State: Iowa
Address 1: 2148 340th Street
City: Forest City
Zip: 50436
Phone: 641-581-4835
Open: Open all year
Open all Year: Yes
Number of Sites: 60
Electric: 48
Camp URL: http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/pilot_knob.html
Full Hook: Yes
Two open picnic shelters can be reserved online through the park reservation system. Picnic tables and fireplaces are plentiful in pleasantly shaded areas.
There are 60 campsites (48 with electrical hookups), modern showers, rest room facilities and a trailer dump station. A playground is located near the campground. Advance campsite reservations can be booked through the park reservation system. Half of the campsites are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The park has excellent trails for hikers and horseback riders. In winter, a warming house with electricity and heat provides comfort for ice skaters, snowmobilers, cross-country skiers and ice fishermen.
Hidden within the 700-acre park and enclosed by abrupt banks is Dead Man’s Lake, a four-acre floating sphagnum bog, the only one of its kind in Iowa. This is a botanist’s delight, bordered by native trees, shrubs and flowering plants. Waterfowl feed and breed in the tall grasses. Three species of pond lilies grow here, one found nowhere else in Iowa. Trees native to the Pilot Knob area include walnut, ash, basswood, wild cherry, burr oak, aspen, white oak and red oak. Pilot Knob’s natural features are so significant, the majority of the park has been dedicated as a state preserve.
A scenic 15-acre, man-made lake offers fishing and boating with the use of electric motors only. It is also a popular site for ice skating.
The Pilot Knob Recreation Area, just north of Pilot Knob State Park is available for public hunting, hiking, snowmobiling and other activities.