Iowa State Parks
All But Two Of The Iowa State Parks Are Located On A River Or Lake In This Landlocked State
The management of the State Parks in Iowa is somewhat fractured. There are nineteen Iowa parks which are run by the county in which they are located.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) manage another fifty five Iowa State Parks plus ten Recreation Areas and two other areas.
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To See A List Of The Iowa Parks Just Click Here |
Iowa is a state located in the mid western part of the United States and is often referred to as the "American Heartland."
Its name comes from a Native American tribe called the Ioway who were living in the area when the first Europeans arrived. They were two French explorers who had travelled up the Mississippi River in 1673. |
The Mississippi River Near Marquette, Iowa
The region that was to become Iowa was claimed for France and remained their territory until 1763 when they transferred ownership to Spain who was their ally at that time.
Iowa was then part of an area known as the Louisiana Territory. Following another treaty between Spain and France in 1800, ownership reverted from Spain back to the French, however, they didn`t keep it long as the final owners then became the United States when they acquired the land in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
In 1804 the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the state and the Lewis and Clark State Park in Monona County presrves the site where they pitched camp on the 10th of August 1804.
Much of Iowa was mapped in 1808 by the famous Zebulon Pike and one of the Iowa State Parks, Pikes Peak State Park in Clayton County is named in his honor. He later went on to Colorado where another Pikes Peak was named after him.
Iowa Is Renowned For Its Beautiful Sunsets
Although there are no real mountains in Iowa; the highest point in the state is well below 2,000 feet; in cannot really be called flat. It consists of gently rolling hills with the most dramatic scenery to be found in The Loess Hills which lie along its western border.
The natural vegetation in Iowa used to be savanna and prairie grass on the upland areas with forests and wetlands on the flood plains and in the river valleys. Over the years this has changed and now 60% of the land in the state is covered with agricultural crops.
In more recent years there has been a shift away from an agricultural based econonmy to one that is more diverse and with that has come "rural flight."
Many of the mid-western states like Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas have suffered in the same way. Population has gradually moved from the rural areas to the urban towns and cities. However, Iowa is still a thriving and beautiful state.
This Bridge At Ledges State Park Was Built By The C.C.C.
Of the fifty five Iowa State Parks actually being run by the state, only two of them are not located on a water feature. The two exceptions are Preparation Canyon State Park, which preserves the site of a town founded in 1853 by a Mormon splinter group led by Charles B. Thompson and Fort Defiance State Park which commemorates the site of an army fort built to protect the Iowa border during the 1862 Dakota War.
The boundaries of Iowa are defined by a number of large rivers. To the east is the Mississippi, to the west is the Missouri and the Big Sioux Rivers while a part of the southern border runs along the shore of the Des Moines River.
Naturally a number of the Iowa State Parks are to be found near the banks of
these rivers. Bellevue State Park is on the Mississippi while Lake Manawa State
Park is close to the Missouri. Stone State Park and
Ledges
State Park are on the Big Sioux and the Des Moines respectively.
Dramatic Storm Clouds Over The Des Moines River In Iowa (Photo by Iowa-Spirit-Walker)
Part of North west Iowa is known as the Iowa Great Lakes area and a number of Iowa State Parks are located here. Examples of these are Gull Point State Park, Pikes Point State Park and Mini-Wakan State Park.
Some other interesting Iowa State Parks include Beed`s Lake State Park which features a 170 foot long causeway built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Cedar Rock State Park which offers tours around a Frank Lloyd Wright house.
Also the Lake Darling State Park which honors a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and the Lake of Three Fires State Park where three Native American tribes held council meetings.
Here is a list of the Iowa State Parks run by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources -
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And this is a list of the Iowa State Parks which are run by their individual counties
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This is a map of Iowa showing all the different counties
