Families gathered on a sunny, windy morning to see the opening of a new natural playscape for children at the Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt Park. The park, which was first established in 1960 with the first land acquisition of 183 acres, has come a long way, park ranger James Dotzler, who was assigned to the Maxwell site 10 years ago, said at a dedication for the new playground Saturday, May 17. Fast forward to 2025, Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt Park now has nearly 10,000 acres of land in the northeast corner of Polk County. The park had a wooden playground in 2009 but it became a hazard after the wood rotted and screws and nails became exposed, Dotzler said. “We soon realized that a large playground just did not fit the landscape at Chichaqua,” Dotzler said. “We needed to do something unique that would fit the landscape, and that's where we came up with the idea of a natural playscape here.” Tap the link in our bio for more on this story. #PolkCounty #Iowa #parks #playground