Wapsipinicon State Park is located in eastern Iowa, just outside of Anamosa.
I spent a great morning with my wife and daughter on super nice day in June of 2017. The park actually sits on the border of Anamosa, separated by the Wapsipinicon River. On the northwest border of the park is the local golf course. So there is almost always someone nearby enjoying the trails with you.
There are a ton places to park throughout the park. So if you just want to check out a specific feature, chances are high you’ll be able to park next to it.
Now we parked at the playground (orange star) where there would be restrooms accessible. As my standard, we hiked the park in a clockwise direction, heading to Hale Bridge (green star) which was relocated to park by the National Guard in 2006. It is a short paved walk from the road to the bridge that has been converted into a pedestrian bridge.
From there we began our actual dirt walking on the Prairie Trails (yellow), sticking close to the river.
For the most part the prairie trails are mowed grass. They are well maintained and easy to follow. My only criticism would be the junction where you need to turn westward back into the park (blue star). There could be a sign so you don’t accidentally continue down the river path like I did the first time I hiked the park.
As far as challenging, this is probably the closest this park comes with a decent climb up to the southern-most point. From there it descends to a 4-way intersection (pink star) where you could choose to take the other climb up to the overlook (purple star), or the better choice of heading west into the piney wood! (gray star)
Now this is the real highlight of this park. The best kind of woods walks are those that take you down a pine flanked trail. The colors, the sounds, the smells. All mind soothers. All of ours in Iowa are too short, and this follows suit. However, just slow your pace and it’ll feel longer. 🙂
Once we got to the end of the trail, we hooked west/southwest and followed the creek back toward Horse Thief Trail and the cave (black star). It is a shallow cave, but would have been more than sufficient to provide shelter to any horse thieves back in the day. Heh.
We quickly walked the road back to the car we drove up to the lodge by the overlook (purple star), and walked the short distance to check out the view. Mostly it is just a big hill that lets you see the park from edge to edge. Baby girl had a blast running around in the grass, picking the clover blossoms, so still a win.
Finally, we can’t leave off without discussing the playground. Super good playground. I know a certain 18 month old that thought it was the best place ever! If you want to enjoy those giggles, head on over to the Youtube video and see for yourself!
I hope you enjoy Wapsipinicon State Park as much as we did, and make sure to bring the little ones.
In the meantime I’ve been making up for last year’s lack of hiking. Now that we’re into the fall shoulder season I’ve actually accomplished most of my goal hikes for the year. (For once.) A lot of the focus has been on western Iowa. Unfortunately, the flooding of the Missouri River that crushed Nebraska, also effected 4 of the parks I had on the list for this year. In fact, Wilson Island State Park was so damaged that it’s unknown when it will get to reopen.
As I rounded the top of Boneyard Trail, I saw a canyon that I wasn’t expecting to see (green star). It really intrigued me and I found my way down into it. I spent a lot of time farting around and exploring. The colors were great with a mix of orange rock covered in bold green moss. The creek running through it just added to the vibe.
Eventually I had to move on and leave the canyon behind. As soon as you leave the canyon you come to the River Trail. The trail is super short at barely a half mile. Mostly it just gives you a break from the road walk down to Indian Trail.
Given the elevation changes, and that it is 5 to 6 miles, I would also suggest to bring a snack along in case you get a little hungry. At a casual meander, it should take you around 3 hours to hike the full length of the park. As always, make sure to bring water and a 
I was able to get out for some good snowshoeing early last year, then a couple more hikes in the spring. Unfortunately, that’s where my dirt walking ended.
Red Haw State Park is located in south central Iowa, down by Chariton.
Since it was going to be a longer day, we left the house when it was still dark. This allowed CJ a little more time in her PJ’s as she continued sleeping during the drive out. This also ended up allowing her a little more bink time than we normally let her have. Typically it’s only allowed for naps and bedtime, but since she had little choice but to tag along we caved to her smiles.
Now as for the park itself, the day started out a bit chilly, but beautiful. Nice bright sky, and I was out with the wife and baby. It was gonna be a good hike.
We parked at one of the shelters on the northern portion of the park (Red Star). There was a small beach with a lily pad filled inlet next to it. We had to walk around the inlet toward the north before we found the official trailhead.
McIntosh Woods is a state park on the northwest shores of Clear Lake outside of… Clear Lake, Iowa. There is another state park on the southeast shore of Clear Lake, you guessed it, Clear Lake State Park. Enough Clear Lakes yet?
After we’d had our fill of the sand, we turned around and headed northwest. The trails were well defined and easy to follow. The first surprise we came across was an observation blind built by a local Eagle Scout. Scouting is one thing I wish I never quit back in the day, so I appreciate the work done by those that achieve their Eagle.
The last thing to touch on is the eastern border. On the eastern edge of the park is the Iowa Regular Baptist Camp. Now I have to admit, it looks like they have some pretty cool stuff over there. We peeked across the no trespassing signs trying to figure out what they were, then headed back to the car.
If the goats are still there and out munching on the invasive grass, all the better!
Knowing we had three parks to hike, we got there early and parked on the western edge (orange star). Here it appears is a popular place for ice skating as they had a good number of benches around the pond and a warming house where the trail started.
On this particular hike we took a counter-clockwise route that sent off on Fork Trail. All of the trails we walked were well-worn and pretty easy to follow. We wandered through the mist as Jessie practiced with his new gear.
After the push through the rougher trail, we took a break at the campground. The campground was pretty nice, and bathrooms were pretty good for a state park. Everything is next to the small lake inside the park and offers some nice recreation space. There is also a pretty good little playground for the younger kids as well.
The main focal point of the park is just a short walk to the south of the campground. You’ll sneak along Plum Alley Trail for a tiny bit before jumping on Tower Trail which ends at a small parking lot. From the parking you’ll head up to the high point of the park where you’ll find the Pilot Knob Tower (blue star). The park website references that this was a landmark to assist travelers heading west.
One thing is for certain, I wish we had clear skies for the view! It was quite nice as it was, but some bright blue skies would have helped the fall colors really pop. We took some time getting pictures and enjoying the view before we got moving along on our way back to the car.
In total, they have about 45 miles of trails to walk. While I have completed my exploration of the park, I did not do it in one outing.
Knowing I had some miles to cover, I trimmed down my load and left the camera gear at home. All of the pictures are from my cell phone, and there is a noticeable difference in quality. Since I had such an ambitious day planned, I got a very early start. I arrived well before sunrise and parked in the Day Use parking area (Red Star) where both trails start from. I started with only my headlamp to see with, which could have helped with my mistake.
To help give better detail of the mistake, I pulled up my mapmyfitness.com data and drew on the above screen shot. So the mistake came at the yellow circle where the trails divide. The trail map isn’t overly clear as to how this divide happens, and in the dark I missed the one iffy trail marking I found in the whole park…
As you can see from the pictures I took upon my return trip, when you are approaching from the treeline, there isn’t a sign that stands out to tell you which way to go. In the dark, I’m not sure I even noticed it.
If you approach it from the other directions, yeah, the signs stand out… So… I went the wrong way and started on the East Loop. Whoops.
This is actually what threw up the red flag as the West Loop Trail was supposed to have the river to my east, not a pasture. I figured it out, shrugged, and proceeded on. It was short-lived though as I ran into a creek where the only option was to splash on through it (Yellow Star). Now the creek wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t want to deal with wet feet on the onset of the hike. With what I had seen from the little bit I’d hiked so far, I wasn’t feeling like the rest was going to be much better and turned around.
That being said, I should have skipped Turkey Trail and stayed on the loop for a little bit longer. Around the Purple Star it looked like they were doing a lot of work, possibly changing up the trail system, so the area was really rough. Not only that, but the mosquitoes were horrible in this one area! They were barely noticeable everywhere else, but along Turkey they chewed me up like mad.
With that I am considering my exploration of Brushy Creek State Recreation Area complete. This section hike totaled a little over 12 miles for the day, bringing the total miles hiked at Brushy to about 33 miles. Now I recognize that I skipped a good portion of the East Loop, and a few trails of the Middle Network, so maybe 35-40 for a full circuit. I will likely return in the future and see how far I can push in a single outing, because I like challenges like that.
I feel that these trails are very easy to navigate and aren’t overly demanding. As long as you can handle the miles, you can hike these trails. Be sure to bring your map to help you navigate the network portion of the loops, and it’s always a good idea to at least have some water and snacks as well. If you are an equestrian rider, these trails are very popular if you’re looking for some place new.
The Iowa Hiker 