Stone Rows of Devil’s Lake

Throughout Devil’s Lake State Park, you can find long linear mounds of rock so old that large trees now grow right through and on top of the rocks. These stone rows offer us a snapshot of the hardships early farmer’s faced in our glacial landscape.

The history of these stone rows actually begins over 11,000 years ago when the last glacier began to retreat. As it did, it left behind a blanket of stuff it had picked up along the way including a mix of rocks ranging from pebbles to massive boulders! When the European farmers settled here, all this rock had to be removed before the fields could be farmed.

Glacial rock in Wisconsin became everything from fences to silos, barn walls, and houses. Sometimes, they just lined up the rocks along the sides of the fields. The easiest place to discover these historic rows is along the Steinke Basin Trail which crosses multiple lines. That said, stone rows can actually be found throughout the park. They are especially easy to see in the early spring and winter.