- Maquoketa Caves State Park
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Maquoketa Caves State Park Iowa State Park Country 
United StatesState 
IowaCounty Jackson Location Maquoketa - elevation 817 ft (249 m) [1] - coordinates 42°7′6″N 90°46′41″W / 42.11833°N 90.77806°W Area 323 acres (131 ha) [2] Founded 1921 Management Iowa Department of Natural Resources 
Location of Maquoketa Caves State Park in IowaWebsite: Maquoketa Caves State Park Maquoketa Caves State Park is a state park of Iowa, USA, located in Jackson County. It stands northwest of the city of Maquoketa.
The park contains more caves than any other state park in Iowa. A trail system links the caves, formations, and overlooks while providing a scenic hiking experience. Many areas on these trails have seen new construction, making the journey to the caves safer. Most of the caves may be entered by persons of average physical ability, but some are more advanced. However the park's caves have been closed to human entry since 2010 in the hopes of protecting the resident bats from white nose syndrome.
The park is in the Driftless Area of Iowa. This region escaped being glaciated in the last ice age, while regions to the east and west were not spared. The park has been subjected to hundreds of thousands of years of natural non-glacial erosion.
The park's caves, limestone formations and rugged bluffs represent a step back in geological time of thousands of years. Stalactites once hung from the ceilings and stalagmites rose from the floor. Souvenir hunters have robbed the caves of this rare beauty, but many formations remain.
Today a modern interpretive center outside the park entrance provides maps and other informational materials. Inside the park, a central map kiosk includes charts of some of the more interesting caves.
History
Artifacts such as pottery, as well as tools and projectile points made of stone have been found in the caves and surrounding area. These discoveries indicate that the Maquoketa Caves area has been of interest to humans for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Early recorded history tells that the Native Americans in the area were likely visitors to the Raccoon Creek valleys.
The first park land was purchased in 1921. However, the majority of the park facilities were not constructed until the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Both programs resulted from the federal government effort to make work for Americans during the Great Depression. Their work included constructing a stone lodge, a walkway system, a stone picnic circle and several picnic shelters.
The park was once featured on an episode of Rescue 911 when a story was done on a hiker who had fallen and was seriously injured while at the park.
The park features limestone caves, arches and chimneys including Dancehall Cave, Hernado's Hideaway, and Shinbone Cave. The park also features a handful of mechanical caves including the squeezeway popularly named Fatman's Misery.
References
- ^ "Maquoketa Caves State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1979-04-30. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:458790. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
- ^ "Maquoketa Caves State Park". Iowa Department of Natural Resouces. http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/files/cards/maquoketa.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
External links
Protected Areas of Iowa Federal DeSoto • Driftless Area • Neal Smith • Northern Tallgrass Prairie • Port Louisa • Union Slough • Upper Mississippi River
State Ambrose A. Call • Backbone • Badger Creek • Banner Lakes at Summerset • Beed's Lake • Bellevue • Big Creek • Black Hawk • Brushy Creek • Cedar Rock • Clear Lake • Dolliver Memorial • Elk Rock • Elinor Bedell • Emerson Bay • Fairport • Fort Defiance • Geode • George Wyth Memorial • Green Valley • Gull Point • Honey Creek • Lacey-Keosauqua • Lake Ahquabi • Lake Anita • Lake Darling • Lake Keomah • Lake MacBride • Lake Manawa • Lake of Three Fires • Lake Wapello • Ledges • Lewis and Clark • Maquoketa Caves • Marble Beach • McIntosh Woods • Mines of Spain & E.B. Lyons • Mini-Wakan • Nine Eagles • Okamanpedan • Palisades-Kepler • Pikes Peak • Pikes Point • Pilot Knob • Pine Lake • Pleasant Creek • Prairie Rose • Preparation Canyon • Red Haw • Rice Lake • Rock Creek • Springbrook • Stone • Templar • Trapper's Bay • Twin Lakes • Union Grove • Viking Lake • Volga River • Walnut Woods • Wapsipinicon • Waubonsie • Wildcat Den • Wilson Island
Backbone • Barkley • Gifford • Holst • Loess Hills • Pilot Mound • Shimek • Stephens • White Pine Hollow • Yellow River
A.F. Miller • Ames High Prairie • Anderson Prairie • Behrens Pond and Woodlands • Berry Woods • Bird Hill • Bixby • Bluffton Fir Stand • Brush Creek Canyon • Brushy Creek • Cameron Woods • Casey's Paha • Catfish Creek • Cayler Prairie • Cedar Bluffs • Cedar Hills Sand Prairie • Cheever Lake • Clay Prairie • Claybanks Forest • Cold Water Spring • Crossman Prairie • Decorah Ice Cave • Dinesen Prairie • Doolittle Prairie • Fallen Rock • Fish Farm Mounds • Five Ridge Prairie • Fleming Woods • Fort Atkinson • Freda Haffner Kettlehole • Gitchie Manitou • Hanging Bog • Hardin City Woodland • Hartley Fort • Hayden Prairie • Hoffman Prairie • Indian Bluffs Primitive Area • Indian Fish Trap • Iowa's State Preserves System • Kalsow • Kish-Ke-Kosh Prairie • Lamson Woods • Liska-Stanek Prairie • Little Maquoketa • Malanaphy Springs • Malchow Mounds • Manikowski Prairie • Mann Wilderness Area • Marietta Sand Prairie • Mericle Woods • Merrill A. Stainbrook • Merritt Forest • Montauk • Mossy Glen • Mount Pisgah Cemetery • Mount Talbot • Nestor Stiles Prairie • Ocheyedan Mound • Old State Quarry • Palisades-Downs • Pecan Grove • Pellett Woods • Pilot Grove • Pilot Knob • Retz Woods • Roberts Creek • Rock Creek Island • Rock Island • Roggman Boreal Slopes • Rolling Thunder Prairie • Saint James Lutheran Church • Savage Woods • Searryl's Cave • Sheeder Prairie • Silver Lake Fen • Silvers-Smith Woods • Slinde Mounds • Starr's Cave • Steele Prairie • Stinson Prairie • Strasser Woods • Sylvan Runkel • Toolesboro Mounds • Turin Loess Hills • Turkey River Mounds • White Pine Hollow • Williams Prairie • Wittrock Indian Village • Woodland Mounds • Woodman Hollow • Woodthrush •
County State Parks
(Leased)Bobwhite • Cold Springs • Crystal Lake • Eagle Lake • Echo Valley • Frank A. Gotch • Heery Woods • Lake Cornelia • Lake Icaria • Kearny • Margo Frankel • Mill Creek • Oak Grove • Oakland Mills • Pammel • Sharon Bluffs • Spring Lake • Swan Lake • Three Mile Lake
Iowa Department of Natural Resources Categories:- Caves of Iowa
- Civilian Conservation Corps in Iowa
- Driftless Area
- Iowa state parks
- Maquoketa, Iowa
- Native American archeology
- Protected areas established in 1921
- Protected areas of Jackson County, Iowa
- Show caves in the United States
- Works Progress Administration in Iowa
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