Rib Mountain State Park
Rib Mountain is one of the oldest geologic formations on earth. Established as a state park in 1934, a recent purchase of 257 acres from 3M Corporation increased park area to approximately 1500 acres. The top of the 60-foot observation tower is about 800 feet above the surrounding terrain and offers spectacular views.
The formation of Rib Mountain began some 1.5 to 2 billion years ago with the violent fusion, through intense heat, of sand into mammoth chunks of quartzite. Beginning 1.5 billion years ago, the surrounding plains started eroding away.
The incredibly hard quartzite, however, resisted this erosion. Over the succeeding hundreds of millions of years what remained rose higher and higher over the surrounding area, and is now called a "monadnock" by geologists.
Rib Mountain is the fourth highest point in Wisconsin at 1,940 feet above sea level and, at more than 700 feet above the surrounding plain, is the tallest hill in Wisconsin.
About Friends of Rib Mountain State Park
Welcome to the Friends of Rib Mountain State Park. We are a non-profit organization dedicated to the betterment of the park, located in Wausau, Wisconsin. We invite you to experience all that Rib Mountain has to offer - take a stroll up Park Road, hike the many trails the park has to offer, climb the observation tower for a fantastic view of the surrounding area, come listen to our summer concerts, or attend one of our many naturalist programs about wildlife or area history. And please contact the Friends of Rib Mountain State Park if you have program or event suggestions.
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