Pilot Knob State Park

If you're traveling on I-35 and willing to drive 15-20 miles off-course for a nice hike or lunch under the lodge/shelter, you won't be disappointed. It's a beautiful place. The climb to the tower (2nd highest place in Iowa) is fun and the view is very nice.

Most sites are literally the width of a picnic table next to the other. Not length, but width, of the table. There might be three level sites in the entire campground. Bugs everywhere. Purportedly there are camp hosts but they apparently couldn't be bothered to be seen. One selfish camper was permanently connected to one of the few public spigots, and no one did anything about it. Another camper seemed like they were permanent, but not employees. Skeevy vibe from them.

Stayed here over Labor Day weekend, so pretty much packed to the rafters. Even so, short of the sites being a little close it was a very nice campground. We were met on arrival by the Host(ess) and warmly welcomed. Due to the volume we had a non-electric site, but the majority of sites at the park were electric. Bath Houses were clean, even on a busy holiday weekend. Pilot Knob boasts the second highest location in Iowa, which basically means there's another hill in Iowa that's bigger somewhere! (grin) We hiked a short hike to the lookout that dates to the CCC era on the knob and you can see for miles! Would definitely stay here again if we were passing through.

After driving for miles of flat cornfields, finding this wooded, hilly state park was surprising and unexpected. Lots of easy hiking trails, including up to the CCC observation tower which is the 2nd highest point in Iowa at 1450 ft. Amazing views!

At the campground, we had wonderful hosts. They actually suggested we move from our original spot to a better one, which we did. The bathrooms (flush not pit toilets) and the showers looked very new. Hosts keep spotlessly clean. There is a mix of back in, pull through and tent camping. The tent sites are on really big lots.

Lot of good birdwatching and other nature. Deer walked within 20 yards of our camper couple times.

Forest City (Winnebago HQ!!!) is 4 miles away and has all the shopping you would need, including a nice HyVee.

This wooded state park dates from early in the 20th Century. Most of the improvements were originally constructed by the CCCs. The campground has both electric and nonelectric sites. The electric sites are close together and aligned on the side of a hill which makes most of them quite unlevel. The modern toilets and showers were clean. Water hydrants are scattered. There is a dump station.

The shallow reservoir is unlikely to have many large fish. Trails round the lake and lead to the CCC stone tower on the second highest 'mountain' in Iowa.

We stayed one night. We have a 40 foot motor home- easy access to site 23. Clean showers, beautiful landscape and walking trails. A nice 1.5 mile to the tower and back. Love the many bird houses installed along the edge of the landscape.

I stopped here while moving from Minneapolis to Tucson to stretch my legs and get some nature time. The park is about a 20 minute drive from the freeway but well worth it. The greenery was popping as well as beautiful purple flowers. There is a shelter with picnic tables to sit, relax, and eat and further down is the observation tower that is a short hike from the parking lot with an amazing 360 degree view of Iowa. From what I could tell the park does not have a gate, is open 24/7, free, and has bathrooms. Wonderful little stop!