Lake Ahquabi State Park

Lake Ahquabi State Park
Iowa State Park
Sunset on Lake Ahquabi by kayak
Country	United States
State	Iowa
County	Warren

Location	Indianola
- elevation	860 ft (262 m) ^[1]
- coordinates	41°17′22″N 93°35′27″W / 41.28944°N 93.59083°W / 41.28944; -93.59083Coordinates: 41°17′22″N 93°35′27″W / 41.28944°N 93.59083°W / 41.28944; -93.59083

Area	770 acres (312 ha)

Founded	1936
Management	Iowa Department of Natural Resources

Location of Lake Ahquabi State Park in Iowa

Lake Ahquabi State Park is a state park of Iowa, US, featuring a 115-acre (47 ha) reservoir. Ahquabi means "resting place" in the Fox language. The park is 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Indianola and 22 miles (35 km) south of Des Moines.^[2]

History

The area was recommended for a state park site by J.N. "Ding" Darling and in 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the dam and reservoir. However methods at the time did not consider long-term effects of the surrounding 3,321-acre (1,344 ha) watershed. By the 1980s sedimentation had shrunk the reservoir by 11 acres (4.5 ha) and agricultural pollutants in surface runoff had reduced the water quality. Various government and community organizations began working with neighboring landowners to improve Lake Ahquabi. Widespread adoption of soil conservation practices by local farmers and the development of buffer wetlands and sedimentation basins have halved the amount of sediments and nutrients reaching the lake. In the mid-1990s the lake was extensively dredged, the shoreline stabilized, the dam improved, and an aeration device installed. Game fish like largemouth bass, bluegill, sunfish, channel catfish, and crappie were stocked. After restoration Lake Ahquabi State Park's annual visitation and fishing use each increased three-fold.^[3] Anglers have been catching an average of 2.7 fish per hour, twice the catch rate of most Iowa lakes.^[3] It has been estimated that the money brought into the local economy by increased visitation equalled the $4 million spent on the restoration project within 2 years.^[3]

Facilities

The lakeside campground offers 141 sites, 85 of which have electrical hookups, and a youth group camp area. There are modern restrooms and showers and two holding tank dump stations. A stone lodge built by the CCC and three open shelters can be reserved for private events.^[2]

Recreation

Lake Ahquabi State Park includes a sandy beach and two boat ramps. A park concession rents canoes, kayaks, and paddleboats and sells food and bait. Jetties and an enclosed, handicap-accessible pier accommodate shoreline fishing. Circling Lake Ahquabi is a gravel trail which in winter is open to snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Other trails wind through the woods that flank the reservoir.^[2]

References

↑ "Lake Ahquabi State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 2000-01-01. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
1 2 3 "Lake Ahquabi State Park". Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
1 2 3 "Lake Ahquabi: A Restoration Success Story" (PDF). Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-28.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Ahquabi State Park.

Lake Ahquabi State Park

Protected areas of Iowa

Federal

National Monument	Effigy Mounds

National Historic Site	Herbert Hoover

National Wildlife Refuges	DeSoto Driftless Area Neal Smith Northern Tallgrass Prairie Port Louisa Union Slough Upper Mississippi River

State

State Parks	Ambrose A. Call Backbone Badger Creek Banner Lakes at Summerset Beed's Lake Bellevue Big Creek Black Hawk Brushy Creek Cedar Rock Clear Lake Dolliver Memorial Elk Rock Elinor Bedell Emerson Bay Fairport Fort Defiance Geode George Wyth Memorial Green Valley Gull Point Honey Creek Lacey-Keosauqua Lake Ahquabi Lake Anita Lake Darling Lake Keomah Lake MacBride Lake Manawa Lake of Three Fires Lake Wapello Ledges Lewis and Clark Maquoketa Caves Marble Beach McIntosh Woods Mines of Spain & E.B. Lyons Mini-Wakan Nine Eagles Okamanpedan Palisades-Kepler Pikes Peak Pikes Point Pilot Knob Pine Lake Pleasant Creek Prairie Rose Preparation Canyon Red Haw Rice Lake Rock Creek Springbrook Stone Templar Trapper's Bay Twin Lakes Union Grove Viking Lake Volga River Walnut Woods Wapsipinicon Waubonsie Wildcat Den Wilson Island

State Forests	Backbone Barkley Gifford Holst Loess Hills Pilot Mound Shimek Stephens White Pine Hollow Yellow River

State Preserves	A.F. Miller Ames High Prairie Anderson Prairie Behrens Pond and Woodlands Berry Woods Bird Hill Bixby Bluffton Fir Stand Brush Creek Canyon Brushy Creek Cameron Woods Casey's Paha Catfish Creek Cayler Prairie Cedar Bluffs Cedar Hills Sand Prairie Cheever Lake Clay Prairie Claybanks Forest Cold Water Spring Crossman Prairie Decorah Ice Cave Dinesen Prairie Doolittle Prairie Fallen Rock Fish Farm Mounds Five Ridge Prairie Fleming Woods Fort Atkinson Freda Haffner Kettlehole Gitchie Manitou Hanging Bog Hardin City Woodland Hartley Fort Hayden Prairie Hoffman Prairie Indian Bluffs Primitive Area Indian Fish Trap Iowa's State Preserves System Kalsow Kish-Ke-Kosh Prairie Lamson Woods Liska-Stanek Prairie Little Maquoketa Malanaphy Springs Malchow Mounds Manikowski Prairie Mann Wilderness Area Marietta Sand Prairie Mericle Woods Merrill A. Stainbrook Merritt Forest Montauk Mossy Glen Mount Pisgah Cemetery Mount Talbot Nestor Stiles Prairie Ocheyedan Mound Old State Quarry Palisades-Downs Pecan Grove Pellett Woods Pilot Grove Pilot Knob Retz Woods Roberts Creek Rock Creek Island Rock Island Roggman Boreal Slopes Rolling Thunder Prairie Saint James Lutheran Church Savage Woods Searryl's Cave Sheeder Prairie Silver Lake Fen Silvers-Smith Woods Slinde Mounds Starr's Cave Steele Prairie Stinson Prairie Strasser Woods Sylvan Runkel Toolesboro Mounds Turin Loess Hills Turkey River Mounds White Pine Hollow Williams Prairie Wittrock Indian Village Woodland Mounds Woodman Hollow Woodthrush

County

State Parks (Leased)	Bobwhite Cold Springs Crystal Lake Eagle Lake Echo Valley Frank A. Gotch Heery Woods Lake Cornelia Lake Icaria Kearny Margo Frankel Mill Creek Oak Grove Oakland Mills Pammel Sharon Bluffs Spring Lake Swan Lake Three Mile Lake

Iowa Department of Natural Resources

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