Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa - April 19th to 20th, 2022
Keeping close tabs on the weather forecasts helps us schedule our activities to get the most out of our travels. When periods of good weather seem short and far apart, tailoring our schedule around the weather is even more essential. Iowa in April was a prime example.
Tuesday was a drive day, from Indiana Dunes State Park to Maquoketa Caves State Park in Iowa. The weather forecast predicted a cool and sunny day, with rain showers for the following day. We decided to get an early start on our drive, so we would have time to check out the caves in the good weather. Our alarm was set for 6 am and we broke camp before 7 am.
It was about a four hour drive. The traffic to get around Chicago was not bad, but we were only skirting the south side. When we crossed into Iowa, we stopped in the small town of Le Claire, right on the Mississippi River. Le Claire was an overnight stop for us numerous times on our annual trips to see family in Ohio. The town is not as cute nor has as many historical buildings as Hannibal in Missouri that we visited a couple of weeks before (Shades State Park, Indiana - April 6th to 7th, 2022), but Le Claire is still pleasant with a nice vibe. Our favorite place to eat was Sneaky Pete’s which overlooked the river. We were sad to find out that Sneaky Pete’s is no more.
We went into the Le Claire Information Center to use the restroom and ask some questions about the area. Keith chatted with the friendly staff about what she would recommend doing the next day in the rain near Maquoketa Caves. She handed us a brochure about the town of St. Donatus and recommended The Hop at Canton restaurant. Ann asked her how to pronounce “Maquoketa”. She thinks she remembers it now, with the accent on the second syllable. After watching a couple of barges go by on the river and a quick stroll up and down Cody Street, we hopped back in the van to continue the last little leg to our destination.
It was lunch time when we entered Maquoketa Caves State Park. Check in for the campground was not until 4 pm, so we had plenty of time. After eating our lunch in the van, we hit the trails.
There are 13 caves in the park, all connected together by a nice loop of trails in a pretty ravine. We started at the Upper Entrance of the largest cave, the Dancehall Cave. The cave is about 100 yards long, with a break in the middle. Raccoon Creek runs along the bottom of it. The ceiling is only about five feet tall near the Upper Entrance, so us tall people had to keep bent over for the first part to avoid hitting our heads. Crouching down was painful for Ann with her broken tail bone (see Shades State Park post for how she broke it). She thought to herself “If all the caves are like this, I’m not going to be able to visit many of them”. To her relief, the height of the cave soon was tall enough for her to stand upright.
As we entered the cave, it occurred to us that we probably should have brought our headlamps. But there are electrical lights inside the cave that provided enough light to make headlamps unnecessary for the Dancehall cave at least. As we continued down the trail to the next cave, we realized our mistake. Rainy Day Cave and Ice Cave are much smaller caves, but we couldn’t really see much inside them, even with the flashlights on our phones. OK, let’s head back to the van to get our headlamps. Along the way, we visited the Shinbone and Barbell Caves. They were even smaller than the previous two caves and were not much to see.
After retrieving our headlamps, we headed the opposite direction down the ravine to the other caves. Most of the caves were too small to get inside, at least for us, but we feel we got a good look at them by peering in. At Wide Mouth Cave, Ann decided to venture inside, despite the low clearance. She found that her tailbone did not bother her if she crawled on her hands and knees. The bottom of the cave was mostly hard-packed dirt, so it was not too hard on her knees. Her hands and her pant knees got pretty dirty, though. She was so glad she went inside and had her headlamp with her. With the light of her headlamp, she could see small cave formations on the walls and ceiling of the cave. There were even ice crystals on the one wall. Even after Ann told Keith about the cave formations, he was not motivated to join her. It had been a long day and he was ready to head to the campground.
When we got back to the trailhead, we decided to check out the one formation we had bypassed earlier, Balanced Rock. Luckily it is not far from the trailhead, because it was not that spectacular. Since we were now at the Lower Entrance to the Dancehall Cave, we decided to go through it again and bail out at the Middle Entrance to avoid the low ceilings. Yes, Dancehall Cave is the most impressive cave of the bunch, and it is right at the trailhead.
All of our wandering around the caves area added up to 4.2 miles with an elevation gain of 587 feet in two hours and 39 minutes. We counted this as hike 8 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2022. By now it was 4 pm. Time to check into the campground.
It was cloudy, cold, and windy when we woke up on Wednesday. But it was not raining yet, so we drove over to St. Donatus to check it out before the rains started. St. Donatus is about a half an hour’s drive from Maquoketa Caves State Park. It is also known as Luxembourg in America, as the founders and inhabitants of the town are of Luxembourg descent. Over a dozen of the stone structures from the 1840’s are still standing. The buildings are constructed in the European style, with stone foundations and walls a couple of feet thick and the outside sometimes covered with stucco.
Inside St. Donatus Catholic Church are three large German Baroque alter pieces. The Outdoor Way of the Cross begins behind the church and winds up Calvery Hill to the Pieta Chapel at the top. Alongside the walking path are 14 brick alcoves, each containing a lithograph depicting Christ’s journey to his crucifixion.
At the opposite end of town from the church are a string of old stone houses and a blacksmith shop. As we were strolling along the street, the owner of the Maro Residence was in front of his house. He saw we were admiring the houses and took the time to chat with us. The Maro Residence was the first home built in the area. He has owned it for a couple of decades. It is a lot of work to maintain and hard to heat in the winter, but he loves it.
For lunch, we headed inside the Kalmes Restaurant. The restaurant was started in the 1850’s by the Kalmes family. The fourth generation of Kalmes’ are still running the business today. Inside the restaurant were several groups of men who looked like work crews on their lunch breaks. It’s always a good sign when there are lots of locals eating at an establishment. Kalmes’s menu is quite extensive.
We opted for trying one of their traditional options, the pork sausage sandwich along with a side of homemade noodles. Both of us added the mushrooms and Swiss cheese toppings. We’re not sure if this is the traditional way the sandwich is served, but it was very tasty. The sausage is a thick patty and lightly breaded. The homemade noodles were very similar to German spätzle.
As we left the restaurant, it started to rain. By the time we were back at the campground, it was pouring. Perfect timing. After completing all of our sightseeing before the rain, we didn’t mind hanging out in our Red Tail Lodge the rest of the day. It feels good when things go according to plan, especially when something as fickle as weather is involved.
Check out our related video: Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa
(Ann)