The state park is named after a linear escarpment of Precambrian Sioux Quartzite bedrock which, although pink in color, is said to have appeared blueish in the distance to early settlers.

The park also preserves a 1,250-foot-long (380 m) line of rocks aligned by Plains Indians which marks where the sun rises and sets on the spring and fall equinoxes.

Four structures and one building in the park, built by the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[6] According to local folklore the mound was used as a buffalo jump before European settlement, but no archaeological evidence has yet been found as verification.

Parkland was originally established north of the Blue Mound for the purpose of providing work relief during the Great Depression and water recreation.

The state bought Frederick Manfred's house in 1972 to turn into an interpretive center, although they let him live there for three more years.

Local conservationists argued the state out of this plan several times in the 1970s, citing the impact to the environment atop the mound.

The two dams are particularly noteworthy, blending into the natural rock walls of the creek, an exceptional application of rustic style to utilitarian structures.