Some Iowa State Parks Have Reopened After the Derecho

We found out last week that Palisades-Kepler State Park is closed until possibly the spring of 2021 thanks to the massive storm that hit Eastern Iowa on August 10th, but other area parks have finally started to reopen!

According to a new article from KCRG:

"The Iowa Department of Natural Resources said that Wapsipinicon State Park, located in Jones County, and Union Grove State Park, located in Tama County, have reopened to visitors. Most features of those parks are available, but a few individual closures inside of the park are still in place."

At Wapsipinicon State Park, Cabin #1 is still closed thanks to damaged trees in the area, and at Union Grove, only one section of the trail in the Pines Area is still closed off. Union Grove officially reopened yesterday, September 1st.

Some other state parks here in Eastern Iowa have reopened, but many of them still have restrictions in place. The Iowa DNR website outlines a few of those restrictions.

In Johnson County, the majority of Lake MacBride State Park is open, but "visitors are discouraged from using trails at this time due to hazard trees, with exception of the North Shore Trail." Unfortunately, both the north and south campgrounds and the day lodge are going to remain closed until further notice.

In Linn County, most of the Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area remains closed, except for the east shelter, the main boat ramp, and the northwest and southwest boat ramps.

It's also worth noting that the caves at Maquoketa Caves State Park are currently closed to public access.

For more updates on all the state parks in Iowa, click HERE.