Pikes Peak State Park

Pikes Peak State Park
Iowa State Park
Observation platform overlooking the Mississippi River
Named for: Zebulon Pike
Country United States
State Iowa
County Clayton
Location McGregor
 - elevation 994 ft (303 m) [1]
 - coordinates 42°59′49″N 91°9′49″W / 42.99694°N 91.16361°W / 42.99694; -91.16361Coordinates: 42°59′49″N 91°9′49″W / 42.99694°N 91.16361°W / 42.99694; -91.16361
Area 960 acres (388 ha) [2]
Founded 1935
Management Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Location of Pikes Peak State Park in Iowa

Pikes Peak State Park is a state park of Iowa, US, featuring a 500-foot (150 m) bluff overlooking the Upper Mississippi River opposite the confluence of the Wisconsin River. The park 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 Pikes Peak, a particularly high point overlooking the gorge of the Upper Mississippi, and like Pikes Peak in Colorado, 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.

See also

Sources

  1. ↑ "Pikes Peak State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1979-04-30. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  2. ↑ "Pikes Peak State Park" (PDF). Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
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