Van Meter State Park

Van Meter State Park features remnants of the Missouria Indian village that sat at the Great Bend of the Missouri River, marked on a map by Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673. A hand-dug earthwork -- Old Fort -- and several burial mounds lie within the park’s boundaries. The state’s Indian history is interpreted in displays and exhibits at the park’s Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center. For outdoor enthusiasts, the park features hiking trails and an 18-acre fishing lake. The boardwalk that leads visitors through the Oumessourit Natural Area takes them over a freshwater marsh and fens, and through bottomland and upland forests. The park’s lofty trees shade picnic sites, picnic shelters and a campground.