Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park
| Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park | |
| Minnesota State Park | |
 Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a botanical reserve for the temperate hardwood forest that once covered much of central Minnesota
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| Country | United States |
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| State | Minnesota |
| County | Rice |
| Location | Nerstrand |
| - elevation | 1,086 ft (331 m) |
| - coordinates | 44°20′42″N 93°6′26″W / 44.34500°N 93.10722°WCoordinates: 44°20′42″N 93°6′26″W / 44.34500°N 93.10722°W |
| Area | 2,882 acres (1,166 ha) |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Management | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |
  Location of Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park in Minnesota
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Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, northeast of Faribault near the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name from the Big Woods, a large, contiguous forested area covering much of central Minnesota prior to the arrival of European settlers. The park and its forest were an outlying 'woods' typical and similar to the Big Woods proper, which were historically found on the more recent glacier deposits located west of the Cannon River 10 miles (16 km) to the west. Aside from a small waterfall, the outstanding natural feature of the park is the forest itself.
The Platteville Limestone formation, deposited almost 500 million years ago during the Ordovician Period, forms the bedrock of the park. The limestone is exposed only in a few places along Prairie Creek, most notably at Hidden Falls. The rest of the park is covered in glacial drift up to 150 feet (46 m) deep. A later glaciation passed 10 miles (16 km) to the west, from which meltwater flowed and enlarged the valley of Prairie Creek.
This area was once covered in spruce forest, but as the climate warmed after the end of the last ice age, oak stands and prairie became dominant. 400 to 500 years ago the climate cooled slightly, promoting the growth of the Big Woods.
In the spring native wildflowers bloom in abundance. A remnant population of the dwarf trout lily, an endangered plant endemic to this area, is present in the park.
The town of Nerstrand was settled in the 1850s, though unlike most prairie farming communities they were fortunate to have a stand of trees nearby. Following a pattern of their European homeland, the adjacent forest was divided into woodlots, typically of 10 or 20 acres (4 or 8 ha) each, which the individual owners managed according to their own needs. The timbers and planks for most of the area's barns, and some of its houses, were cut from old-growth oak present in the area that is now the park. Some lots were cleared for farming or grazing, but many were left as sustainable sources of firewood. This mosaic of uses created patches where native animals and plants could survive and then recolonize other lots as usage changed over the years, resulting in the high quality of the habitat today. In the 1930s large lumber companies attempted to acquire the land for logging. However, the lots were divided among 169 owners, not all of whom even lived in Minnesota anymore, and buying enough land to log commercially proved to be so complicated that each company gave up.
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