A cold weekend hike at Quarry Park and Nature Preserve challenged my physical capacity to stay warm, my photographic skills with bright, bright snow and dark rocks, and my Wheel of Fortune skills when I looked back over my pictures.

Quarry Park is now owned by the Stearns County Park System.  It was an active quarry starting in the early 20th century when St. Cloud Red Granite was discovered there.  When quarrying stopped in the mid 1950’s, the land began to return to its more natural state.  The 684-acre park has twenty quarries of various sizes, oak and aspen woodlands, open prairies, and wetlands.

But getting back to my Wheel of Fortune skills….The sun and snow were bright when I was snapping pictures, so at the time, I didn’t even see the worn graffiti on the rock.  When I first looked at the picture, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but then it caught my curiosity.  Well, the bottom word has to be Quarry and that’s definitely In and the first word looks like Do and the second word starts with an I….Do It In the Quarry!  Oh!  Well, I thought, I certainly can’t use that picture!

I suspect the graffiti writer meant to say what some of us are thinking, and there are probably thousands of nooks and crannies for such activity in the park.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it may be the perfect tagline for what this park has to offer!

Do hiking in the Quarry!  Or mountain biking or picnicking.  Trails throughout the park wander through woods and prairies from one quarry to the next.  You can pack in a picnic and dine beside one of the beautiful quarries or circle the whole park on a mountain bike trail.

Do rock climbing in the Quarry!  Quarry #17 has been mapped and graded by local climbers.  Free permits are required to get to the restricted area to climb this granite wall.

My favorite part of Quarry #17 is the chunk of granite with the drill holes that looks like a map of the state of Minnesota.

Do scuba diving in the Quarry!  Most all the quarries have water in them–and now ice, of course.  Four of the larger quarries are designated for scuba diving, including Quarry #13.  Certified divers, along with a buddy and permits, can dive at their own risk because of ‘various underwater hazards.’  This quarry has several vehicles in the deeper area of 39 feet!

Do swimming in the Quarry!  This one sort of gives me the heebie-jeebies.  Quarry#2 is the swimming hole.  It is the largest and deepest quarry at 116 feet.  Yikes!  To make things scarier, kids jump off the large rock wall into the blue-black water.

The ‘spoils’ are the quarried rock remnants, and since this quarry is so large and deep, the spoils piles are tall and wide.

They are constructing a new swimming hole in the Do It Quarry #11, complete with sandy beach.

Do fishing in the Quarry!  Eight of the quarries permit fishing and have been stocked with trout.  Just watch out for those tree branches when you cast!

In the winter, do cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and fat tire bicycling!  The cross-country ski trail is groomed and lit (white poles) for after-dark skiing.

Sixty years ago, when quarrying ceased, I’m sure most people considered this area a wasteland.  The quarry holes, spoils piles, and destruction of natural resources by equipment devastated the land.  The abandoned quarry returned to Mother Nature, and ever so slowly, she transformed the devastation into a diamond.  The forests grew and enveloped the quarries and grout piles.  Water filled the quarries, and wildlife returned.  Willows, dogwoods, juneberries, wild roses, bittersweet, and gooseberries were restored to the land.  Mother Nature’s inherent power to Do It In the Quarry restored the man-made wreckage to a natural wonder once again.

An advertisement for Origins Plantscription serum said, “Life puts the wrinkles in.  Let Nature help take them out.”  I love this!  Life can be hard and messy at times, and it can take a toll on our physical and emotional self.  Just like Mother Nature restored Quarry Park to a diamond, never underestimate the healing and restorative power of Nature to help take the wrinkles out of your life.