Never been here before. Great camping sites. $14 with water, electric and dump. Awesome. Thank you state of Iowa.See more..
4.5Hartman Reserve Nature Center(11 reviews) - Beautiful place to enjoy nature! Spent 1-2 hours Nature & Wildlife Areas • Hiking Trails • Forests
This is a great place to hike through the woods. I love finding the wildflowers in spring! They have a lovely new visitor's center as well!See more..
5.0Frank A. Gotch park(5 reviews) - Beautiful area Spent < 1 hour Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests
It's a spacious camp ground that includes a small cabin and modern bathrooms. A hiking trail is nearby as well a river good for fishing.See more..
4.5Brinton Timber(4 reviews) - I found a Jack in the Pulpit! Friday: 4:30 AM - 10:30 PM Spent 2-3 hours Nature & Wildlife Areas • Hiking Trails • Forests This was a wonderful day, just before a storm. No heat and plenty of moisture. The access to the park is well marked and a good gravel road. Parking is provided right at the entrance. There is a toilet ( latrine). Boys best use the bushes away from traveled areas. I like the trails and how they are marked. The longest hike is about 1.5 miles although I'm sure you could wander farther. Don't get lost, it is dense timber after all. I found a jack in the pulpit after about a 20 min search and another after 15 min more. These are becoming hard to find, at least in Iowas timber. Here no one sprays herbicide so natural plants can grow. I enjoyed my visit very much. Mosquitoes and gnats are most likely fierce when it warms up. Watch for poison ivy!See more..
4.5Bloody Run creek(3 reviews) - Trout fishing Spent 2-3 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests Excellent trout fishing is caught on the right day. It can be very crowded if they’ve just stocked the trout.See more..
4.5Palisades-Dows Preserve and Observatory(3 reviews) - Excellent Spent More than 3 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests Real nice and well taken care of! Very nice lace for our graduation party! Nice location! Close to town!See more..
5.0Twelve Mile lake park(2 reviews) - Great place Spent More than 3 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests Wish this were here when I was in high school. They offer fishing, cabins for rent, boating and all on a huge and beautiful lake.See more..
4.0Chain-O-Lakes wildlife area(2 reviews) - Nice nature and wildlife area Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests A nice nature and wildlife area. In mostly it's natural state, it's clean and a nice serene area to relax and take in the nature. It is a bit of a drive off the highway, but it's needed to get into the nature.See more..
3.5Mossy Glen state preserve(2 reviews) - Loads of flowers and mystery Spent 2-3 hours Nature & Wildlife Areas • Hiking Trails • Forests
The DNR's "Iowa Outdoors" magazine recommended this place. After you drive through a farm field, you wonder if you are there. Since the road was blocked with down trees, we figured we were. It is hilly, an amazing number of spring flowers, a babbling stream and no hiking paths that we could find. There are lots of barbed wire fences so exactly where the park had all of its acres is not very clear. Even the sign to the place was falling over. Since we are not hunters and like some kind of path, I doubt we will return. There are no structures of any kind, or tables, or benches.See more..
4.5Kettleson Hogsback Wildlife Area(2 reviews) - A great place to hike Spent 1-2 hours Nature & Wildlife Areas • Hiking Trails • Forests The Kettleson area is a short ways out of town but totally away from the lights and commercial areas of the Iowa Lakes. There is ample parking and a series of trails where you can enjoy the ecosystems see a wide variety of trees and other plant life. You are also liable to see animal life in the form of frogs, turtles, birds, Deer and maybe even a Fox. The area is fun to hike in the spring, summer and fall but don't discount the beauty during the winter as it can be a fun place to go snowshoeing, cross country skiing. See more..
4.0Thayer Lake park(1 review) - surprising to find this Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests I was on my way to another park to hike when I stumbled upon this nice little park out in the middle of the country. It sits right across from its namesake off state highway 34 to the south. You follow the signs into the pond area first. It has several choice spots to literally pull right up next to the lake, park, eat at picnic tables or build a fire in one of the many fire pits or simply do nothing. You may fish there as well. Across from the pond area is the actual lake; all eleven acres of it. This place is bigger with a nice little campground with only seven sights available but all have electricity. This place also has pit toilets and a small parking area. It also affords two shelters for rent also with grills and or fire rings. Great views of the lake. Hilly, uneven grounds and a small but nice timber everywhere. Just a few trails but these lead to other areas within the park itself. They all connect to each other. Camping cost at the time of my visit was only ten bucks a night. You may hunt here in certain areas. Mainly for small game. The town of Thayer is nearby(down the road and across the highway) if provisions or ice is needed. Nice people in this part of the state. In my opinion, this place was surprising to find but glad I did. The whole park is only 47 acres but good things come in small packages as I am finding out.See more..
4.0Allens Grove Park(1 review) - Nice day hike Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests Flooding area #2! I just can't win this day. This place, although down the road from Buena Vista public area, has some uneven terrain and I thought it would be better for me but I have struck out again. Parts of this park were flooding as well so I had to cut short my visit here. This park has over 150 acres to share. Camping is permitted as well as fishing and boating. There is a boat ramp provided nearby. But, this park is again right next to the river and is subject to flooding. Parts of the roads leading to it were under water, barring me access to it, so I could only park my 4x4 in certain areas and hoof it. Not that I mind doing that, after all, that is what life is all about, right? Experiencing it. Another caveat about all this flooding is the mosquitoes. Now, my mother made me wear repellent since I was a child so I knew better from the start. I now wear and swear by ANY repellent with DEET in it. Despite all my precautions, and spraying DEET everywhere on me, I STILL got ate up here. No idea why. I have only gotten bit twice this year and this was the second time. Both times wearing DEET. This place is loaded with nice spots to camp and fish right next to the river. Parking is available and you can simply walk to your spot. I will return to this spot once again, after the flooding to see for myself the areas I could not access. Bit despite the flooding, this place is a nice day hike, in my opinion.See more..
5.0Lake Corneila county park(1 review) - very relaxing Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Beaches • Forests
This is a great park, great outdoor equipment for kids. lots of trees, they spray well for misquitos, a small, but clean beach. Bathrooms are decent. There is a great walking path all around the lake. Several picnic tables and open areas for families to spread out. See more..
4.0Palisades Natural Area(1 review) - Nice break on a hot day Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests This place offers 89 acres of pristine primitive camping, many right along the Cedar River. You may picnic here but please pack up what you bring in! My pet-peeve. There is fishing available as is a boat ramp nearby. Pit toilets are offered as well. Hunting is allowed during the various seasons. It offers just a few trails but none of them are marked or maintained. You will be walking mainly on deer paths so wear reflective colors so the hunters don't mistake you for wildlife. This is a nice break on a hot day to just get away, read a book(if many of you still do that kind of thing) or if you can get a signal, check your emails or text or does anyone still actually talk to people?This is also a great place to hang out with friends or whomever as this is like many secluded natural areas I have discovered in Iowa: beautiful, quiet and peaceful. In my opinion. Parking is available but be careful-this place is prone to flooding! So the entrance may be washed-out or have ruts in them as I encountered on this day.See more..
Harrier Marsh(0 review) Spent 1-2 hours Bodies of Water • Nature & Wildlife Areas • Forests See more..
