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24-716: Dolliver Memorial State Park is a state park in Webster County , Iowa , United States, featuring high bluffs and deep ravines on the Des Moines River . The park is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Dodge and 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Lehigh . The park contains two listings on the National Register of Historic Places : Dolliver Memorial State Park, Entrance Area (Area A) and Dolliver Memorial State Park, Picnic, Hiking & Maintenance Area (Area B) . Dolliver Memorial State Park

48-507: A holding tank dump station . There is a separate group camp with a dining hall, restrooms, and showers. Two lodges built in the 1930s and an open picnic shelter can be rented for private events. The park provides a boat ramp for river access. An interpretive trail follows Prairie Creek to the Copperas Beds and then leads up to the wooded blufftops. State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at

72-526: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of

96-589: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about

120-699: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use

144-661: Is quarried in places with bedded sedimentary rocks with fissile bedding planes. Around the thirteenth century, the ceilings, walls and floors in European architecture became more ornate. Anglo-Saxons in particular used flagstones as flooring materials in the interior rooms of castles and other structures. Lindisfarne Castle in England and Muchalls Castle (14th century) in Scotland are among many examples of buildings with surviving flagstone floors. Flagstone shingles are

168-467: Is on the west bank of the Des Moines River at the mouth of a small tributary called Prairie Creek. The creek and a smaller tributary known as Boneyard Hollow have eroded canyons through a 100-foot (30 m) high bluff, exposing a cross section of sandstone deposited by a Paleozoic river. The sandstone and other bedrock exposures in the park are some of the northernmost exposures of

192-660: The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium, is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with

216-659: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Flagstone Flagstone is a sedimentary rock that is split into layers along bedding planes . Flagstone is usually a form of a sandstone composed of feldspar and quartz and is arenaceous in grain size (0.16 mm – 2 mm in diameter). The material that binds flagstone is usually composed of silica , calcite , or iron oxide . The rock color usually comes from these cementing materials. Typical flagstone colors are red, blue, and buff , though exotic colors exist. Flagstone

240-635: The CCC include a latrine , footbridges , culverts , stone steps along a hiking trail, the trail itself, and roads. The significance of the rustic architecture employed here, and designed by the Central Design Office in Ames , is that it was meant to blend into its natural surroundings by means of its material, design, and workmanship. The campground features 33 sites, all with electrical hookups, plus 2 camper cabins, modern restrooms, showers, and

264-738: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with

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288-478: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are

312-504: The efflorescence show that it is made of melanterite or rozenite , with some crystals of halotrichite and szomolnokite . Previous to their discovery here, most of these minerals had never been identified anywhere in Iowa. At the north end of the park is a narrow ravine named Boneyard Hollow. Early settlers found numerous bones of bison littering the ravine. It is thought that prehistoric Native Americans either stampeded bison into

336-493: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to

360-493: The lower Cherokee Group , rocks laid down during the Pennsylvanian Epoch . Along Prairie Creek, a unique area known as the Copperas Beds is exposed. This is an iron-cemented pebble conglomerate . This rock is named for the copperas (iron sulfate) efflorescences that form on the rock face during dry weather and may be completely washed away by a heavy rain. Copperas is an ancient term. More recent studies of

384-488: The park's amenities. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had two companies that worked in the park between 1933 and 1935. The Works Progress Administration constructed the group camp from 1937 to 1938. The amenities completed by the CCC are the subjects of the two listings on the National Register of Historic Places. They completed the checking station and north entrance portals by the end of April 1934 and

408-489: The potential to rewrite European exploration of Iowa, the "Hennepin Plate" attracted a great deal of attention. Edgar Harlan, curator of the Iowa state archives, led an investigation. However the poor Latin and the fact that Hennepin had died in 1706 cast doubt on the tablet's authenticity. Ultimately two local boys admitted to making the tablet as a prank in 1913. As a result of the hoax, though, Harlan had become interested in

432-473: The ravine from a buffalo jump or herded them into the confined space from the riverbank, where they killed and butchered the animals. There are also several Indian mounds within the park. In 1915 eleven-year-old Ruth Peterson discovered a lead tablet at the mouth of the creek outside Boneyard Hollow. The Latin inscription stated that the tablet had been left by explorers claiming the area for France in 1750, and mentioned Father Louis Hennepin by name. With

456-591: The scenic area and helped spark public interest in preserving it as a state park. The property was purchased for $ 38,500 and dedicated in 1925 as Iowa's third state park, after Backbone and Ledges . Ruth Peterson died in 2004 at the age of 100, and in 2007 her son and other relatives donated the tablet to the Webster County Historical Society. Two New Deal -era relief programs during the Great Depression developed many of

480-630: The south portals by May of the following year. The service building, which was the largest project built by the CCC in the park, was also completed in April 1934. The lodge, completed in November 1934, replaced an older structure. It's flagstone patio was finished in July 1935. A memorial to U.S. Senator Jonathan P. Dolliver , for whom the park is named, was completed in May 1935. Other projects completed by

504-474: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by

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528-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park

552-506: The sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in

576-473: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like

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