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| The overlook offers an panoramic view of the meeting of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers |
Pikes Peak and the surrounding area is rich in history and wildlife. The park is located in the “Paleozoic Plateau” that was missed by the glaciers that flattened and molded much of Iowa, and so the area is often called the “Driftless” region. The Driftless is noted for its beautiful wooded hills and valleys, native and restored tallgrass prairie, spring-fed streams and waterfalls, and tall bluffs that line the Mississippi River.
People have been present in the area for nearly 12, 000 years beginning with the Paleo-Indians who were present at the end of the last ice age. From about 2, 000 to 750 years ago Native Americans of the Woodland Culture sculpted burial and ceremonial mounds, and some of these mounds have survived logging, farming, and urbanization and are protected within the park. Effigy Mounds National Monument is a nearby site dedicated to preserving and protecting these ancient earthworks and can provide a wealth of knowledge about the people who built the mounds and the environment in which they lived. All visitors in the region are strongly encouraged to stop in to see our friends at Effigy Mounds National Monument!
On June 17th, 1673, the explorer Louis Joliet and Father James Marquette traveled down the Wisconsin River became the first Europeans to see Iowa as they reached the confluence with the Mississippi. The area around the meeting of the two rivers became populated with European settlers, and the development of the town of Prairie du Chien during the 1700s followed.
After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States government sent Lieutenant Zebulon Pike in 1805 to explore the Mississippi valley and select locations suitable for military posts. Pike traveled to the region and recognized the park site as an important, strategic point and an excellent location for a fort:
“We ascended the hill on the west site of the Mississippi: and made choice of a spot which I thought most eligible, being level on the top, having a spring in the rear, and a commanding view of the country around.” –Zebulon Pike, Sept. 5, 1805
The government agreed on the vicinity but ultimately selected the prairie around Prairie du Chien for the fort instead. Several years later, Pike was again sent westward by the U.S. government to explore the southwestern section of the Louisiana Purchase, which took them to a 14, 115 ft. mountain peak in Southern Colorado.
In 1837, Alexander McGregor established a ferry across the Mississippi River. McGregor’s Landing was established at the site of the town that now bears his name. When Mrs. Munn, the grandniece of McGregor, died, her will provided that Pikes Peak be given to the federal government as a gift. It was later conveyed by Congress to the State of Iowa and became Pikes Peak and Point Ann State Parks in 1936. In the late 1960s, the land between Pikes Peak and Point Ann State Parks was purchased by the State of Iowa and the present day Pikes Peak State Park was formed.
