Ledges State Park

Ledges State Park Was Among The First Of The Iowa State Parks

Found four miles south of the town of Boone, the Ledges park is among the oldest of the state parks in Iowa having been opened in 1924.

The Civilian Conservation Corps worked hard during the 1930`s to establish the park as a place to visit and miles of trails reinforced and built up with railroad ties is evidence of their efforts.

The Flooding At Ledges S.P. In 2010.
(Photo By CWWycoff)

Ledges is steeped in history and Native American tribes such as the Fox, Sauk and Sioux are known to have lived in the area for thousands of years and numerous burial mounds attest to how long they were there.

The park contains a 100 feet deep sandstone gorge which was carved out by a tributary of the Des Moines River called Pease Creek.

The Des Moines River regularly floods lower parts of the park and the wooded areas are often covered with silt and mud. Many of the buildings and picnic areas in that part of Ledges State Park are no longer in use as the cost of maintaining them against periodic flooding became prohibitive.

However, the park is still a wonderful place for visitors to enjoy and even in the worst of the floods, only a very small portion of the park is affected.

Winter At Ledges S.P.
(Photo By CWWycoff)

A very popular place for camping, Ledges State Park has well over one hundred sites many with electric hookups and others without. Some of these are handicap accessible

Twelve of the sites are "hike-in" and can be up to 400 yards deep into the woods. These sites are well spaced apart and offer campers privacy. The park also has modern restrooms with showers.

There are ten miles of terrific trails in the park of varying degrees of hardship. The hikes in the north east part consist of wooded trails along the rim of the valley and on the rolling prairie.

The trails down in the valley climb up and down its steep sides and can prove challenging unless you are pretty fit. There is a lovely trail in the southern part of the park that takes hikers around Lost Lake and provides some superb views of the Des Moines River valley

The Wonderful Stone Bridge Built By The C.C.C.
(Photo By CWWycoff)

Although the park can suffer when the Des Moines river does flood, at other times it provides wonderful fishing and great opportunities for canoeists and kayakers to enjoy its waters.

Ledges S.P. sits on a superb ninety-one mile bycycle trail that connects it with Big Creek State Park and Springbrook State Park. Called the Central State Park Bike Route it is extremely popular, its profile is generally flat with only a few steep slopes to contend with.

Summary of Facilities

40 Campsites with electric hookups

42 Campsites, non-electric

12 Hike-in campsites

Modern restrooms

Showers

Park Office

Childrens playground

Dump station

Summary of Activities

Camping

Hiking