Interstate State Park’s Bottomless Pit

What’s hiding inside the giant holes at Interstate State Park? Discover how rushing water carved this strange landscape and how its deepest pit became an accidental time capsule of Minnesota history.

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Producer: Katharine DeCelle

Editorial support: Emily Krumberger

Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood

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Transcript

Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.

It's 1886, you're in Taylors Falls, Minnesota standing on the rocky cliffs above the St. Croix River. Minnesota makes this land Interstate State Park, its second state park. There are towering cliffs and strange rock formations with names like the Devil's Parlor and Bake Oven. And beneath your feet are hundreds of giant holes carved into solid rock by swirling water, sand and stones. One of those giant holes is called the Bottomless Pit. Workers spent decades digging to get to the bottom of the pit until, 60 feet down, they hit solid rock. Inside the pit they find pennies, sunglasses, an antique camera and a gold railroad watch. So if something accidentally slips from your pocket today, maybe someone will find it 100 years from now. At Interstate State Park, the holes in the rock aren't just geological wonders. They're also accidental time capsules.

MN90 is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at MN90.org.