Contrary to popular belief, Iowa really does have many remarkable places to hike. Iowa may not have extensive backcountry or majestic mountains, but it does have it’s own challenge, charm, and spectacle that is different from any other states. It is easy to find the right hiking environment to suit your taste; whether that is a short hike with your small children at the Bellvue Butterfly Gardern or wandering for days soaking up nature in the Yellow River State Forest. The number of places to hike in Iowa are boundless, so only a handful are listed below. Live Action Sports highly recommends utilizing Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources website as well as Iowa’s Deptartment of Trasportation website listed at the bottom of this page. Another incredible source of information about places to hike is Falcon Guide’s book ‘Hiking Iowa’, by Elizabeth Corcoran Hill. Elizabeth, who by no coincidence is LAS’ most favorite Ecologist/hiker/cool cat, gives useful details about level of difficulty, finding trailheads, types of hikes, and much more. Live Action Sports spearheads many hikes in the surrounding Cedar Rapids area that are open for anyone to join. Whip out an email to janet@liveactionsports.net if you have any questions about places to hike in Iowa, about LAS’ hiking groups, or about avoiding zombies on a hike.
Hiking Locations
Palisades-Keplar State Park
Address: 700 Keplar Drive, Mount Vernon, Iowa 52314
Phone: 319-895-6039
Website: www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/palisades
Email: palisades_keplar@dnr.iowa.gov
Backbone State Park
Address: 1282 120th Street, Strawberry Point, Iowa 52076
Phone: 563-924-2000
Website: www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/backbone.html
Email: backbone@dnr.iowa.gov
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Address: 151 Hwy 76, Harpers Ferry, Iowa 52146
Phone: 563-873-7519
Website: www.nps.gov/efmo/index.htm
Pilot Knob State Park
Address: 2148 340th Street, Forest City, Iowa 50436
Phone: 641-581-4835
Website: www.iowadnr.com/parks/state_park_list/pilot_knob.html
Email: Pilot_Knob@dnr.iowa.gov
Geode State Park
Address: 3333 Racine Avenue, Danville, Iowa 52623
Phone: 319-392-3601
Website: www.iowadnr.com/parks/state_park_list/geode.html
Email: Geode@dnr.iowa.gov
Resources to assist with hiking locations:
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
www.iowadnr.gov
Iowa Department of Transportation
www.iowadot.gov
Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
www.inhf.org
Hiking Iowa (Book)
Elizabeth Corcoran Hill
Falcon Guide Books
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