Palisade Head
{{Short description|Rock formation in Minnesota, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
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Image:Palisade, Shovel Point (cropped).jpg, looking northeast toward Shovel Point]]
Palisade Head is a headland on the North Shore of Lake Superior in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is part of Tettegouche State Park but not contiguous with the rest of that park.{{cite web | title = Map, Tettegouche State Park | publisher = Minnesota DNR | url = http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_parks/spk00269.pdf | date = 2019 }} Palisade Head is located at milepost 57 on scenic Minnesota State Highway 61 in Lake County, approximately {{convert|54|mi|km}} northeast of Duluth and {{convert|3|mi|km}} northeast of Silver Bay.
Geology
Palisade Head was formed from a rhyolitic lava flow extruded some 1.1 billion years ago. During the Mesoproterozoic era of the Precambrian eon, the continent spread apart on the Midcontinent Rift System extending from what is now eastern Lake Superior through Duluth to Kansas; this rifting process stopped before an ocean developed. A lava flow some {{convert|200|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} thick formed extremely hard volcanic rock which resisted a billion years of erosion which cut down surrounding formations.{{cite web| title = Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program | publisher = Minnesota Pollution Control Agency | url = https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/lakesuperior/cnp_program.pdf | page = II-17 |date = July 2001}} This formed both Palisade Head and Shovel Point, which is within the main part of Tettegouche State Park about two miles (three kilometers) to the east.{{cite book | last = Ojakangas | first = Richard W. |author2=Charles L. Matsch | others = Illus. Dan Breedy | title = Minnesota's Geology | year = 1982 | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | location= Minneapolis, Minnesota | isbn = 0-8166-0953-5 }}{{cite web | title = America's Volcanic Past - Minnesota | publisher = USGS | url = http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/VolcanicPast/Places/volcanic_past_minnesota.html | accessdate = 2007-01-06 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090110104310/http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/LivingWith/VolcanicPast/Places/volcanic_past_minnesota.html | archivedate = 2009-01-10 }} The feature is a shallow headland, with Lake Superior to the southwest, southeast, and northeast. Its high point is 335 feet (approximately 102 meters) above the level of the lake; the lakeside cliffs stand up to several hundred feet (60 meters) above the water.{{cite web | title = Palisade Head Topo Map in Lake County MN| publisher = TopoZone | url = https://www.topozone.com/minnesota/lake-mn/summit/palisade-head/ | accessdate = February 11, 2020 }}{{cite web|last=Tracy |first=Ben |title=Finding Minnesota: Palisade Head |publisher=WCCO-TV |date=2006-09-25 |url=http://wcco.com/findingminnesota/local_story_266094030.html |accessdate=2007-02-28 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929084148/http://wcco.com/findingminnesota/local_story_266094030.html |archivedate=September 29, 2007 }}
Flora and fauna
The headland is covered by a mixed forest of white spruce, mountain ash, aspen, paper birch, and oak.{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| title = Palisade Head, Minnesota
| work =
| publisher = Native Tree Society
| date = 2005-09-23
| url = http://www.nativetreesociety.org/special/palisade_head.htm
| doi =
| accessdate = 2007-02-28 }} Raptors can often be seen soaring over the cliffs. Peregrine falcons nest on Palisdade Head, Bald eagles nest in the area, and thousands of hawks of several species can be seen migrating along the shoreline in the fall.{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| title = Tettegouche Park Information
| work = Tettegouche State Park
| publisher = Minnesota DNR
| url = https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00269#information
| doi =
| accessdate = February 11, 2020}}{{cite web
| last =
| first =
| authorlink =
| title = North Shore birds
| work =
| publisher = Minnesota DNR
| url = http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/northshore_birds.html
| doi =
| accessdate = 2007-02-28}} There are plentiful wild blueberries and, less commonly, gooseberries.
Deaths
Palisade Head is maintained in its natural state, and one can walk up to the edge of sheer cliffs with the lake directly below. In April 2010, a forty-eight-year-old woman fell from the top of Palisade Head and was killed. It is believed that this incident was an accident, as she was excited about starting a new job at the time of the fall.[https://web.archive.org/web/20230610002045/https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/hiker-dies-at-palisade-head "Hiker dies at Palisade Head"], Duluth News Tribune, Apr. 10, 2010. On September 11, 2017, a fourteen-year-old girl lost her balance and fell to her death from the top of the cliff.[https://www.twincities.com/2017/09/11/girl-14-dies-in-fall-from-north-shore-cliff "14-year-old was peering over North Shore cliff when she fell to her death, sheriff says'] Twin Cities Pioneer Press, Sept. 12, 2017.
Human uses
Palisade Head is undeveloped; there are no improvements except for an access road, antenna tower, short-term parking, and a few low rock walls near the edge of the cliffs. On clear days there are views of the Sawtooth Mountains to the northeast, Split Rock Lighthouse on the shore to the southwest, the Bayfield Peninsula and Apostle Islands of Wisconsin across the lake to the south, and ship traffic on Lake Superior.
It is a regional center for rock climbing with many routes up the lakeshore cliffs.{{cite web | title = Rockclimbing database - Palisade Head | publisher = rockclimbing.com | url =
http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Minnesota/North_East/Pallisade_Head/ | accessdate = 2007-01-06 }} The majority of the rock climbing routes range from 5.8 to 5.12 on the Yosemite Decimal System grading scale, with a few routes in the 5.13 range.{{Cite book|last=Farris|first=Mike|title=Rock Climbing Minnesota and Wisconsin|publisher=Morris Book Publishing|year=2012|isbn=9780762773466|location=Guilford, CT|pages=138–162}} Most of the climbing routes require traditional climbing gear to protect the climber.
These cliffs were used for more sinister, albeit fictional purposes in The Good Son, the climax of which was filmed on location at Palisade Head.{{Cite web |title=The Good Son (1993) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/59538 |access-date=June 16, 2023 |website=AFI Catalog |publisher=American Film Institute }}{{cite web | title = Filming Locations for The Good Son | publisher = IMDB | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107034/locations | accessdate = June 16, 2016 }}
File:Rock Climber at Palisade Head.jpg; others are visible atop the cliff]]
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/tettegouche/index.html Tettegouche State Park website]
- [http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/state_parks/spk00269.pdf Tettegouche Map and Info]
Category:Volcanism of Minnesota
Category:Mesoproterozoic volcanism
Category:Rock formations of Minnesota
Category:Climbing areas of the United States