Wildcat Den State Park is located just a few miles from the Mississippi River between Davenport and Muscatine. The modern history of the park starts in the year 1848, when a settler by the name of Benjamin Nye — who established Muscatine County’s first store and post office a decade earlier — built the Pine Creek Grist Mill, now part of the 500-acre site. Powered by a water turbine, the mill ground various grains for residents until production ceased in 1923.
In 1905, sisters Emma and Clara Brandt purchased the site, then 67 acres. They sought to preserve the area for its beauty, even hiring guards to make sure that no one defaced the fragile limestone cliffs. In 1921, they added 141 acres nearby. Later that same year, the state of Iowa added another 70 acres.
In September 1935, the land was officially dedicated as a state park by then-Gov. Clyde L. Herring. After that, more land was added to the site, including Melpine Schoolhouse during the 1980s.
“Wildcat Den is classified as a ‘classic’ state park in the Iowa State Park system,” explained Iowa State Ranger Ben Marcus. “This means park staff tried to keep it the way it was originally designed to showcase how parks were started, outside of necessary upgrades such as paved roads, modern restroom facilities, electricity and ADA compliance in state parks, to increase our accessibility for all user groups and to provide more experiences.”
Hikers in Wildcat Den can seek out the Pine Creek Overlook, Steamboat Rock and the Devil’s Punch Bowl, natural bluffs and formations in the 300 million-year-old sandstone bluffs. Despite its seeming proximity to the Mississippi River, Marcus said Wildcat Den has never had to close for flooding.
“The park is located far enough and high enough away from the river to be affected. The Grist Mill, however, has been affected by the flood waters in the past due to Pine Creek flooding, where the mill sits along, being backed up by the river.”
Marcus said Wildcat Den State Park saw roughly 88,000 visitors in 2023 from Iowa, Illinois and beyond. Around 2,600 stayed to camp at the campground.
“This past summer our friends group, the Friends of the Pine Creek Grist Mill who operate the historical mill located in the park, provided several tours to the Cruiseliner that goes up and down the Mississippi River. These tours increased our reach for visitors coming from across the nation with some that came from the New England area, others from New Orleans and from all the way from Los Angeles,” he said. “We also have visitors stop by from Canada, and we did have a group that were driving across the nation from Sweden.”
This article was originally published in Little Village’s December 2024 issue.
