Located 12 miles outside of Muscatine, Iowa, and about a mile west of the Mississippi River, lies Wild Cat Den State Park. This park is home to several small sandstone canyons, ravines, and some historic structures including a schoolhouse and a mill.
We began our morning hike on one of the five miles of trails, the one we thought would have the most interesting rock formations. Hiking the Punch Bowl Trail would take us through wooded ravines and canyons to a waterfall called the Devil's Punch Bowl. Before we explored the punch bowl, we headed to another interesting looking canyon with round, undercut walls. The undercut was most likely cut into the 300 million year old sandstone by rushing water.
The shady canyon still showed signs of winter, with a frozen waterfall still intact. The bright sun and warm air was a big contrast to this winter water feature.
Hearing this park could be quite crowded in the warm months, and knowing some of these parks offer better views of the canyons when the trees are bare, we decided to visit in early spring. While the immediate landscape can appear a bit dull at this time of year, the surrounding landscape is visible without the foliage in the way.
This small canyon was just the beginning of our hike, and the rock features only got better and better as the day went on.
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