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Wapsipinicon State Park, Anamosa, IA

Photo: Jim Roberts, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Wapsipinicon State Park

Iowa state park on Anamosa's edge, known for handmade stone structures, caves, trails, and river fishing.

21301 County Road E34, Anamosa, IA 52205 · Anamosa, IA

About Wapsipinicon State Park

This state park borders the town of Anamosa and sits on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of its stone buildings and features were built by inmates from a nearby state penitentiary. Visitors can hike several miles of multi-use trails through woods and prairie, explore Horse Thief Cave and Ice Cave in the bluffs, and fish the Wapsipinicon River. The park also offers a nine-hole golf course run by a private country club, a campground with electric and non-electric sites, and reservable shelters and a lodge.

  • #state park
  • #historic district
  • #caves
  • #hiking
  • #camping

What's around here?

The closest stops to Wapsipinicon State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums
    History Buff

    National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library

    Under $25

    See galleries on Czech and Slovak history and immigrant life, a large collection of folk dress, and a Prague-style astronomical clock.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    21 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    Maquoketa Caves State Park

    No admission fee

    Hike six miles of trails linking about 13 caves, a 50-foot natural bridge and a 17-ton balanced rock.

    26 mi awayMore like this

  • Museums

    Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

    Under $25

    Presidential library and museum honoring the 31st president, Herbert Hoover, and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover, run by the National Archives.

    30 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sightseeing
    History Buff

    Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

    No admission fee

    Tour Herbert Hoover's two-room birthplace cottage, a blacksmith shop, a Quaker meetinghouse and the Hoover gravesite.

    30 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and E. B. Lyons Nature Center

    Check prices

    A state recreation area on Dubuque's southern edge with limestone bluffs, trails, lead-mining history, and a nature interpretive center.

    41 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Family Favorite

    Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

    No admission fee

    Wander free through Japanese, English, rose, hosta and prairie gardens on 56 acres in Dubuque, and catch a Sunday concert in summer.

    42 mi awayMore like this

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