Inspiration Peak

Inspiration Peak. . , Rising 400 feet above the surrounding countryside, Inspiration Peak and the glacial deposits known as Leaf Hills are the highest points in Central Minnesota., Inspiring view: Area trees, such as oak and aspen, add fall color to the landscape., Rustling Leaf Mountain , The hills that include Inspiration Peak were known to the Ojibwe as "Gaskibugwudjiwe," or "Rustling Leaf Mountain.", Sinclair Lewis, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist from Minnesota, inspired its current name when he wrote about the "enchanted peace and seclusion of this place for contemplation." Drawing on Lewis's words, people began calling it Inspiration Peak and it became the official name when the site was designated a Minnesota State Wayside in 1932., A Monthly Guide to What's Blooming, May , Prairie Smoke · Prairie Turnip · Pasque Flower, June , Blue Grama Grass · Jack-in-the-Pulpit · Porcupine Grass, July , Wild Onion · Leadplant · Purple Prairie Clover · Tall Cinquefoil · Blazing Star, August , Golden Aster · Canada Goldenrod · Gray Goldenrod · Showy Goldenrod · Little Bluestem Grass · Big Bluestem Grass · Indian Grass, ©Dr. Thomas G. Barnes/USFWS, A Crowded Savanna , Creeping in over the years, trees abound in the Inspiration Peak landscape. A lack of fire combined with well-draining soil contributed to the tree growth, but openings are slowly being created to restore the area to an oak savanna. A disappearing resource, oak savanna consists of forested grassland dominated by oaks. It provides a diverse habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals.