Lacey-Keosauqua State Park

The park wraps around a dramatic bend of the Des Moines River, where the water swings in a broad horseshoe through the hills of southeast Iowa. This is timbered, rolling country, more rugged than the flat farmland much of the state is known for, with wooded ridges dropping to the river and sheltered valleys between them. Trails lead to overlooks where the river curves away below.

Within the park a quiet lake tucked into the woods offers swimming, paddling, and fishing, a peaceful counterpoint to the moving river nearby. The mix of forest, lake, bluffs, and river gives the park a variety that rewards a lingering visit, and its large size means there is room to find solitude among the trees.

This stretch of the Des Moines River holds ancient burial mounds built by Native peoples long ago, quiet earthen features within the park that testify to a human presence here reaching back thousands of years. These mounds are sacred places, and visitors are asked to treat them with respect, staying on trails and honoring their meaning.

The wider region lies within the historic homelands of the Meskwaki and the Sauk, whose peoples lived and traveled along the Des Moines River and its valleys, and whose history is woven through this land. Later, the river drew settlers and travelers, including Mormon pioneers who crossed here on their long journey west, adding further layers to the story of the river bend.

Lacey-Keosauqua is among Iowa's oldest state parks, and it bears the mark of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Depression-era program that built trails, shelters, and lodges in parks across the country. The park's stone lodge and structures date from that era, solidly crafted from native materials and still in use, giving the grounds a handsome, timeworn character.

The park is named in part for John Lacey, an Iowa congressman remembered as an early champion of conservation who helped shape the nation's laws protecting wildlife and antiquities. That legacy suits a park that safeguards both a rich natural landscape and the ancient mounds within it, and that has welcomed generations of Iowa families to its woods and waters.

Just outside the park lies one of Iowa's most charming historic areas, the Villages of Van Buren, a string of small 1800s river towns that have kept their old buildings and unhurried pace. Keosauqua itself, at the park's edge, is an old county seat with a historic courthouse and an early river-crossing history, and nearby Bentonsport and other hamlets preserve mills, iron bridges, and antique shops.

Together the park and the villages make southeast Iowa's Des Moines River country a place apart, quiet, historic, and beautiful, off the beaten path of the busier parts of the state. It rewards travelers who slow down to walk the wooded trails, watch the river bend, and wander the old streets of towns that time seems to have passed gently by.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.