Shipwreck Madeira Diver's Access
In the summer of 2004 the Madeira access got a major
facelift. Gone are the days of parking on the shoulder of Highway 61 then
toting all of your dive gear down a long mud path to the stone beach near the
site. This summer Split Rock State Park opened it's diver access which
includes a gated and paved parking area much closer to the site than the
"off-road parking." The path has been improved using a class 5
aggregate and wooden steps have been added over the treacherous rocks.
There are also interpretive materials posted on the stair landing. The
improved access culminated a series of changes that GLSPS has been working with
the DNR and the Parks and Trails Council to achieve.
The access improvement began back in 1997 when GLSPS was
approached by the Minnesota Parks and Trails Council to support them in
acquiring the land parcel including Gold Rock Point for inclusion to Split Rock
State Park. The Conco Company, who owned it and who administers the
Congdon trust holdings, wanted to sell the property. The last thing we
wanted to see was restricted private land and condominiums built on Gold Rock
Point. It was one of the few, if not the only, remaining privately owned
scenic overlook points on the North Shore that did not have a castle built on it.
It was the intention of the Parks and Trails Council to keep it in its
undeveloped state. Nowadays the only way that happens is if it is included
in a park. The Minnesota Parks and Trails Council is an non-profit organization
that works with the DNR to acquire choice land for inclusion in state parks.
Minnesota law prohibits the DNR from bidding against private companies for
land so the independent non-profit Parks and Trails Council acts as an
intermediary and buys the land then willingly sells it to the state. We
supported this action, attended meetings, and tried to keep the diving
community appraised of what was happening so they could participate in the
process. At the time we really didn't have enough money to do much to
financially support it. The process was completed on Sept 12, 1998 when
the Council turned over the parcel of land to the DNR for inclusion into the
park. We were aware that things most likely would change, but have been
working with the DNR to make sure that the point stays open even when the park
is closed. We felt it was a small price to pay to guarantee that the
access stays open to divers.
After that we worked with the park management making suggestions to
improve the access. One of the impediments we hit in that process was that
the DNR does not like to develop a public access to a private historical site at
least not without a willing owner. At the time the Madeira was privately
owned by a corporation created by Lee Opheim, who did some minimal salvage back
in the 1960's. Lee died in December 1998. In the spring of 2000
GLSPS secured the Madeira ownership and salvage rights in a donation from Lee's
partner Donald Wise, who was administering the assets of the corporation. That
cleared the final albeit minor hitch to improving the access. The park
showed us the proposal for the improvements several years ago and we made more
comments and now the plan has been completed.
Our thanks to the DNR and Parks and Trails Council for working
letting us work with them in improving diver access to the shipwreck sites of the North
Shore. Below are scenes from this really top notch diver access. The
goal is to maintain the natural beauty of the area along with improving
access. I think the park has done a great job of both. Click
here for more information on access procedures.
