Lake Bemidji State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the north shore of Lake Bemidji. The northern half of the park preserves a spruce-tamarack bog. A district of National Park Service rustic structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and National Youth Administration in the 1930s is on the National Register of Historic Places. The park is located north of the city of Bemidji. Geology and landscape The landscape in the park is the last stage of the glacier in Minnesota. As the ice melted 10,000 years ago, soil, gravel, and rock were deposited creating the park's rolling topography. Many swamps and bogs were formed when chunks of ice separated from the receding glacier and left depressions which filled with water. Lake Bemidji was created by two huge blocks of ice being left behind by the retreating glacier. The present landscape is not fixed. The land continues to change slowly due to the erosion by wind and water, shoreline wave action, and other acts of mother nature. History For hundreds of years, ancestors to the Dakota people fished and hunted around Lake Bemidji. Around 1750 the Anishinabe settled. The Anishinabe called the lake "Bemiji-gau-maug" meaning "cutting sideways through" or diagonally. This was a reference to the path of the Mississippi River through the lake. Later Europeans, unable to pronounce the Anishinabe name, simply referred to it as "Bemidji". In the late 19th century, European immigrants migrated to this region to harvest the white and Norway pine trees. During the peak of logging, the lumber mill on the south shore of Lake Bemidji was the center of logging in the nation. When the government purchased the land, a few areas within the park boundaries were in a virgin state, preserving the towering forests. In 1923, the Minnesota State Legislature set aside , establishing Lake Bemidji State Park. Today, the park has grown to over to serve 150,000 plus visitors a year. Wildlife The vegetation in the park supports many wildlife species. Birding is popular. Campers may hear the sounds of red-eyed and warbling vireos, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and many other song birds. Loons, eagles, herons, gulls, even osprey can be seen by the lakeshore. A hike on one of the park trails can yield a glimpse of a doe with her fawn, a porcupine having lunch halfway up a jackpine, or even an occasional black bear. Eastern chipmunks