Van Hise Rock

This outcrop of Baraboo Quartzite, located in the Baraboo Hills and known as Van Hise Rock, has been the focus of national and international scientific interest for over one hundred years. The rock is named in honor of University of Wisconsin Professor Charles R. Van Hise (1857-1918), renowned geologist, conservationist and President of the University of Wisconsin. In the 1890's, Van Hise used this outcrop to demonstrate the kinds of changes that occur in rocks during periods of mountain formation. Van Hise's oberservations of the Baraboo Hills would help to develop his groundbreaking concepts of structural and metamorphic geology. Later, these concepts would be universally accepted as the principles of structural geology. Van Hise Rock has become the single most important locality to demonstrate these principles. Countless geologists and students visit Van Hise Rock and the Baraboo Hills as a geologic mecca and continue to learn from this exceptionally diverse geologic laboratory.