MINNEOPA PARK, Blue Earth county, has had a new 

 feature added to its many attractions in the form of a 

 pavilion which has just been opened to the public. 

 Minneopa is one of the more recent wonder spots to be added 

 to Minnesota's list of state parks, and although not yet so 

 well known as some of the ethers it has been an attraction 

 for increasing numbers of sightseers and nature lovers each 

 year since being made state property. For picnickers and 

 vacation parties of Southern Minnesota it has become one of 

 the most popular resorts. 



But heretofore visitors have found more or less of an offset 

 to its beauty in the absence of shelter in case of sudden 

 changes of weather. The new pavilion, a part of the state's 

 plan for improving the park, remedies this defect. It is de- 

 signed both as a shelter from sudden storms and as a conven- 

 ient place for spreading picnic tables where the sunshine is 

 found too strong for outdoor meals. 



Attractions at Minneopa. 



The chief attraction of Minneopa park are its falls, pro- 

 nounced by those qualified to judge as close rivals in beauty 

 of the famed Minnehaha. There are two descents, the main 

 falls of more than 60 feet, and a smaller but wider one, 200 

 feet farther up the stream. Apparently in earlier times these 

 were one fall. In the memory of persons still living the up- 

 per falls in early days was only about half the present dis- 

 tance from the lower fall. The process of wearing back the 

 soft sandstone is going on now and can be seen in the- crum- 

 bling of the rock on the walls and floor of the stream. 



The falls are in Minneopa creek, the outlet of Lilly and 

 Crystal lakes. The stream is about eight miles long, and 

 flows into the Minnesota river a mile or two above the mouth 

 of the Blue Earth river. Beneath the falls is a glen more 



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