Tucked away, just off the East Bluff Trail stands Balanced Rock, a formation created by the weathering of the cliffs of Devil's Lake State Park. Water seeped into the cracks in the very hard rock and eventually cracked the rock. Pieces fell away leaving behind several rock formations along the bluffs.
This formation looks like a man made monument, yet it's a natural formation. It stands about ten feet tall, and overlooks the lake below.
The chunks that fell away litter the foot of the hills on both sides of the lake. It's hard to image this place thousands of years ago when many of those boulders were still part of the bluff.
A short .4 mile trail, Balanced Rock Trail is described as a difficult, steep climbing trail, and it certainly is. Well worth the effort, but care must be taken when moving from stone step to stone step. These steps were created by moving the boulders around a bit and adding some reinforcing concrete in some areas, keeping the experience as natural as possible.
Narrow passages and winding switchback trails lead down the bluff through the boulder rubble. This rubble looks like gravel from a distance, but as you hike through it, you realize the rubble averages about 4 feet in diameter.
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