Ledges State Park

This is a 360 video of the Ledges State Park in Madrid, Iowa. ¹Ledges State Park is one of Iowa’s most historic and unique nature destinations. A four-mile trail system winds through steep slopes and scenic overviews, with sandstone ledges towering 100 feet above the Des Moines River. Numerous 1930s *Civilian Conservation Corps structures can be viewed throughout the park including an iconic stone bridge spanning Peas Creek.

Let’s take a closer look at Ledges State Park. This 360 is made from two images. We will navigate the images by clicking on the right arrow which will move our view a quarter turn each time we click it.

00:00 - 00:22

We are facing a large overhang of rock. It looks like the top lip of an Hawaiian Statue - a Tiki Statue. On our left is a large smooth section of rock. There is a large dimple or crater closer to us, towards the top of the ledge. On the right, the overhang has smaller ledges like stairs in the middle and top of the right-hand side of the main overhang. We can see various shades of brown in the large overhang. Right in front of us is a light tan section of stone. The words “Ledges State Park” are written in white at the top of the video. We are standing behind a section of white baby’s breath flowers that are before the pathway that leads under an overhang and is an open pathway. As we are exploring the overhang, we can hear kids playing and laughing. As the video progresses we see small children playing under the overhang in water.

1. Clicks 1-4. The large overhang is now on our left. We see more of the stair step ledges carved into the overhang. There are trees and bushes growing in the overhang and on it in this section of the overhang.
2. Clicks 5-8. Our back is now to the overhang of rock. We can see a road leading up to the overhang and a parking area.
3. Clicks 9-14. We are now turned toward the smooth area of the overhang. Our explorer in a gray short sleeve shirt and brown jeans is fiddling with his phone. There are park visitors checking out the smooth section of the overhang behind and to the right of our explorer. In this section of the overhang the space between the rock and the path are narrowed, like the mouth of a baby bird. We are back where we started. The large section of light tan rock is in front of us and the words “Ledges State Park" is at the top of the video.

00:23-00:53

We have moved to the opening of a trail at Ledges State Park. There is a set of man-made steps built into the trail and they go up the small hill of the trail and away from us. We are surrounded by green, leafy trees. On our right is a large drop off that feels like we would be falling for a long time, if we stepped the wrong way. There is brush, leaves and tree limbs on the ground running down the hillside.

1. Click 1. We are now facing the hillside, The green, leafy trees are all around us. We see rays of sunlight sparkling through the leaves like diamonds. The tree canopy muffles the sounds of the children playing and makes it feel like we are farther away. Our explorer is standing behind a tree on the hillside.
2. Click 2. There is another explorer in black shorts and a black t-shirt walking up the man-made steps towards us. Our back is towards our starting point.
3. Clicks 3-5. We are now facing another canopy of leafy, green trees. There is less of a canopy of leaves here, so the sun spills through to the ground like water falling out of a pitcher.
4. Click 6. We can see where we started from on our right. Here we are facing the hillside. We can make out the definition of a hill around the man-made steps.
5. Clicks 7. We are back where we started from. There is a set of man-made steps built into the trail and they go up the small hill of the trail and away from us.

^*The Civilian Conservation Corps was one of the New Deal programs that put thousands of young men to work during the Great Depression. CCC workers lived in tents and wore uniforms. It was a lot like being in the Army. They built dams, beautified state parks, and cleared roadsides.

¹“Legends State park.”Iowa Department of Natural Resources, https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Iowa-State-Parks/Ledges-State-Park. 2023 Mar. 21.