|
nature
| history | sports
| learners | weirdness
| food
Pine
Ridge
An
arch-shaped escarpment some 100 miles long and up to 20 miles wide
in Chadron State Park, the Pine Ridge consists of intermingled stands
of ponderosa pine and prairie. It is rugged country with broken
ridges, buttes and small streams. The northern edge of the High
Plains in Nebraska, it was formed during the Cenozoic Era, 65 million
years ago. At the beginning of this period the Rocky Mountain and
Black Hills uplifts began. As they rose, erosion took place and
the sediment eventually formed a tableland, the High Plains of which
the Ridge is a part. During the last million years, wind and water
eroded the High Plains, carving the present topography of the Ridge.
Located
on several overlapping geographical ranges of bird and plant life,
the Ridge boasts a great diversity of both flora and fauna. Over
80 species of trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses occur here,
along with some 50 species of song, shore and game birds.
The
Great Plain's ocean of rolling, grassy swales and farmland erupt
abruptly into the rugged country called the Pine Ridge. This unexpected
region owns an uncommon diversity of plant and animal life. The
timbered canyons and open parks mix western and eastern plants,
grazed pastures and sprawling timberlands. While the Ridge is no
wilderness, it is still wild. The Pine Ridge Trail gives hikers
and horseback riders panoramic views of the varied terrain, flora
and fauna.
(Text
from Nebraska Game and Parks Brochure)
|
