Articles Tagged: Backbone State Park

Warnings about bacteria in the water are posted at 13 Iowa beaches this week. Water samples from Backbone State Park in Delaware County, in particular, show exceptionally high E. coli levels.

Backbone State Park in northeast Iowa was among four Iowa parks with high bacteria concentrations in beach water this week. Lake Macbride State Park and Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area are "OK for swimming," the state reported.

Abundant rainfall that washed fecal material into Iowa's lakes likely led to the largest amount of swimming advisories at their beaches in more than a decade.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said it is urging park visitors to plan in advance heading into the Memorial Day weekend in case an activity or location is affected.

If your holiday plans include a dip in a nearby lake -- good news -- most of Iowa’s 40 state park beaches have water quality within safe standards for swimming this week. Seven don’t, so take a look at our list.

Two decades of bacteria and algae have plagued Iowa beaches, leading to constant warnings. The Gazette and Investigate Midwest analyzed 20 years of beach monitoring data from the Iowa DNR. The results show that although individual locations show some progress, Iowa’s beaches overall show little to no improvement.

Park great for bicycling, boating, camping, rock climbing, fishing and, of course, hiking