Articles Tagged: State Park

Iowa’s caves, like Maquoketa Caves and Crystal Lake Cave, offer cool respite from the muggy, summer heat.

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.

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.

A 2023 state report determined most of Iowa’s state parks have restrooms, shelters and cabins that are not accessible to people with disabilities.

Iowa would have 18 fewer law enforcement officers under an alignment plan the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is using to phase out park rangers. The DNR says this move will consolidate all law enforcement staff and won’t harm safety in Iowa’s 69 state parks. Some state park advocates disagree.

Rangers at Iowa’s 69 state parks all will gradually be classified as conservation officers assigned to one or more counties, rather than assigned to a specific state park or parks, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirmed.

Many of these beloved public spaces aren’t accessible to people with disabilities. In some cases, it’s because the parks were built decades before federal accessibility standards were enacted. But even some new state park features are not fully accessible, a former state official said.

More than 130 people came to Palisades-Kepler Monday for the First Day Hike,

The 911 call, obtained by the Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus through an open records request to Jackson County, lasts for 23 minutes.

Fall colors have already started appearing in the trees in Iowa, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the time to go leaf watching is now.

Lake of Three Fires beach will be posted with signs warning swimmers of the parasite and the risk of infection. But the Iowa Department of Natural Resources does not plan follow-up testing because of CDC guidance saying there is “no established relationship between detection or concentration of

A 9-year-old Cedar Falls boy was spared in an attack that killed his parents and younger sister early Friday as they camped at the Maquoketa Caves State Park in Eastern Iowa, according to the mayor of Cedar Falls.

An original 1930 Ford Model A affectionately named Anna Rea has been visiting all 94 state parks in Iowa, and over the next few weeks will visit northeast Iowa. All are invited to drive along for the tour.

The park rangers union called the eviction of rangers a potential violation of its contract with the state because living rent-free in state-owned housing falls under the category of supplemental pay and is a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources invites Iowans to visit a state park on New Year’s Day. If you check in online you are eligible for a prize drawing. There are also guided hikes at many state parks on Saturday.