David Bates Memorial Park

Lush beautiful grass; well trimmed, mature trees scattered around (but not too much for those like me with solar!) Iowa has some of the most beautiful parks open to the public and this is a perfect example! It doesn't seem to be a highly trafficked area but I did hear a story or two about locals who come and trash the place on weeke... more

We only stayed an afternoon to make lunch at the fire pit. i recommend you bring some firewood. There are only three fire rings I could see, so about three sites. Open grass. There is a trail along the creek and into the woods but I didn’t get a chance to walk it. The road to get inside the park is long. There is a David Bates Memoria... more

Just a simple out-of-the-way little park to set up a tent. Water says it isn't potable and I didn't try it. Some traffic noise in the distance, but mostly covered up by bird calls. One other user was there when we arrived after dark, but we were only ones there come morning. It was mid-week, maybe weekends are busier.

If you ever find yourself in Central Iowa needing a nice free county park - give this one a consideration! The narrow gravel road gets pretty narrow, and it's a fairly tight turn to get in, but should be doable in almost anything (my 43' 5th wheel cleared pretty easily). Don't have high expectations of site pads, toilets, or ... more