Maquoketa Caves State Park / Backbone State Park

06/07/09 - 06/10/09

Maquoketa Caves State Park contains more caves than any other state park in Iowa. The caves range in lengths up to around 1/5 of a mile. There are some you can walk in and others you must crawl through. The biggest cave is Dancehall Cave. It is 1100 feet long and has three entrances. You can walk upright through most of the cave. Although, there are a couple of places where you need to stoop down a bit. It is the only cave is the park that is lighted and it is also the only cave with a concrete walkway through it.

ackbone was the first state park created in Iowa. The park was named for a narrow and steep ridge of bedrock that was carved by a loop of the Maquoketa River. It has a man-made lake and 21 miles of hiking trails. The park is home to a lot of wildlife. I went on a six mile hike one day and saw 11 deer while only seeing 2 people. Both evenings I was there, my campsite was visited by a hummingbird and a whitetail deer. I also heard lots of songbirds singing, woodpeckers drumming, and owls hooting.

The first ten photos are from Maquoketa Caves and the last six are from Backbone.

Dancehall Cave
Steve Winker