This is a great place to go to for multiple occasions, wether you need a place to go for a get…read moretogether of any kind, or need a quiet place to relax or refocus! East park makes a beautiful place for pictures as well!

I'm feeling homesick for Oregon today, so I decided to go park hoping today. This is such a nice…read morepark. Clean and well maintained. There are actually many playground sets within this park to choose from. Lots of picnic shelters and benches to enjoy a lunch at. Nice walking paths wandering through the whole park and Pleanty of resting benches to sit at if you get tired. If you enjoy Frisbee golf, they have a nice set here to play with too. Check out the water fountain by the flower gardens or bring some bread to feed the ducks or geese. If your kids have never seen a deer up close, well...this park also has a deer enclosure for the kids to enjoy. Pleanty of things to do here on a nice spring day.

Woke up early to go to this place before the temperatures exceeded my comfort zone…read more Very nice place to hike and look for fossils. It really is amazing how many shells are litterly covering the whole area. It's like walking on an ocean floor without the water. Unfortunately, we could only stay an hour since the temperature started to rise fast. I really don't do well in the heat and humidity. Maybe next time when it's a little cooler.

This is the perfect field trip for those who love the outdoors. It's a reviving prairie with…read morefossils the public are allowed to take with them. There's also fields and trails that are perfect for hiking!!!!

Photo taken 4/24/26…read more This is such a lovely place! We have been here several times, and we love it each time we visit. We've been here twice on field trips with my child's class, and several other times outside of that. There is an information center and plenty of outdoor activities. It's very well maintained, and the staff here are all wonderful. It's definitely a fun place for fishing or just simply walking around and enjoying nature. For those that enjoy birdwatching, this is also a great location to do so. The information center has quite a few activities for anyone interested in learning about any type of nature. You can ask for kits to inspect tadpoles or water creatures as well as binoculars for birdwatching. There's also a natural play structure for kids to explore. It's so peaceful and serene; this also makes it perfect for a picnic! There is a path that goes around the water, and there are also a few gazebos and benches for you to stop at to take a break or just enjoy the day.

This is a really neat park north east of Ames. It's the home of the Story County Conservation…read moreCenter and a lot of classes and programming. There are some deceptively long hiking trails here that will let you traverse the various biomes of the state of Iowa. There are wooded, riparian and native prarire areas along trails immediately adjacent to the park and it also serves as a great launching point and connector for the Skunk River Greenbelt system of trails that continue to the north. There are primitive campsites and mutli-use hiking and biking trails. There is actually a lot to do outside in Story County, it's just not obvious & McFarland Park is a great place to get acquainted.

This is a great little park that we've stopped at a ton of times on the long distance hauls from…read moreKansas City to the Minneapolis area. The bathrooms are closed in the winter time so keep that in mind. Great park to let the kids burn off some of that pent up energy.

Great place to explore. Beware that the river/creek runs fast some times. The suspension bridge…read moreis a great photo opp. Beyond the bridge, there are some trails. Nothing is paved. We enjoy taking the pup here for swims.

Parked here for easy access to the Cedar Valley Bike Trail. Bathrooms, water fountain, bike repair…read morestation all nearby. Large pavilion for picnics. Large open grassy area and a basketball court. Not sure but I'm guessing you could reserve the shelter for a large group outing. Plenty of parking.

This is a small state park with eight full hookups and a tent area. That being said it has large…read morelake and many well maintained trails plus areas for picnics. On our most recent trip, two teens and their dad built a shelter and bench for people to enjoy. Also had some young teens deliver "random acts of kindness" gift bags - so cool. Individual showers and bathrooms also available.

Fun stop on our Mother's Day waterfall tour. Clean and well kept. Beautiful areas to walk and fish…read more Fun for the whole family.

This Iowa landmark is one of 4 (that I remember) that requires a drive in the country, while…read moreenjoying the vast stretches of rural beauty. The other 3 are the Estherville Meteorite, the highest point in Iowa (Hawkeye Point at 1670 feet), and the Field of Dreams baseball diamond. 75 years after that fateful plane crash, folks are still coming to the informal shrine to "Where the Music Died". They come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They turn into the small parking lot, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. We arrived as innocent as children, longing for the past. People will come, Ray. OK, that's from Field of Dreams, but it fits. After a brisk walk of about 1/2 mile starting from the big glasses, what I found was a stainless steel guitar and a set of three stainless steel records marking the exact spot where the plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, & JP ''The Big Bopper'' Richardson came to rest following their final concert at the Surf Ballroom in nearby Clear Lake. A second monument was erected on the 50th anniversary of the tragedy honoring their pilot, Roger Peterson. Waylon Jennings was also at the Surf that day, but gave up his seat to Richardson, and took the bus. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said in jest, ''Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up'' and Jennings responded, also in jest, ''Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes''. This would haunt Jennings for the rest of his life. Dad stayed in the car while I completed my lone pilgrimage. The visit was short, the day was cool, and this fan monument was insightful and worth the trip to this lonely stretch where unfortunate history was made. I hope that any person reading this review has a chance to visit here and the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, which is the site of Buddy Holly's last performance.

Took a detour of the road during my travels today and visited the Buddy Holly Crash Site. Popular…read morespot to stop and view the crazy tragedy that occurred on 2/3/59. The trail head to the crash site (which is located in a corn field) is marked by a large pair of Buddy-Holly type glasses. You can park on the side of the road, and then walk through the corn field on a well-travelled path to the crash site, which has some fan-made memorials there. I placed my sunglasses in the middle of the bridge of Buddy Holly's glasses in the photo attached. True artists and RIP to all that past that day. RIP Highly recommend checking out this spot. Pretty cool to see.

I'm focusing on the campground here- outer perimeter sites are nice - shady and private. Inner…read moreperimeter sites are laid out so there is very little separation - no privacy and no noise abatement. Our neighbors weren't loud in any way but because of the layout their conversations were entirely audible. The camp host was never seen so sites had as many as 5 cars parked on them etc. The park has beautiful walking and bike paths throughout and the bike paths are heavily used. Unfortunately many of the bikers leave the path and cut through the campground road going quite fast- faster than cars would drive through - as campgrounds tend to have small kids playing I would be concerned if those were my kids. The park itself had much to offer - the campground and rest rooms are well maintained. Sites have some gravel and are mostly level. I think during the week would be a better experience.

This is a beautiful park and campground in Waterloo, Iowa. Really nice bike trails a decent beach…read moreon the lake and a nice campground. We didn't fish but saw a lot of anglers. The campground is on the bank of the Cedar river as are the boat launch ramps. The river is really pretty. The primitive campsites are right next to the river and are really nice sites.

This park has a nice open feel to it. It also has a nice…read morewooden playground structure full of all kinds of fun things for the kids to explore and play on. I would of played on it, but the rules stated...playground is only for kids up to a certain age. They keep this playground neat and clean. Its a tobacco and dog free playground. I'm guessing if your dog smokes, skip this place..