Split Rock Creek State Park

Split Rock Creek State Park is a state park of Minnesota, USA, located in Ihlen, or just south of Pipestone.

Split Rock Creek State Park
Location of Split Rock Creek State Park in Minnesota Show map of Minnesota Split Rock Creek State Park (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Pipestone, Minnesota, United States
Coordinates	43°53′52″N 96°21′51″W
Area	1,303 acres (5.27 km2)
Elevation	1,624 ft (495 m)[1]
Established	1937
Governing body	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Yes

The Works Progress Administration built a dam in 1938 to create a lake, which provided an opportunity for water recreation in an area of the state with few natural lakes. The dam was constructed of Sioux Quartzite, a hard red rock widely found in the area.^[2] A nearby bridge, Split Rock Creek Bridge, was also built by the WPA of Sioux quartzite in 1938. The bridge carries County Road 54 over the creek. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Minnesota Masonry-Arch Highway Bridges MPS.^[3]

Minnesota Masonry-Arch Highway Bridge

Split Rock Creek

For Split Rock River on the Minnesota North Shore, see Split Rock River.

For the tributary of the Kettle River, see Split Rock River (Kettle River).

Split Rock Creek
Split Rock Creek in Split Rock Creek State Park, Minnesota
Location
Country	United States
State	South Dakota, Minnesota
Counties	Minnehaha County, South Dakota, Pipestone County, Minnesota, Rock County, Minnesota
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Ihlen, Minnesota
• coordinates	43.9908036°N 96.3061447°W / 43.9908036; -96.3061447
Mouth
• location	Pipestone, South Dakota
• coordinates	43.5496968°N 96.5975458°W / 43.5496968; -96.5975458
Length	55-mile-long (89 km)
Basin features
River system	Missouri River
Tributaries
• left	Pipestone Creek

Split Rock Creek is a stream that flows for 55 miles from a farmers field near Ihlen, Rock County, Minnesota, to east of Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota. The native American name for the creek was Eminija. The creek enters South Dakota east of Sherman, South Dakota. West of Sherman it flows over a cement pad on 486th Avenue. It flows around Garretson and through Devil's Gulch. The creek then flows through Palisades State Park and then through McHardy Park in Brandon. East of Sioux Falls Pt finally flows into the Big Sioux River, which flows into the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi River.^[4][5]

See also

• List of rivers of Minnesota
• List of rivers of South Dakota

References

1. "Split Rock Creek State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. January 11, 1980. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
2. "Split Rock Creek State Park". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
3. "Minnesota Masonry-Arch Highway Bridges". Minnesota Historical Society. September 22, 1989. p. 12. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
4. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Split Rock Creek
5. Richardson, Jeanne. "The Creek that thinks its a river". South Dakota Magazize.