Pikes Peak State Park

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Pikes Peak State Park (EPA)
Pikes Peak State Park (EPA)

Pikes Peak State Park is an Iowa State Park located in northeastern Clayton County, situated on the limestone bluffs overlooking the Upper Mississippi River, opposite the confluence of the Wisconsin River with the Big River. It is operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. It is nearly a thousand acres (4 km²) in extent. The nearest city is McGregor, Iowa. Iowa Highway 76 approximately defines its northern boundary.

It gets its name from the Iowa incarnation of Pike's Peak, a particularly high point overlooking the gorge of the Upper Mississippi, and like its Colorado counterpart, is named for Zebulon Pike.

There are hiking trails, campgrounds and RV facilities. Mountain bikes are permitted in certain portions of the park. Aside from recreational development, the land in the park was never cleared and to a large extent remains as it was before the advent of white settlement.

It is part of a larger complex of parks, reserves and refuges which include Effigy Mounds National Monument, the various components of the Yellow River State Forest, the enormous Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and much smaller, much less well known Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge. The Northeast Iowa Legacy Trail System is undergoing development, and will connect elements of these sites.

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