We’re on a quest to eventually visit all 50 states.  Many states have world famous attractions, cities with lots to see and do, or national parks that we’ve been dying to visit.  Other states, not so much.  That’s the case with Iowa.  We decided to break up the drive out west by stopping in a few of the states we’ve never visited, and this includes the Hawkeye State.

We drove straight from Massachusetts to Iowa – 18 glorious hours of bleary-eyed highway driving.  It was a beautiful, sunny day when we arrived at the small campground.  Honestly, I had pretty low expectations for this stop.  I thought Iowa was all farmland (it mostly is), but Maquoketa Caves turned out to be a hidden gem.  Located in eastern Iowa, about 30 minutes north of I-80, this state park contains a system of caves that are open for the public to explore.  Rather than the guided tours that most caves require, Maquoketa Caves allows visitors to enter the caves on their own.  Here are our favorites!

Dancehall Cave

The largest cave in the park is Dancehall Cave. It’s actually divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower Dancehall on the maps and signage. There are stairs leading down from the main path, and you can walk through the 1100 foot cave. There is a stream running through it, and we even saw a turtle! The pathway in the cave was wet but well-lit, and taller members of our group (Ryan) had to duck in some parts to walk through. We spent about 45 minutes exploring Dancehall Cave. It’s definitely a can’t-miss!

Natural Bridge

This beauty is exact what the name sounds like – a natural rock bridge. It stands at 50 feet, and Raccoon Creek flows beneath it. This was my favorite spot in the park for photos – peaceful and beautiful with trees all around and stream bubbling through. It’s a popular area in the park, but we went early on a Sunday and had the place mostly to ourselves.

Crawl-Through Caves

One of the most unique aspects of Maquoketa Caves is that there are several caves that can be explored by crawling. Some of these caves have larger openings that lead into smaller spaces, while others are just a crack in the rock that you can wiggle through and then explore the more open spaces behind it. I’m not the biggest fan of confined spaces, but Jack talked me into crawling into Barbell Cave. It was a muddy experience, making our way through on our hands and knees, but we made it past a tight space to a room with a 4 foot ceiling. Needless to say all 6’5″ of Ryan decided to stay outside for that one! We also went into a few other crawling caves, including Ice Cave and Rainy Day Cave.

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I whole-heartedly recommend visiting Maquoketa Caves as a stopover on a trip through the midwest or as a day trip from the area. Almost everything in the park can be explored in one day, and there isn’t much else to do in the area so I wouldn’t travel too far out of my way to visit. That being said, it was a great way to cross Iowa off our list while creating some awesome family memories!