Honey Creek State Park (Iowa)

Coordinates: 40°51′40″N 92°56′10″W / 40.86111°N 92.93611°W / 40.86111; -92.93611

Honey Creek State Park
The logo of Honey Creek State Park
Type	State park
Location	Appanoose County, Iowa
Nearest city	Moravia, Iowa
Area	828 acres (335 ha)
Status	Open
Website	honeycreekresort.com

Honey Creek State Park is located in Appanoose County, Iowa. The state park has a hunting unit, a resort, and a fish hatchery.

History

Native Americans of the Woodland period lived in the region that the park now occupies, leaving behind mounds that can still be found in the area. People visiting the park can learn about these early inhabitants at the Woodland Interpretive Trail.^[1]

A dam was built at the Chariton River following authorization from Congress in 1954, to resolve flooding and drought problems in the river valley. In 1969, the dam was finished by the United States Army Corps of Engineers', creating Rathbun Lake, which helps protect the land around the Chariton River.^[1]

A fish hatchery was started in 1979, below the dam, with a space of 375 acres which has fish such as walleye and striped bass. The hatchery has a visitor center and an observation walkway.^[2]

Description

The state park, located on a peninsula that is along part of Rathbun Lake's shore, has a width of 828 acres.^[2] A campground is within the park that has 149 camping spots with some of these spots having electricity.^[3] There are other activities which include hiking on a nature trail, snowmobiling, and boating. Waterfowl, pheasants, squirrels, and other game animals can be hunted at the Rathbun Wildlife Unit. Other places to hunt are located alongside the river in designated areas.^[2]

Honey Creek State Park Resort, located within the state park, has had financial trouble in 2012 due to not being able to pay off its debt. Governor Terry Branstad attempted to fix the financial issues by giving the state park money from the surplus of Iowa's budget.^[4] Chuck Gipp, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources director, said of the situation, "It is making money. But, it’s not making enough money to pay off the bonds and the interest." The finances were completely paid by the state's treasury.^[5]

References

1 2 "Honey Creek State Park". America's State Parks. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
1 2 3 Charles Wolf, Robert (1991). Iowa's State Parks. Iowa State University Press. p. 64. ISBN 9780813818573.
↑ R. Rice, Lauren (2009). Explorer's Guide Iowa. The Countryman Press. p. 296. ISBN 9780881508338. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
↑ Jordan, Erin (December 6, 2012). "Iowa audit: Honey Creek resort's financial struggle continues". The Gazette. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
↑ "Bill pays off Honey Creek Resort debt". The Daily Iowegian. July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2013.

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 Beeds 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 Pillsbury Point 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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