The Biggest Surprise I Came Across While Hiking This Incredible Trail in Iowa

At more than a century old, Ledges State Park is one of the Hawkeye State's oldest and among the first state parks to be designated. As if this fact alone weren't sufficient to make Ledges historic, the park is also filled with some incredible Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) structures that still stand to this day. Setting out on the park's footpaths, like the Hog's Back Trail and Crow's Nest Loop, the durability and enduring beauty of these creations made for several pleasant surprises as I hiked.

You'll find Ledges State Park in Boone County, near the town of Madrid. It lies at the confluence of Pea's Creek with the Des Moines River. Over millennia, Pea's Creek has carved a dramatic gorge into the sandstone bluffs along the larger river creating a dramatic landscape that has attracted people for centuries. It's these beautiful rock formations in Pea's Creek Canyon that are the "ledges" for which the park is named. The park, which today encompasses more than 1,100 acres, was established in 1924. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the CCC completed a number of improvements in the park, many of which have endured the test of time and, perhaps more impressively, extensive flooding in the region during the 20th century. This was the biggest surprise for me while hiking the park's trails.

In the time since the park was established, the Des Moines River has filled its floodplain several times, altering the landscape and appearance of the canyon and park. After each event, the state has repaired and improved the park, resulting in miles of well-maintained trails and facilities. Clearly, many improvements, such as boardwalks, rails, fences, and trail repairs, are more recent. Several of the park's manmade features, however, date back to the CCC years and are nearly a century old.

For hikers, the most obvious of these is the stone steps that ascend (and, of course, descend) the park's steep, forested bluffs. When climbing these staircases on a hike, you feel not only like you're traversing the woods, but also as though your stepping through history, back to when the park was only a few years old and folks were flocking here to escape the pressures of the Depression era for a few hours or even a day or two.

Of all the park's structures built by the CCC, the most iconic—if not the most impressive—is the arched stone bridge, which spans Pea's Creek along the one-way road that winds through the canyon. Thinking of the floods that this structure has endured, I can't help but be impressed by the craftsmanship of the workers who built it, and in light of their circumstances—often far from home, working for little but grateful for anything—and the care they put into its construction.

Have you ever visited Ledges State Park and admired the historic CCC structures here? I highly recommend a visit if you haven't. What are some other Iowa trails that lead to some interesting surprises? We'd love to hear about them.