Pammel State Park — Attraction in Iowa

Awesome park. Sublime campground hosts! Amazing features (tunnel, ford, rock formations, and best of all..YURTS!) Our mini working-vacation/family-get-together was superb. My dad and husband pretty much got skunked but youngest son caught a 25" channel cat(he had his fishing license for about an hour and a half) on 2nd to last worm we had! Super special 😊 we took it back to the beautiful, comfortable Oak Yurt cabin and my chef husband invoked his mad skills to create the best batter-fried catfish I've had. They have a rock ridge formation called the backbone, which was amusing to me, as I live/d near Iowa's first State Park, Backbone(est.1921) Pammel is about 5yrs younger, but after some research we found the fellow that had spent years up here studying the limestone had done the same for Madison county and landed a pretty fine job with the state parks service! Our Backbone is referred to as the Devil's Backbone because of the craggy Dolomite limestone, much of which is exposed. I was kinda bummed that their trail is well covered with soil and greenery and I didn't even go to the end of the durn trail. Nonetheless, we had a blast. Lots of folks, fishing, kayaking, swimming/wading ..ect, but not too bad at all for a Sunday evening. Plus Winterset is only about 4.5mi away and the Winterset City Park is almost as brilliant! My advice, check it...

Nice area, but the co-hosts(?) scared us. First time coming here we set up two tents, the moment our 2nd tent goes up a man in a cut-off sleeves drinking a glass beer with a lady in jeans and a t-shirt comes to our tent site telling us only 1 tent per site. I honestly still don't know if they work here but they were unrelenting on having us take our 2 person tent down. I personally find it very frustrating that a whole RV and one 2 person tent on a tent site carries the same weight... probably won't camp here again nor recommend. RV's ARE TOTALLY WELCOME THOUGH!!

Update: We offered to buy the site next to us and they said no because they were reserved even though no one showed up the entire weekend. I still don't fully understand this park. But if you're already a part of the community, you're probably okay. It's a neat little park and area, but personally not worth the effort to try to tent camp here again. Better sites exist.

One shower and two...

Pammel State Park is the perfect mix of scenic bliss, cat fishing, and family fun. During spring, the park comes alive with wildlife and blooming foliage. At any given time over the summer, you can find kids spashing and playing at the ford and folks cooking out at one of the many beautiful lodges or picnic areas. In the fall, you can see every shade of yellow, orange, and red as the leaves turn. The landscape of Pammel Park in the fall looks like something you'd see out on the cover of a nature magazine. During the winter, the park traffic slows down, but that doesn't mean the views do. It is not uncommon to see ice sheets slowly gliding over the ford or to spot bald eagles chirping away perched in their nests. The restrooms are always kept clean, and the park in general is very clean. If you're from Winterset, then you know how great this place is. If you're not from Winterset, then come find out how...