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Recreation and Places of Interest
Hunting and fishing are among the most popular
forms of outdoor recreation in Iowa. There are
many state-owned hunting areas open to the public,
and well-stocked lakes, ponds, and streams throughout
the state are popular. Camping, hiking, riding,
water sports activities, and other active kinds
of recreation attract large numbers of people
to the state’s numerous parks.
National Parks
Iowa has sites of considerable historic or archaeological
interest. One of the best-known sites is preserved
in Effigy Mounds National Monument, in northeastern
Iowa. Prehistoric mounds are common from the
plains of the Midwest to the Atlantic seaboard,
but only in this general area were they constructed
in an effigy outline of mammals, birds, and reptiles.
The monument contains 200 mounds, 29 in the shape
of effigies, which were built by Native Americans
of the Northeast culture area from 500 bc to
AD 1300.
The birthplace and boyhood neighborhood of Herbert
Hoover, the 31st United States president, are
preserved within Herbert Hoover National Historic
Site. Also at the site is the Hoover Presidential
Library-Museum.
State Forests
There are four major and six small state forests
in Iowa. Shimek Forest is in the southeastern
corner of the state. Yellow River Forest includes
scattered areas in Allamakee County in the northeast.
Holst Forest is in Boone County in central Iowa.
Stephens Forest is in the south. All of the forests
have facilities for hiking and hunting. There
is also a state nursery in Iowa. It is located
near Ames, in the central part of the state.
State Parks
Iowa’s many state parks and recreation
areas provide Iowans with a variety of opportunities,
such as boating, picnicking, camping, swimming,
riding, and the study of nature. In addition,
some parks, such as Ledges State Park and Pilot
Knob State Park, are popular winter sports areas.
Backbone State Park, established in 1919, is
the oldest state park in Iowa. It is enclosed
by a loop of the winding Maquoketa River, in
eastern Iowa. The park is named for a weathered
limestone hump that rises above the surrounding
prairie. It forms an outlying part of the Driftless
section.
In Pilot Knob State Park, northwest of Mason
City, a hill 90 m (300 ft) high affords the visitor
a panoramic view of surrounding farmlands. Dolliver
Memorial State Park, south of Fort Dodge, encompasses
a region of sandstone cliffs, deep ravines, and
woodlands. Palisades-Kepler State Park, which
is on the Cedar River near Mount Vernon, includes
an area of sheer limestone cliffs, or palisades.
In Maquoketa Caves State Park, 43 km (27 mi)
south of Dubuque, are extensive underground caverns
and a natural bridge that arches between two
high bluffs. Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, which
is on the Des Moines River in southeastern Iowa,
is noted as a wildlife sanctuary. Wildcat Den
State Park overlooks the Mississippi River between
Davenport and Muscatine. In the park are a rustic
gristmill and a dam that dates from 1838.
Among the state recreation areas that are also
historic sites is Fort Atkinson, on the Turkey
River in northeastern Iowa. Within the area are
several original buildings and the restored blockhouse
of a fort built in 1840. The United States Army
Corps of Engineers also oversees several recreation
areas along the state’s rivers.
Museums
There are museums and art galleries in several
of the larger cities in Iowa. Among the principal
museums are the Des Moines Art Center, which
has a collection of European and American paintings
and sculpture; the University of Iowa’s
Museum of Natural History, in Iowa City; and
the Sanford Museum and Planetarium, in Cherokee.
Others include the Davenport Museum of Art; the
Grout Museum of History and Science, in Waterloo;
the Central Iowa Art Association, in Marshalltown;
the University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art,
in Cedar Falls; the Sioux City Art Center; and
the Sioux City Public Museum. There are historical
museums in many of the small cities of Iowa,
for example the Floyd County Historical Society
Museum, in Charles City; the Wayne County Museum,
in Corydon; and the Albert W. McCallum Museum
and Dorothea Brunson Heritage Home, in Sibley.
Other Places to Visit
In Spillville, near Decorah, is the house where
the famous Czech composer Antonín Dvorák
lived in the summer of 1893, during his visit
to America. In Dubuque is the Old Shot Tower,
where many tons of lead shot were made for the
Union forces during the Civil War. On Floyd’s
Bluff in Sioux City stands the Floyd Monument,
an obelisk of white sandstone. The monument marks
the burial place of Sergeant Charles Floyd, a
member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Amana, in east central Iowa, is one of seven
small picturesque villages of the Amana Society.
The villages were established by a German religious
sect in the 1850s and early 1860s. They are known
for the handcrafted products made there and for
their fine restaurants. The Grotto of the Redemption
is an ornate religious structure in West Bend,
a small community in north central Iowa. On the
upper Cedar River near Nashua is a frame church,
dating from the 1860s, that is associated with
the hymn The Little Brown Church in the Vale.
Six covered bridges listed as national historic
places and romanticized by a popular book and
movie can be found in Madison County.
Source: MSN
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