Powers Bluff County Park

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

SE 1/4 Sec 30 T24N R4E, 2 miles SW of Arpin and 9 miles SE of Marshfield.

Views of Powers Bluff

	View looking west about 2.5 miles from State Highway 186.
	View from the southeast

These views are looking north and northeast down the ski runs, which are the only open areas in the park.

The rock here is very different from most of the other quartzites of Wisconsin. Most "Baraboo Interval" quartzites are sugary in texture and range in color from white through pink to maroon. The Powers Bluff quartzite is massive and very glassy (and is called chert in some descriptions) and is variegated in color, with black, red, and white predominant. Bedding is indistinct and mostly steeply north-dipping. The bedding is mostly revealed by color banding and there is no mechanically distinct layering.

The quartzite outcrops on Bluff Road just east of the entrance to the park.

Created 5 June 2001, Last Update 11 Jan 2020