We decided to take a last minute trip at the end of June. We wanted someplace close so I started looking for a campgrounds to go to in Minnesota. Since it was the weekend before the 4th of July a lot of the sites we wanted to go to were full. So I started looking in other states. We have camped in South Dakota and Wisconsin but never Iowa. I came across Pilot Knob State Park It is located in Forest City Iowa just an hour and half from home. Since I had to work over the 4th of July we went from Wednesday until Sunday night. The park we pretty empty until Friday night when it filled right up. Since it was a holiday weekend I figured it would. In talking to the campground host she said most weekends it is not nearly as full. By the way the campground hosts were wonderful. Super friendly and around a lot checking in on people.
One of the highlights of the park is the tower that is the second highest point in Iowa. You can climb to the top of it and see forever.
Otis was not sure he liked being at the top of the tower.
We found a ton of black raspberries to pick. Of course once we pick them we had to go to town to get some ice cream to eat with them.
The walking trails were very nice in the park. We hiked just about all of them. Best of all was the lack of mosquitoes. It was so nice to be able to walk in the woods and not get ate alive. We never had to use bug spray even when were next to the bog. Dead Man's Lake, a four-acre floating sphagnum bog is another highlight of the park. It had a trail that went all the way around it.
One thing the park lacked was trail signs. I laughed when I saw this sign on a bench. You had to really look hard to read it.
We were excited that they had a mountain biking trail. A lot of state parks will not let you bike on the trails. The trail was just right for Rick and I, just tuff enough so you really had to pay attention to what you were doing but not so hard that you were scared for your life. It was a little over grown in places and had a few places that we had to walk our bikes because horses can also use the trail. They had a lot of rain in the area so the trails had some ruff spots from them.
The park also had a beautiful amphitheater. I told Rick it was to bad we were already married because it would be a perfect place for a wedding :)
We had a great time while we were there. The camping spots are nice. Some of them are a little close together but on a less crowded weekend it would not be bad at all. The sites were plenty big. The tents sites were really nice.
I was very happy with our last minute getaway and would recommend Pilot Knob State Park for a nice relaxing place to go.
I should have a new post for you tomorrow on our camping trip this past weekend.....
Happy Camping
Sharon
No comments:
Post a Comment