Maquoketa Caves Remains Closed for the Season

The caves at Maquoketa Caves State park will be off limits once again this season.

The D.N.R made that decision because of fears of a spreading a fungus that kills bats.

White-nosed Syndrome has not reached Iowa yet/

But, park rangers worry people could carry the fungus if they picked it up somewhere else.

The state park sits between Maquoketa and Baldwin.

Normally it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Locally made wine draws visitors from all over to the Tabor Home Winery. It's 11 miles from Maquoketa Caves State Park.

Martha Tabor said, "It would be nice if all the attractions in Jackson County were open because it's so beautiful down here and there's so much to do."

Tabor says closing the caves didn't hurt her business last summer.

She says that's because the winery added extras; including live music events, and better access to the Maquoketa River.

But the park attendance dropped, big time.

Park Ranger Scott Dykstra said, "we didn't have a full weekend all summer. The group camp was a ghost town the whole summer. "

In 2009, 212-thousand people visited the park.

After the D.N.R closed the park last summer, only 70-thousand people showed up.

Once again this summer the trails and campground will be open, but the popular caves will be closed.

Dykstra said, "we want to get it back open to the public. But we also have to protect our resources for future generations."

Leaving nearby businesses, like Tabor's, to wonder whether the tourists will show up this summer.