McIntosh Woods State Park

We pulled in at 8pm the weekend following the 4th of July. It was very busy but there was at least one spot unreserved. The campground had the Campground Full sign out but the camp host told us he wasn’t responsible for taking that sign down.

There is a play set for kids and lots of greenery, plus the checkout is at 3pm which is pretty great.

The showers are the push a button for 5 seconds of water kind and the bathroom sinks all had standing water which was non optimal. Otherwise it’s been a nice pull off during a busy season.

Small campground with many trees, totally deserted this weekend, probably because of the cold snowy weather. Water is off but electric is still on, better be self-contained because there are no vault toilets. Fairly busy road near the entrance to campground, leads to very pretty lake with boat launch. Train tracks somewhere nearby, as trains can be heard occasionally. Campground road is not cleared at all but only 1-2” of snow, so RV handled it quite well. Would love to see it when trees are leafed out, should be shady and cool, not conducive to solar though. Easy to find.

Beautiful mature oaks shade nearly all the campsites, clean shower and toilet facilities. 1mile hiking trail, wildlife blind, and a good sized lake. Couldn’t get in Memorial Day weekend and wouldn’t have wanted to, the place was packed and very noisy, people and vehicles everywhere. But it’s very quiet on a weekday, 5 other sites occupied. Electric is a little far from gravel pad on some sites, we needed an extension cord. Dump station and drinking water available across the street from campground entrance near the fish cleaning station. Asphalt road. Week has been very wet, but most sites are well drained. Good location to visit Winnebago manufacturing plant from, as sites are arranged on loops instead of packed in rows. Looks like they are trying to grow bushes between sites for more privacy.

McIntosh Woods State Park is a small campground on Clear Lake, just outside of Venture, IA. Although the sites are reasonably sized, the park in general is smaller. Larger rigs may have difficulty navigating the narrow roads, especially on busy weekends. Due to the location on Clear Lake, McIntosh Woods State Park is also a hot spot for local fisherman.

Amenities include bathhouse, multiple water access points throughout the campground, wooded campsites, a boat launch, picnic areas, a fish cleaning station and a playground.

McIntosh Woods State Park also has a dump station on-site, but does not sell firewood. The campground host seemed knowledgeable about the area and was able to direct us accordingly.

T-Mobile and Verizon both had 4G service in the park.

If you don’t like crowds, you may want to visit during the week when it is less busy, or possibly during the off-season. Overall, it is a fairly nice campground.

Ours was a late fall experience. Arriving just past dusk, we were able to find fresh water for our rv and take our pick of sites. Each site was nicely laid out. Big rigs would be able to camp here if they stayed on the main ring road and not in the two loops off it. Restrooms were modern and clean.

While this was a smaller campground, the bathrooms were nice, in the middle of the park. There is also a playground right in the middle. The DNR was also very friendly and helpful.