Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Iowa → Maquoketa Caves State Park

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Maquoketa, Iowa

Time Required: 2-5 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Entry is free, open 4:30am – 10pm daily. For more information, including a downloadable park map, visit the Iowa State Parks website. The Iowa Parklands website also has some helpful details on trails through the park if you’re interested specifically in hiking. Bring a headlamp – only the largest cave is lit.

What’s Nearby?: Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve (close-ish…it’s about 2 hours away)

This place would be a much bigger deal if it were located near a more populated area. Bonus for those of us who have been in the area, though, because it’s really great! The caves were “discovered” by settlers in the 1830’s, but artifacts found in the area indicate that the caves had been used by native peoples for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Thirteen of the caves in the park are noted on the park map and have defined trails that lead to them (over 7 miles of trails run through the park); there are certainly more caves in the area which are more difficult to find and explore (we ran into some people doing just that), so if you have the time and the interest, it’s a great option. Of the thirteen named/marked caves, only Dancehall Cave has been converted into a show cave, with lighting and a paved walkway; it’s hard to complain since these were added in the 1930’s using federal government funding to provide work during the Great Depression. In terms of lighting and walkways I’ve seen in caves, the work done here is in good taste. And besides, the rest of the caves in the park have been left wild, and you can crawl around and get wet and dirty in all of those (also, there are some neat unmarked side passages in Dancehall to explore). The caves are well-named, with monikers like “Ice Cave” and “Up-n-down Cave”, so it’s quite fun to guess what the cave will be like from the name and confirm it upon arrival.

Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Iowa → Maquoketa Caves State Park