View source for Maquoketa Caves State Park

{{Short description|State park in Iowa, USA}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox park
| name            = Maquoketa Caves State Park
| photo           = Maquoketa Caves 02.jpg
| photo_caption   = 
| photo_alt       = Cave opening
| photo_width     = 280
| map             = USA Iowa#USA
| map_caption     = Location in Iowa##Location in United States
| map_width       = 280
| relief          = 1
| label           = Maquoketa Caves State Park
| label_position  = left
| location        = [[Jackson County, Iowa]], United States
| nearest_city    = 
| coordinates     = {{coord|42.1172385|-90.7809709|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref      = <ref name=gnis>{{cite gnis|1679007|Maquoketa Caves Natural Bridge}}</ref>
| area            = {{convert|323|acre}}
| elevation       = {{convert|791|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=gnis/>
| established     = 1921<ref name=parksARCHIVED/>
| administrator   = [[Iowa Department of Natural Resources]]
| visitation_num  = 
| visitation_year =  
| visitation_ref  = 
| website         = {{Official website}}
| embedded        = 
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Maquoketa Caves State Park<br>Historic District
  | embed = yes
  | nrhp_type = hd
  | nocat = yes
  | image = Custodian Residence.jpg
  | caption = Custodian Residence
  | location = 
  | nearest_city = 
  | built = 1932-1939
  | builder = 
  | architect = John R. Fitzsimmons<br>Lincoln Jorgensen
  | architecture = [[Rustic architecture|Rustic]]
  | added = December 23, 1991
  | area = {{convert|111|acre}}
  | mpsub = {{NRHP url|id=64500151|title=Conservation Movement in Iowa MPS}}
  | refnum = 91001843
}}
}}
'''Maquoketa Caves State Park''' is a [[state park]] of [[Iowa]], United States, located in [[Jackson County, Iowa|Jackson County]]. It stands northwest of the city of [[Maquoketa, Iowa|Maquoketa]]. In 1991, {{convert|111|acre}} on the east side of the park were listed as a [[Historic districts in the United States|historic district]] on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

==Description==
The park contains more [[cave]]s than any other state park in Iowa.<ref name=parksARCHIVED/> A trail system links the caves, formations, and overlooks while providing a scenic [[hiking]] experience. Many areas on these trails have seen new construction, making the journey to the caves safer.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} Most of the caves may be entered by persons of average physical ability, but some are more advanced. However the park's caves were closed to humans between 2010 and April 2012 in the hopes of protecting the resident bats from [[white nose syndrome]].{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

The park is in the [[Driftless Area]] of Iowa. This region escaped being glaciated in the last [[Wisconsin glaciation|ice age]], while regions to the east and west were not spared. The park has been subjected to hundreds of thousands of years of natural non-glacial erosion.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

The park's caves, [[limestone]] formations and rugged bluffs represent a step back in [[Geologic timescale|geological time]] of thousands of years. [[Stalactite]]s once hung from the ceilings and [[stalagmite]]s rose from the floor. Souvenir hunters have robbed the caves of this rare beauty, but many formations remain. The park's limestone caves, arches and chimneys including Dancehall Cave, Hernado's Hideaway, Shinbone Cave, Wye Cave, and an unmarked cave within the Dancehall Cavern locally known as Steelgate Cave.

The park's interpretive center, formerly known as Sager’s Museum, has displays on the geology of cave formations and park history.<ref name=parks/>

== History ==
Artifacts such as [[pottery]], as well as tools and projectile points made of stone have been found in the caves and surrounding area. These discoveries indicate that the Maquoketa Caves area has been of interest to humans for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Early recorded history tells that the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] in the area were likely visitors to the Raccoon Creek valleys.  The first Euro-American explorers first visited the caves as late as the mid-1830s. The area was originally known as Morehead Caves or Burt's Cave.<ref name=Conard>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=91001843}}|title=Maquoketa Caves State Park Historic District|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2016-06-15|first=Rebecca |last=Conard}} with {{NRHP url|id=91001843|photos=y|title=15 photos from 1991}}</ref>  It had become a popular place for exploration, picnics, parties, and dances by the 1860s.<ref name="Lovell-1918">{{Citation |title=Carolinians in Iowa |last=Lovell |first=Mrs. W. B. |date=June 23, 1918 |work=Keowee courier |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026912/1918-07-03/ed-1/?sp=2&q=maquoketa+caves&r=0.077,0.623,0.511,0.345,0}}</ref> A dance floor was constructed north of Natural Bridge in 1868, and a pavilion, which was used until the 1920s, was built sometime later. By the turn of the 20th century the area had become seriously degraded, and its popularity declined.

The first park land was purchased in 1921 by the Maquoketa Women's Club for the purposes of establishing a state park.  Originally called Morehead Caves State Park, its name was changed to Maquoketa Caves in 1928.<ref name=Conard/> Additional land was acquired in 1931. {{citation needed|date=August 2019}} The majority of the park facilities were constructed from 1932 to 1939 by the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC) and the [[Works Progress Administration]] (WPA). Both programs resulted from the [[Government of the United States|federal government]] effort to make work for Americans during the [[Great Depression]]. Their work makes up the [[contributing properties]] of the historic district. They include three CCC overlook shelters, the entrance portals, the custodian's residence, the shelter house/concession building, the stone picnic circle, and two stone latrines.  The noncontributing structures in the park include the CCC/WPA cave improvements, the CCC/WPA trail system, the park ranger's residence, a picnic shelter, and two wood-frame latrines.<ref name=Conard/> State Landscape Architect John Fitzsimmons designed the custodian's residence.  It and the other historic structures designed by the [[Central Design Office, Ames|Central Design Office]] in [[Ames, Iowa]] were built in the [[Rustic architecture|Rustic]] style, which was promulgated by the [[National Park Service]] in the 1930s as being appropriate for parks.<ref name=Conard/>

In 1944, the [[Maquoketa River#Major events|Maquoketa River]] flooded with a historic discharge of 48,000 cubic feet per second.<ref name="Notes-Iowa-Ep36">{{cite web |last1=Mason |first1=Kevin |title=Maquoketa Caves State Park - Notes on Iowa State Park Series, Episode 36 |url=https://www.notesoniowa.com/post/maquoketa-caves-state-park-notes-on-iowa-state-park-series-episode-36 |website=Notes on Iowa |access-date=16 July 2025 |date=29 January 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Eash |first1=David A. |title=Flood of June 4-5, 2002, in the Maquoketa River Basin, east-central Iowa |date=2004 |doi=10.3133/ofr20041250 |url=https://www.usgs.gov/publications/flood-june-4-5-2002-maquoketa-river-basin-east-central-iowa |publisher=USGS Publications Warehouse |language=en |id=ofr20041250|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  Several of the caves were inundated with the water carving holes up to eight feet deep and damaging the lighting system. Repairs were conducted over several years and completed in 1949.<ref name="Notes-Iowa-Ep36"/>

The State of Iowa purchased an additional {{convert|161|acre}} on the west side of the park between 1961 and 1981. This section was dedicated as a nature preserve.<ref name=Conard/>

== In popular culture ==
The park was once featured on an episode of ''[[Rescue 911]]'' when a story was done on a hiker who had fallen and was seriously injured while at the park. The hiker was saved by paramedics and the Maquoketa volunteer fire department.

== In the news ==
{{Main|Maquoketa Caves State Park familicide}}
In the early morning of July 22, 2022, an assailant killed three members of a family at the campground. The assailant, identified as 23-year-old Anthony Sherwin of [[Nebraska]], later committed suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-22 |title=Police: Gunman kills 3 at Iowa state park; shooter also dead |url=https://apnews.com/article/police-shootings-iowa-13ccc3d47f39642da299278c604fbd8c |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of Iowa state parks]]

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=parks>{{cite web |url=https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/all-parks/maquoketa-caves-state-park |title=Maquoketa Caves State Park |publisher=Iowa Department of Natural Resources |access-date=April 4, 2025}}</ref>

<ref name=parksARCHIVED>{{cite web |url=http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/maquoketa_caves.html |title=Maquoketa Caves State Park |publisher=Iowa Department of Natural Resources |access-date=June 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509020508/http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/maquoketa_caves.html |archive-date=2011-05-09}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{commonscat|Maquoketa Caves State Park}}
*[https://www.iowadnr.gov/places-go/state-parks/all-parks/maquoketa-caves-state-park Maquoketa Caves State Park] Iowa Department of Natural Resources 
*[https://www.iowadnr.gov/media/1251/download?inline Maquoketa Caves State Park Map] Iowa Department of Natural Resources 


{{IA Parks}}
{{NRHP in Jackson County, Iowa}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Caves of Iowa]]
[[Category:Civilian Conservation Corps in Iowa]]
[[Category:Driftless Area]]
[[Category:State parks of Iowa]]
[[Category:Maquoketa, Iowa]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1921]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Jackson County, Iowa]]
[[Category:Show caves in the United States]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in Iowa]]
[[Category:Landforms of Jackson County, Iowa]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Jackson County, Iowa]]
[[Category:Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Jackson County, Iowa]]
[[Category:Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa]]
[[Category:Rustic architecture in Iowa]]
[[Category:1921 establishments in Iowa]]