Smoky
Hills
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Hills State Forest near Park Rapids is pocked with kettle lakes. These
[ Smoky
Conservation
Volunteer
melted at the end of the last iceMinnesota
age about 12,000
years ago.
< Photography by Richard Hamilton Smith
bowl-shaped depressions were formed when large blocks of ice buried in glacial deposits
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State Highway
34
between
Park Rapids and Osage is flat,
straight, and flanked by fields where
potatoes grow well in the sandy soil
that settled out of glacial meltwater
some 12,000 years ago. This horizontal topography is interrupted
just west of Osage where glacial
deposits of rock, gravel, sand, and
clay rise hundreds of feet above the
potato fields. From a distance, the
hills crowned by old-growth red
pines take on a hazy, gray appearance, which is how Smoky Hills
State Forest got its name.
Unsuitable for farming, the
rolling lands of this 25,000-acre
state forest are excellent for hunting, hiking, trail riding, or just
taking in fall colors. The main
gravel roads that loop through
the forest are often canopied by
hardwood trees, offering intimate
views of autumn’s splendor, says
photographer and area resident
Richard Hamilton Smith.
46
Minnesota Conservation Volunteer
A mix of deciduous and
coniferous trees at Smoky Hills
State Forest (opposite page) casts
long shadows through morning
fog.A rugged two-track road
(above) follows the shoreline
of Elbow Lake, where wild rice
and pondweed attract migrating
waterfowl. Red maples (left) are
the first of the maple species to
begin showing brilliant colors.
September–October 2015
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48
Minnesota Conservation Volunteer
The Shell River (top)
originates at Shell Lake on the
western edge of Smoky Hills
State Forest. Maple leaves
blanket the surface of a small
kettle lake (opposite page).
Just before shedding its
needles, a tamarack displays
its autumn gold (left). A fallen
red maple leaf (above) is
nestled among pine needles.
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Mature red pines and aspens
surround a logged clearing (top),
where young deciduous growth
provides food and habitat for
wildlife such as white-tailed deer
and ruffed grouse. Brightly hued
maple leaves (opposite page)
offer a contrast to the white and
gray of aspen trunks. Dew clings
to the purple blooms of harebells
(right) and the golden leaf of a
quaking aspen.
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Minnesota Conservation Volunteer
A canopy of gold and green (top) arches
over Wolf Lake Forest Road in Smoky Hills State
Forest.A sugar maple (right) glows at one of
several primitive campsites on Elbow Lake.
Drought-tolerant red pines (below) thrive in the
sandy soils of Smoky Hills State Forest.A pair of
quaking aspen leaves (left) casts shadows in the
shallows of a kettle lake. n
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September–October 2015
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