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Best Hiking in Iowa

This list represents the most popular hiking in Iowa (learn more about Top Trails). Use this list to plan your next Iowa hiking trip. Select a state and/or activity below to find even more top trails.

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#1. Ledges State Park

  
Picturesque sandstone bluffs line the canyon of Pea’s Creek just before it enters the Des Moines River. Take the 5.4-mile loop around the upland prairie reconstruction, down to the canyon, over to the…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Boone , IA - Hiking - 5.4 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#2. Yellow River State Forest - Paint Creek Unit

  
When you tell Iowa outdoor-lovers you’re going backpacking in the state, most assume your destination is Yellow River State Forest. With 25 miles of trails that wind through deep river valleys and ove…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Harpers Ferry , IA - Hiking - 25 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#3. Backbone State Park

  
When E. R. Harlan spoke during the 1920 ceremonies dedicating Iowa’s first state park, he quoted Shakespeare to convey the importance of the sanctuary: “. . . those who ‘find tongues in trees, books i…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Strawberry Point , IA - Hiking - 8 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#4. Maquoketa Caves State Park

  
The 323-acre Maquoketa Caves State Park offers 6 miles of hiking trails and spelunking for varying levels of curiosity and ability. Situated in the Raccoon Creek Valley and one of the most geologicall…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Maquoketa , IA - Hiking - 6 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#5. Hawkeye Point - Iowa Highpoint

  
Highpoint rank by height: 42nd. We enjoyed the opportunity to meet Mr. Sterler as he was mowing his lawn when we visited on a chilly May morning, and found him to be wonderfully friendly and hospitabl…
From the guidebook "Highpoint Adventures: The Complete Guide to the 50 State Highpoints"
Sibley , IA - Hiking Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Winger Books

#6. Coralville Reservoir - Linder and Squire Points

  
One of the many developed trail systems around the Coralville Reservoir–Lake MacBride complex, the connecting loops of Linder and Squire Points Trails have long served as a haven for dog walkers and t…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Iowa City , IA - Hiking - 4.4 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#7. Palisades-Kepler State Park

  
“The valley of the red cedar is in eastern Iowa, a long strip of fertile land sprawling out besides the river whose name it bears.” So said native Iowan Bess Streeter Aldrich of the Cedar River Valley…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Cedar Rapids , IA - Hiking - 3.8 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#8. Hitchcock Nature Area

  
Just twenty minutes northeast of the Council Bluffs–Omaha area, this new park will enchant you. Trails wind through restored prairie and dark hollows, then climb steep loess bluffs to the ridgelines f…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Crescent , IA - Hiking - 6.4 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#9. Wildcat Den State Park

  
The cats for which the park was named were mostly killed off in the mid-1800s, although rumors of bobcat sightings float around often enough. You can still see the Pennsylvanian sandstone outcrops, mo…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Muscatine , IA - Hiking - 4.5 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#10. Pikes Peak State Park

  
Though Iowa’s Pikes Peak shares its name with the better known 14,110-foot peak in Colorado, Lieutenant Zebulon Pike encountered the grand bluffs rising above the Mississippi River long before he came…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
McGregor , IA - Hiking - 10.1 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#11. Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  
Brushy Creek contains 35 miles of multiuse trails and offers a multitude of recreational opportunities, including hunting, fishing, boating, and equestrian and hiking trails. A controversial 1967 prop…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Fort Dodge , IA - Hiking - 35 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#12. Effigy Mounds National Monument - North and South Units

  
Traversing the bluffs that overlook the confluence of the Mississippi and Yellow Rivers provides one of the best cultural history lessons to be found in Iowa. After a day spent wandering among the ear…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Marquette , IA - Hiking - 12.5 miles    Best Trail in IA - Click to view all (About Top Trails)
Published by Falcon Publishing

#13. Mines of Spain State Recreation Area

  
Mines of Spain State Recreation Area, located on the bluffs overlooking Catfish Creek and the Mississippi River, encompasses Catfish Creek State Preserve and the Julien Dubuque Monument (on the Nation…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Dubuque , IA - Hiking - 7.5 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#14. Hickory Hills Park - Casey's Paha State Preserve

  
Geologically, biologically, and recreationally, Hickory Hills Park is an island in a sea of intense agricultural cultivation. A 665-acre area in Tama County, the park’s major feature is Casey’s Paha,…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Cedar Falls , IA - Hiking - 4.5 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#15. Rock Creek State Park

  
The 10.5-mile loop trail around Rock Creek Lake gives you quite the look into native ecosystems and those changed by development. Several managed prairie remnants spend the summer blooming a sheer bla…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Newton , IA - Hiking - 10.5 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#16. Lacey-Keosauqua State Park

  
The unparalleled beauty of the forested bluffs rising from the huge horseshoe bend in the Des Moines River reveal each season’s spectacular show. Winter's snow cover forms a contemplative silence foll…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Keosququa , IA - Hiking - 9.5 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#17. Waubonsie State Park

  
The southernmost protected area in Iowa’s Loess Hills, Waubonsie actually serves as a refuge. To be found here are typical southern and western plants, butterflies, birds, mammals, and reptiles, many…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Hamburg , IA - Hiking - 5.6 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#18. Preparation Canyon State Park

  
During the 1850s this valley was home to a group of Mormon settlers, who described it as their “school of preparation for the life beyond." Today it can be hiked in preparation for longer, steeper, mo…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Moorehead , IA - Hiking - 4.4 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#19. Bellevue State Park - Nelson and Dyas Units

  
Located on 300-foot bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, Bellevue State Park was named for the town on the Mississippi to its north. The park is divided into two tracts: Nelson Unit to the north…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Bellevue , IA - Hiking - 5.9 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

#20. Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area - Sylvan Runkel State Preserve

  
There’s good reason this is home to the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar: These two preserved areas encompass some of the most incredible terrain for hiking and naturalizing in western Iowa. From your ridg…
From the guidebook "Hiking Iowa"
Onawa , IA - Hiking - 12.4 miles   
Published by Falcon Publishing

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