So Excited...our new 2012 County Guide Arrived

We are so excited...our new 2012 Iowa's County Conservation System Guide to Outdoor Adventure book arrived! 

We have about worn the pages through our 2006 guide as it was so useful and handy on many occassions.  There are many things to like about this guide including the maps of every county and the wonderful tables of park attributes to help you find just what you are looking for.

New to this guide book:

• QR codes (my husband loves this as he has the phone that can read these) which will take you directly to the county's specific website. 
• List of the Iowa County Conservation System's Nature Centers.  These are great places for little ones (many hands-on exhibits) as well as us bigger ones.  We love visiting them when they are open.

The cost for the book ($8.00) is minimal and well worth every penny.  To order your copy, visit www.mycountyparks.com.  It is also available to download from this site.

Colwell Park

Colwell Park, Floyd County, Iowa

Website: Colwell Park, Floyd County

GPS: N43 09.348 W92 38.540

What We Liked:

• FREE
• Drinking water available
• Two pit toilets available
• Flat campsites that you can drive right up to
• Pretty area of the state with great hiking and kayaking/canoeing nearby

Our Concerns:

• It's free so it can and does attract loud campers
• Not too much to do in the park itself
• We didn't see a county park person at all (unless they came when we were exploring the area)

 

We stayed at the Colwell Park which is a park and campground in Floyd County August 24 - 26, 2012.  This was a nice little park with several flat campsites. 

About the Park:

There is a little stream on the west side of the park with access to it from a short trail.  The stream was very picturesque and begged to be explored on foot (which we did not do).

The park was divided into a south section and north section with camping available in both areas.  Both sections had several flat campsites.  The north area had a picnic shelter which came in handy when the rain came on Saturday.  The south section had a swing and merry-go-round which our daughter loved.

The park was nicely mowed and had several large oaks, cottonwoods and cedar trees which made for great pictures.

The campsites were wherever the park officials decided to put fire rings and were not even numbered.  We counted approximately 10 fire rings however the conservation guide says there are 20 sites available.

About the camping experience:

This was a fairly quiet campground.  On Friday night we were the only ones camping in the north section and there were only two others camping in the south section.  A gravel road runs north of the park and didn't see much traffic especially after dark.  Occasionally you could hear vehicles on the highway which was about a half mile away to the east. 

On Saturday night the south-side campers had friends join them for a wilder evening.  However, since we were so far away from them, their music and ruckus did not bother us.  The next morning as we left at 10:00am, they still weren't up and judging by the amount of adult beverage cans on the ground next to their fire pits they may not have awoken for quite some time!

All in all, the park and campground was pretty decent.

 

I am trying my hand at creating a blog for others interested in adventuring with their family.



Bankston County Park, Dubuque County, Iowa