Lake MacBride

[Iowa Dave]

About 30 miles south and east of our home is a Lake MacBride State Park that we like to visit year round. We usually camp there at least once a year. It’s an older park with fully mature trees, a beautiful lake and lots of walking trails. There are two campground areas one with some full hookup sites and some water and electric sites. The second area is primitive area with scattered water, flush restroom but no showers and no electric or dump station. However you can use the dump station at the full service CG.

Today there were about 15 ice fisherman on the ice a few walkers and some deer lookers like us. The firewood bin was well stocked in the primitive area, roads were plowed in the modern area.

Momma deer and her two yearlings were easily spotted and not too nervous till Jake the French Brittany barked at them
They ran a little ways and stopped and I took another picture and as you can see, Mom had successfully brought her triplet fawns from last year through the winter. The smart one had stayed in the woods and is between the two yearlings out in the open. The other two pictures are from the primitive area.
I think it’s $9 a night in the summer and $6 in the off season.
Camp with free firewood for less than a puny bundle of wood costs at the convenience
Lower left free firewood bin. Lower right buck rub on a small sapling from last fall.
Less than 15 miles off of Interstate 80 or US 30
Iowa Dave

[WillyB]

A friend lives right near Lake McBride and fishes there quite a bit. He might one of the 15.

[Lorraine Pittsburgh]

Hey Dave,

Thanks so much for this thorough writeup. I copied it to my Iowa file & will definitely stop there on a future trip. Though Google is my friend, a personal recommendation is alway best, & your details & pics are a nice bonus - much appreciated.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by WillyB

A friend lives right near Lake McBride and fishes there quite a bit. He might one of the 15.

Ice thickness is pretty spooky this year with up and down weather. Most of the folks yesterday were “under the power lines”. It’s a deep channel that holds some walleyes and has been popular since I was but a “yute”.

Nearby is also the Coralville reservoir. It has several nice Corps of Engineers campgrounds and some neat other features. About 15 years ago there was flooding that had water from the Iowa river running over the very substantial concrete spillway ar the dam. The water velocity washed out everything in a narrow channel all the way down to the bedrock. This exposed thousands of fossils from the Devonian period. The subsequent road reconstruction and redevelopment of the area below and alongside the dam included the development of the now popular “Devonian fossil gorge” with a walking trail and observation areas. And the cost to look it over is my favorite price point “free”.

This entire Iowa River Valley has many attraction from a scenic byway, the Reservoir, the adjacent Lake MacBride, a very nice county park. Sandwiched between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, it’s not a secret but with the exception of the three summer holiday weekends there’s not been a time when I’ve not been able to find a good campsite.
From a radio dish listening to outer space to Devonian fossils, the width and breadth of the corridor calls.

https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/Missi...-Fossil-Gorge/

Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

Wow, some great reading there Dave......thanks! You know Iowa has always been a soft spot in my heart from the old Parsons College days in the 1960's.....

[WillyB]

I’ve been to Shuy’s several times for snacks/drinks with my friend.

Fall 2021, before we received our 21C, he sent me a photo of a 21C at the state park that was right next him. He said it was a nice park.

[GeorgeB]

Dave,

Ahhh love Iowa. I would also like to add, don't forget Iowa has some of the most beautiful concrete bicycle trails. High Trestle Trail is one of my favorites. You better have your extra ebike battery handy. :-)

[Iowa Dave]

There’s a DOT official state bicycle trail map. I stop out to their local field office in the late winter and my girlfriend out there gives me a bunch of those maps. I put them in my bug out bag and then put a few on our picnic table when we go to a rally. They seem to be popular. The Kate Shelly Bridge in Central Iowa is a story of a true Heroine from Iowa’s past. There’s getting to be a lot of miles of bike trails that are paved now. We built about 15 miles in Cedar Rapids when I was Parks Superintendent in the 90’s and 2000’s. It’s part of the Cedar Valley trail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Shelley_High_Bridge

Glad you enjoy visiting Iowa. See me for a map.
Iowa Dave

[GeorgeB]

Dave, see you on Ragbrai. :-)

[Iowa Dave]

My son told me that he and a friend plan to ride one or two days this year. They are engineers at Collins Aerospace and pretty busy so they can’t go the whole week, they tell me. Of course I have several RAGBRAI stories. We hosted RAGBRAI in one of the Cedar Rapids parks when I worked for the city. One thing you don’t want to experience is encountering the riders when you’re going the same direction they are as a county road access destination. Only happened to me once.
Iowa Dave

[MrLynn]

Thanks, Dave, for the fascinating tour. I recommend everyone watch the video about the Devonian fossil gorge on the page you linked—nicely done!

Looks like the Kate Shelley bridge might make for some good train photos, too. Between those and fossils, looks like an area worth exploring one day.

[CindyL]

I used to swim in that lake every once in a while as a kid. Maybe we will have to give it a try as a camping site.

CindyL

[Iowa Dave]

It’s not a popular for swimming as it used to be. They started patrolling the beach and the 14 year old boys couldn’t drink beer there any more. That and the changes in water quality has gone downhill in a lot of areas. That was always a nice bathhouse from an architectural standpoint though. (And still is). We camped in the primitive area last fall. Overdosed on fresh hickory nuts that I picked up and picked out at the picnic table.
Iowa Dave

[Mike G]

The high trestle trail and the gorge, high and low! I'm adding them to my mental list of Iowa stops. Surprised to see how near that bridge is to my campsite last June at Ledges SP.

[Iowa Dave]

Same county and yes pretty close to the Ledges. We used to go down to the Ledges for the day when I was at iowa State. Also professors used the park for field trips in geology, ornithology, and plant ecology to name a few. Saw my first Cerulean Warbler there. I always liked the park. Further down the river, Saylorville Reservoir has some excellent camping as well as Big Creek State Park.

Don Williams County park is pretty nice too in that area. We used to drive through the little town of Minburn when we went to Don Williams. They had a nice heart shaped sign at the edge of town. It was lettered nicely and said “Minburn, Little town with a big heart” Of course the local vandal had to do his own artwork and made it “Minburn.
Little town with a big fart” It stayed that way for several years. They had a sense of humor there I guess.
Iowa Dave