Best Midwest State Parks
We hiked. We swam. We even peeked in the bathrooms. All to bring you a state-by-state guide to 36 of the Midwest's greatest natural treasures.
Iowa: Maquoketa Caves State Park
Cornfields and combines feel eons away from the lush and strangely exotic landscape at Maquoketa Caves State Park (30 miles south of Dubuque), where a long wood staircase descends from a concrete picnic area into an almost prehistoric world. Towering stone walls, moss-covered rocks and an emerald canopy unfold around the Maquoketa Caves' 16 caves and crawl spaces. Ducking under low-hanging rocks and clambering along a roller coaster of steps, visitors feel like real explorers. Bring a flashlight -- and a towel to wipe mud off your shoes. (563) 652-5833
Update: Check the park website before you go for cave accessibility; in May 2010, Iowa's Department of Natural Resources closed state-owned caves that bats use for hibernation to help slow the spread of a disease that is killing bats across the eastern United States.
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