lake (Wisconsin)
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Devil's Doorway is a rock formation in Devil's Lake State Park. The signature feature of the park, it is a popular spot for climbing and photographs. The quartzite rocks that make up Devil's Doorway form a doorway-shaped natural rock arch.
Description
File:Devil's Lake view from Devil's Doorway rock formation.mpg
Devil's Doorway is a main attraction in Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin. The park is {{cvt|9217|acre}} and Devil's Lake is {{cvt|360|acre}}.{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Chelsey |title=7 natural wonders in Wisconsin |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/day-out/2018/02/15/apostle-islands-cave-mounds-niagara-escarpment-natural-wonders-wisconsin/330785002/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Journal Sentinel |date=15 February 2018}} The formation, more than {{cvt|31|ft}} high, is named for its resemblance to a doorway or a stone arch, with two separate columns of rock connected by other rocks at the top. Devil's Lake is visible from the vantage point at the formation.{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Chelsey |title=Your guide to Devil's Lake State Park, from the best hiking trails to camping information |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/outdoors/2022/07/07/devils-lake-wisconisn-hiking-trails-camping/7767307001/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Journal Sentinel}}
The rocks that form Devil's Doorway are quartzite, consisting of tightly packed grains of sand.{{cite news |last1=Marquardt |first1=Joy |title=Park Profile: Devil's Lake State Park |url=https://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/life/2016/10/19/park-profile-devils-lake-state-park/92367720/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Wausau Daily Herald |date=19 October 2016}}{{cite book |last1=Schultz |first1=Gwen |title=Wisconsin's Foundations: A Review of the State's Geology and Its Influence on Geography and Human Activity |date=2004 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |location=Madison, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-299-19874-9 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUVd8gSdy8AC&dq=devil%27s+doorway+rock+formation&pg=PA69 |language=en}} The geological formations in the area are estimated at 1.6 billion years old. Devil's Doorway was created by many years of water both freezing and expanding in cracks in the rocks.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Jeniece |title=Devil's Lake State Park Highlights {{!}} Travel Wisconsin |url=https://www.travelwisconsin.com/article/state-parks-forests/highlights-of-devils-lake-state-park-wisconsins-largest |website=TravelWisconsin |access-date=9 September 2024 |language=en}}
History
Devil's Doorway is located at the southeast corner of Devil's Lake in Devil's Lake State Park.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Barry |title=Devil's Lake State Park offers stunning views, lesson in geologic history |url=https://wiscnews.com/news/local/environment/devils-lake-state-park-offers-stunning-views-lesson-in-geologic-history/article_09b0092a-3bfa-57bb-a652-c9c0c8a8f743.html |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Wiscnews |date=29 May 2021 |language=en}} It is found on The East Bluff Trail.{{cite web |title=Geology of Ice Age National Scientific Reserve of Wisconsin (Chapter 7) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/science/2/chap7.htm |website=www.nps.gov |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=9 September 2024}} Between 1909 and 1910 The State Park Board acquired {{cvt|740|acre}} for the park and by 1911 the board had secured a total of {{cvt|1100|acre}}.{{cite web |title=A Brief Human History of Devil's Lake State Park, Baraboo, WI |url=https://www.devilslakeclimbingguides.com/blog/history-of-devils-lake-state-park |website=Devils Lake Climbing Guides |access-date=15 September 2024}} When the park was established in 1911, there was much graffiti painted on the rocks of the formation.{{cite book |title=Baraboo |date=22 September 2004 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing Sauk County Historical Society |location=San Francisco, California |isbn=978-1-4396-1501-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZ5T3Wk0lpEC&dq=devil%27s+doorway+rock+formation&pg=PA127 |access-date=9 September 2024 |language=en}} A postcard from 1901 showed that someone had painted the initials "F.H.R." and "T.R.R." on the face of the rocks. A 2016 article in the Wisconsin State Journal stated that graffiti is reported three or four times every year and volunteers quickly remove it.{{cite news |last1=Hesselberg |first1=George |title=Graffiti is not new problem at Devil's Lake State Park, but it may be on the rise |url=https://madison.com/news/local/graffiti-is-not-new-problem-at-devils-lake-state-park-but-it-may-be-on/article_312967ca-82f7-5ddd-8c2d-951c4b7d76be.html |access-date=15 September 2024 |work=Wisconsin State Journal |date=4 July 2016 |language=en}}
The Milwaukee Journal referred to the rock formation as one of "Wisconsin's natural wonders" and a "Wisconsin treasure".{{cite news |last1=Dawson |first1=Drew |title='The raccoons are fearless': We found the worst bad reviews of Wisconsin's state parks and natural wonders |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/outdoors/2024/01/09/the-worst-bad-reviews-of-wisconsin-state-parks-natural-wonders/72164601007/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Journal Sentinel |date=9 January 2024}} World Atlas has said the formation is the signature feature of Devil's Lake State Park.{{cite news |last1=Dearsley |first1=Bryan |title=The Best State Parks to Visit in Wisconsin |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/state-parks/the-best-state-parks-to-visit-in-wisconsin.html |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=WorldAtlas |date=7 June 2024}} The most photographed rock formation in the park, it stays in position because of the weight of the quartzite—{{cvt|165|lbs}} per cubic foot.{{cite book |last1=Spoolman |first1=Scott |title=Wisconsin State Parks: Extraordinary Stories of Geology and Natural History |date=12 April 2018 |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society |location=Madison, Wisconsin |isbn=978-0-87020-850-8 |page=Ch 4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6xVDwAAQBAJ&q=Wisconsin+State+Parks:+Extraordinary+Stories+of+Geology+and+Natural+History+Scott+Spoolman |access-date=15 September 2024 |language=en}} Visitors often climb on the Doorway and take photographs;{{cite news |title=A heavenly time at Devil's Lake |url=https://news.wisc.edu/a-heavenly-time-at-devils-lake/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System |date=28 January 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Chelsey |title=Hiking the East Bluff at Devil's Lake |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/travel/wisconsin/2013/06/26/hiking-the-east-bluff-at-devils-lake/87624422/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Journal Sentinel |date=26 June 2013}} as safety gear is not always used, some visitors have been seriously injured or killed after falling.{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Mike |title=Illinois woman dies in fall at Devil's Lake State Park |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2018/03/29/illinois-woman-dies-fall-devils-lake-state-park/468694002/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Journal Sentinel |date=29 March 2018}}
Gallery
File:Devil's Doorway with graffiti (circa 1911).png|Devil's Doorway with graffiti (circa 1911)
File:1914 postcard of Devil's Doorway.jpg|Colorized postcard of Devil's Doorway (1914)
File:Doorway and Lake beyond, by Bennett, H. H. (Henry Hamilton), 1843-1908.jpg|Devil's Doorway (1870)
File:Devil'sDoorway.JPG|Hikers climbing on Devil's Doorway
File:Gfp-wisconsin-devils-lake-state-park-foggy-devils-doorway.jpg|Devils Doorway
References
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