Mariposa Lake, Jasper County, Iowa

Mariposa Lake, Jasper County



Mariposa Lake Campground



Website: Mariposa Lake Park, Jasper County

GPS: N41 46.580 W92 57.664

What We Liked

• Cute fishing lake
• Scenic
• Drinking water
• Pit Toilets
• A couple of flat camping sites
• Very friendly park ranger
• Low cost ($7.00/night)
• Quite a bit to see and do in the area

Things To Consider

• At times can attract rowdier campers
• A family could desire a little more to do than what this park itself offers

We stayed at Jasper County's Mariposa Lake campground, August 10-12, 2012.  It was a beautiful camping weekend and we really enjoyed this little campground.

About the Campground

The campground is on the north end of a cute little fishing lake.  There are two areas to the campground.  The north part of the campground loop has several areas for camping, drinking water and a pit toilet.  The south part of the campground is closest to the lake and can only be used for those in tents since it was a walk-in area.  The north part of the loop was a little more open from the trees and foliage affording you a great view of the stars where-as the south part was more tree covered.

Observing the bison at Mariposa Lake County Park

About the Park

The park has playground equipment, a butterfly garden and a picnic shelter.  We had fun walking through the garden and playing on the playground.  The lake is for fishing from the shore only (no boats) and had a cute little island in the middle along with a hiking trail around it.  There is another section of the park towards the west which is a prairie area with a few bison. 

About the Area

Not far from Mariposa Park is Rock Creek State Park which contains a rather large no-wake lake (great for kayaking).  For biking, there are several paved bike trails in the area and are a delight to pedal.  A little further away from Mariposa Park lies the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge, another fantastic place to visit. 

About Our Experience

We arrived on Friday evening, set up camp, made a fire for s'mores and then watched the stars come out.  It was perfect as we were the only ones in the north part of the loop!  In the middle of the night we were awakened by the sounds of coyotes not far from our tent.  My big, strong and very brave husband clapped his hands a few times and they didn't return. 

Exploring the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge

We played at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge for a better part of the day on Saturday and upon returning to camp found that another couple had set up their pop-up camper in the site next to us.  We eventually befriended them and discovered they like to camp for the same reasons we do: quiet and solitude!  Even though they were next to us (because it was the second best spot), there was still plenty of space between our two camps. 

 Besides being a fun little park to explore, the other thing that we really appreciated about our Mariposa adventure was the frequency with which the park ranger checked up on us campers.  We saw him once Friday night and then at least twice on Saturday.  We appreciate parks that employ people that committed to creating a safe and enjoyable camping experience for all. 

Bottom line: this is a park that we will definitely visit again!

(A little side story: I'm a former Spanish teacher so I have been teaching my daughter Spanish since she was a baby.  One of the words she knows and uses routinely in place of English is 'mariposa'.  Mariposa [pronounced mah-ree-poh-sah] means butterfly.  When we found this tiny blue dot on the Iowa state map called Mariposa Lake, we just knew we had to visit.  That is how we found this little park and campground!)

Entertaining Your Kids While Camping

How to "entertain" your young children while camping....

IDEAS

• Take along an Activity Tote
• Games
• Crafts
• Hikes/Walks
• Bike
• Explore streams and shores
• Swim
• Cook
• Make an aquarium or a terrarium for observing newly caught creatures
• Visit nature centers or other area attractions
• Go geocaching

Young children are easy to entertain in the wild.  My daughter is four so it doesn't take much to keep her occupied.   

IDEAS FOR OLDER KIDS
How do you entertain your older children while camping?  Write a comment and let us know!

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.