In 1961, National Park Service geologist Robert Rose completed a report on areas under study for an Ice Age National Park in Wisconsin. The following excerpts from his report, “Preliminary Geological Report on 1961 Field Study of Proposed Ice Age Area in Wisconsin”, outline the uniqueness of the area he called the moraine-driftless area, between Madison/Verona and Cross Plains.
“This report is based on a field study conducted during the last half of April, 1961. Its purpose is to identify and describe more specifically the more important segments considered in a proposed area of the National Park System which would feature the story of continental glaciation in America.
Among the localities or segments evaluated there are four which are regarded as basically essential in the adequate presentation and interpretation of the story. These so-called key areas are: Kettle Moraine, the moraine-driftless area near Cross Plains, the Devils Lake-Baraboo Range segment, and Interstate Park.
Evidences of continental glaciation are to be found throughout North America north of the southernmost limit of the advance of the ice. Wisconsin is particularly rich in its abundance of varied evidences of glaciation located relatively close together … [and] offers the best opportunity for the establishment of a unit of the National Park System featuring continental glaciation.
The driftless area of Wisconsin is world famous because it is an unglaciated area of considerable size … lying far within extensively glaciated territory.
Several eminent geologists who have been consulted are unanimous in the view that a segment embracing a good example of the moraine-driftless area relationships is highly essential in illustrating the story of continental glaciation. With the completion of each field study, beginning with the initial reconnaissance of 1958, the desirability of including such a segment becomes more firmly recognized.
The relationships between moraine and bedrock of sedimentary origin are most strikingly exhibited in an area of about 9,000 acres immediately south and east of Cross Plains. Within this area rugged morainal ridges belonging to the Wisconsin [Glaciation] occur while the strikingly eroded margins of the driftless area lie immediately to the west and south. In brief, this key area is a self-contained unit scenically and scientifically.”
