Pine Lake State Park
Highlights –
- Pine Trees
- Hiking
- Playground
- Camping
- Year round Cabins
- Bird watching
- Canoeing and Kayaking
- Fishing
What We Liked About It –
This park is situated on two lakes, Upper Pine Lake and Lower Pine Lake and connected to the Iowa River. There are multiple hiking paths throughout the park, each giving different views of the lakes, the river, and the forest. The park was named after its native pine trees. However, the pine trees are currently being rebuilt as a result of hail damage in 2009. There were still many to see and many pine cones were scattered across the ground throughout the trails.
On our visit, we were able to view many birds swarming and soaring above the trees.
One of the things we liked best about this park was the path that led to the beach. It goes through a tunnel and forest area and then you arrive at the sandy beach on the lake. It made the kids feel like they were going through a secret passageway. As usual, the kids could have spent all day playing in the sand on the beach.
The park was very busy on the day we were there as many people were enjoying the beautiful camping weather. There are very few parking areas at the park, unless you have a campsite. However, it did not feel crowded and the trails were almost completely empty and very peaceful to walk through. We enjoyed walking around the lake trails and the trail along the Iowa River. The trail along the Iowa River is where the cabins are located and they are available to rent the entire year.
This is also a great lake to kayak, canoe, and fish. Canoes were especially popular the day we visited.
Check out our reel on Instagram or on YouTube to see a glimpse of our day at the Pine Lake State Park.
Check out other Iowa State Parks I have visited here.
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