56 state parks and recreation areas in Iowa
Camping, trails, fees and current alerts are on each park’s page.
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All 56 parks
- Ambrose A. Call State Park138 acres of rugged hills and virgin timber in a county of gently rolling farmland, near the east fork of the…
- Backbone State ParkIowa's first state park, dedicated in 1920 and named for the narrow bedrock ridge the Maquoketa River carved…
- Badger Creek State Recreation AreaMore than 700 acres of hunting and birding ground a few miles southwest of the Des Moines metro, popular with…
- Banner Lakes At Summerset State ParkA coal mine until it became a park in 2004, now a quiet stretch of rolling ground between Des Moines and…
- Beeds Lake State ParkA 99-acre reservoir behind one of the most photographed dams in the Midwest, at the centre of Franklin…
- Bellevue State ParkHigh bluffs over the Mississippi in eastern Iowa, split into two separate areas, with an open butterfly…
- Big Creek State ParkThe largest beach in the Iowa park system, twenty miles from Des Moines beside Saylorville Lake. Boat rentals…
- Black Hawk State ParkBuilt around the southernmost glacial lake in the United States, with much of its stonework laid by the…
- Brushy Creek State Recreation AreaOne of Iowa's largest parks at 6,500 acres, holding native prairie, grassland, timber, river and lake. More…
- Cedar Rock State ParkThe Walter House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Agnes and Lowell Walter and given to the state with its…
- Clear Lake State ParkFifty acres of open ground and mature oak on one of Iowa's most popular lakes — 3,000 acres of water drawing…
- Dolliver Memorial State Park594 acres of bluff and ravine above the Des Moines River valley, with Boneyard Hollow, the Copperas Beds and…
- Elk Rock State ParkOn Lake Red Rock, Iowa's largest body of water, with more than 50,000 acres of public land around it. Named…
- Fairport State Recreation AreaA small campground on the Mississippi near Muscatine, with electric sites looking straight out at the river…
- Fort Defiance State Park191 acres of rugged woodland ringed by farmland outside Estherville, with an army-post style lodge at its…
- Geode State ParkNamed for Iowa's state rock, with more than 150 acres of Lake Geode for fishing, boating and paddling. Geodes…
- George Wyth State ParkAn urban sanctuary of woodland and water between Waterloo and Cedar Falls, threaded with lakes and river…
- Green Valley State ParkA family hub for camping, fishing and boating in southwest Iowa, with three more lakes — Three Mile, Twelve…
- Gull Point State ParkEstablished in 1933 on West Okoboji Lake, with the largest CCC-era lodge in the system and deep shade over…
- Honey Creek State Park828 acres of rolling timbered hills against Rathbun Lake, Iowa's second largest. Deer and turkey are regular…
- Lacey-Keosauqua State ParkIowa's second state park, dedicated in 1920 and spanning 1,662 acres of oak-hickory bluff above the Des…
- Lake Ahquabi State ParkNamed from the Sauk and Fox word for resting place, dedicated in 1936 and built out by the CCC — the stone…
- Lake Anita State ParkA 171-acre artificial lake at the centre of 1,062 acres, built in the 1960s and still one of southwest Iowa's…
- Lake Darling State ParkNamed for the conservationist and cartoonist J.N. “Ding” Darling, with woodland hikes and lake recreation in…
- Lake Keomah State Park366 acres of deep woods and picnic ground along an 84-acre lake near Oskaloosa. Marshy edges hold bullfrogs…
- Lake Macbride State ParkNamed for Thomas Macbride, the father of Iowa conservation, with multi-use trails winding right around the…
- Lake Manawa State ParkMore than 1,500 acres around a lake the Missouri River created in an 1881 flood, and western Iowa's premier…
- Lake Wapello State ParkMore than 1,000 acres of wooded hillside named for the Meskwaki chief, with scenic picnic ground and a lake…
- Lake of Three Fires State ParkA hotspot for equestrian trail riding and camping in southwest Iowa, with an 85-acre lake for boaters and…
- Ledges State ParkSandstone ledges tower 100 feet above the Des Moines River here, and a four-mile trail system works through…
- Lewis and Clark State ParkA picturesque park on the Lewis and Clark expedition route of 1804, in western Iowa, with full-size keelboat…
- Maquoketa Caves State ParkMore caves than any other Iowa state park, with enormous bluffs and a six-mile trail system linking the…
- McIntosh Woods State ParkSixty acres on the northwest shore of Clear Lake, founded in 1944 and shaded throughout. Fishing, boating and…
- Mines of Spain State Recreation AreaA National Historic Landmark on the edge of Dubuque, where village sites, rock shelters and trading posts…
- Nine Eagles State ParkWooded hills and scenic valleys in southern Iowa, with native plant communities that give unusually good…
- Palisades-Kepler State ParkDramatic bluffs and deep ravines along the Cedar River outside Cedar Rapids, with hardwood timber and Native…
- Pikes Peak State ParkFamed for its view over the Mississippi from a national scenic byway, with eleven miles of trail through…
- Pilot Knob State ParkOne of the earliest parks in the system, dedicated in 1924, with a CCC observation tower on the National…
- Pine Lake State ParkWooded trails, deep ravines and lake views in the middle of rolling farmland, with CCC and WPA structures…
- Pleasant Creek State Recreation AreaBuilt in the 1960s to give eastern Iowa an accessible lake, and now a premier spot for fishing and boating in…
- Prairie Rose State Park422 acres in the scenic hills of southwest Iowa, named for a village that once stood nearby. The lake is the…
- Preparation Canyon State Park344 acres in the heart of the Loess Hills, on ground that was once the town of Preparation. Backcountry…
- Red Haw State Park649 acres in south-central Iowa, best known for the redbuds that bloom around the lake each spring and the…
- Rice Lake State ParkFifteen acres on the southern shore of one of Iowa's few natural shallow lakes, in Winnebago County. A stone…
- Rock Creek State ParkA premier camping destination in central Iowa with nearly 200 sites, several of them on the water. Boating…
- Springbrook State Park930 acres of rolling hills and mature timber in Guthrie County, much of it built by the CCC in the 1930s. A…
- Stone State ParkAn urban wildlife sanctuary on the edge of Sioux City, in the heart of the Loess Hills. CCC entrance portals…
- Twin Lakes State ParkA 453-acre lake near Rockwell City in northwest Iowa, popular with boaters and anglers. A sandy beach, a…
- Union Grove State ParkEstablished in 1938 around a 110-acre lake in Tama County, with an often-photographed waterfall and dam…
- Viking Lake State ParkA thousand acres of which most is left in its natural state, thick with wildflowers and native plants…
- Volga River State Recreation Area5,700 acres of rugged northeast Iowa that locals call Little Switzerland, with steel bridges over the Volga…
- Walnut Woods State ParkIowa's largest stand of black walnut, on the Raccoon River just outside Des Moines, with one of the finest…
- Wapsipinicon State ParkOn the edge of Anamosa and listed on the National Register, with a stone arch bridge, lodge and shelters…
- Waubonsie State ParkA site on the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail with exceptional views over the Loess Hills and out across the…
- Wildcat Den State ParkOne of the most photographed parks in Iowa, where trails wind past sandstone bluffs and geological formations…
- Wilson Island State Recreation Area544 acres of cottonwood stands along the Missouri River, named for Governor George Wilson. Secluded…
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