Banning State Park

Banning State Park is a state park in Pine County, Minnesota, United States, stretched along 10 miles (16 km) of the Kettle River near the town of Sandstone. The centerpiece of the park is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of churning rapids, some up to Class IV. The daring kayakers and canoeists who shoot Blueberry Slide, Mother's Delight, Dragon's Tooth, Little Banning, and Hell's Gate each spring attract spectators to the park. Landbound visitors can hike along the state's first Wild and Scenic River amid dramatic sandstone rock formations, large potholes carved by the river, and the remains of a historic quarry. Other features are Wolf Creek Falls and Robinson Ice Cave. The park is located directly off Interstate 35. Banning State Park is open daily from 8am until 10pm. Each vehicle entering the park requires an up-to-date permit which can be purchased online or at the park office.

The park lies in a shallow, narrow valley worn by the Kettle River. The topsoil is very thin and in the center of the park the river has cut down through Precambrian sandstone known as the Hinckley Formation and on into the bedrock, resulting in a gorge—up to 40 feet (12 m) tall at Hell's Gate—and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of rapids.

The park is also notable for its numerous glacial potholes, smooth shafts scoured into rock. These were formed at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation when the river was swollen by the melting ice, and powerful eddies sent debris swirling around and around, literally drilling shafts into the streambed. The Log Creek Arches in the northern section are potholes whose bottoms have been worn away on one side.

Robinson Ice Cave is a 200-foot (61 m) deep cave in the bluffs between Wolf Creek Falls and Sandstone. The cave is not open to the public and the entrance is gated to protect the little brown bats, big brown bats, and Keen's myotis bats that hibernate in it. In winter, large stalagmites of ice often form on the cave floor, but in a strict sense it is not an ice cave because the ice does not persist year-round.

Below the rapids, the valley once again begins to widen. Away from the river valley, the topography is generally level to gently-rolling glacial till plain.

The vegetation in this part of the Mille Lacs Uplands is still recovering from 19th century human industry and forest fires. The forest was logged, and around the quarry the ground was stripped bare. Today middle-successional species like birch and aspen are more prevalent than the Norway and eastern white pines that would have originally dominated the area.

184 bird species have been sighted in Banning State Park, including ruffed grouse. Commonly spotted mammals include white-tailed deer, black bear, fox, coyote, raccoon, beaver, and snowshoe hare. 17 species of reptiles and amphibians and 34 species of mammals live in this park.

The durable, pink-colored sandstone exposed by the river was an ideal construction material, and in 1892 quarrying began after the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad laid a spur to the outcrop. The 1894 Great Hinckley Fire was a major setback, but quarrying bounced back quickly, and two years later a town arose just outside the quarry. It was named Banning after the president of the railroad, whose tracks allowed the stones to be shipped to St. Paul, Duluth, and beyond. The quarrying frenzy was over by 1905, a victim of local and national factors. Within the quarry most of the easily extractable high-quality sandstone was gone, and there was a nationwide architectural move away from stone to structural steel. An asphalt company lingered on until 1912, but when it closed so too did the town of Banning. The railroad company removed its tracks later that decade.