Gull Point State Park — Attraction in Wahpeton

I've been camping here since I was a kid and have always loved it but on my recent visit my group was harassed and threatened by the DNR staff. They tried to evict us for simply having 3 tents on one campsite when we were never told this was a violation. The DNR even saw us putting up all 3 tents and never said a word until we were all settled. After threatening to kick us out they told us we could pay for another site and they would "allow" us to keep all 3 tents as is. When we asked why paying them an additional fee would all the sudden solve the issue they had no answer for us and told us to pack up and get out. They demanded we give them our drivers licenses and when I asked why they wouldn't say. They accused us of "cranking music" when my husband was playing his acoustic guitar at 5 in the afternoon and told him if he got his guitar out again they would come and arrest all of us for "disorderly conduct". Never in my life have I been treated so rudely and by state officials no less. Other campers approached us afterwards and expressed their concern for the way we were treated. These DNR individuals do not deserve to keep their jobs and certainly should not be allowed to carry firearms considering their hot head approach to a simple situation. They escalated the situation immensely and clearly were on a massive power trip. This is an amazing campground with great facilities and those DNR should be embarrassed that they give the...

The park is nice, lots of trees, paths to walk on and within walking distance of the little beach they have. There's no water hookups at any of the sites so fill your potable water tank at one of the few spigots around the park before you park your camper. There's 2 hosts here, the one at the top of the hill is pretty calm and keeps to himself but the old lady host over by the main bathrooms in the middle of the park is kind of a witch. She needed to know what I was doing when i was looking for a spot to park, then when she found out I had kids she started recommending sites that weren't near her and it was obvious she was trying to keep people from parking anywhere near her. The next day my wife and kids went to the bathroom by her site and she went into the bathroom to tell them that the showers are for campers only. Of course my wife explained that we were camping there and had to give her the exact site we were at, then the old lady told them to keep the bathrooms clean because she works hard to clean them every day (they were a mess with dirt and hair all over the floor, I might add). Then she sat there in the bathroom the entire time my family was in there. I guess we must have given her "hoodlum" vibes or something. Nice park? Yes, for the most part. Will we go there again? Probably not, thanks to that...

I have visited over 20 Iowa State Parks over the past five years and many have become an embarrassment. Gull Point State Park campground is scheduled to be closed for a long delayed renovation.

From website: Campground Closure: The campground will be closed starting on October 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025. (Posted June 15, 2024)

The state government should speed up the renovation of more state parks using a small portion of the state’s 2.4 Billion dollar surplus. That is not a typo - the 2024 surplus is 2.4 Billion with a ‘B’.

Marble Beach Recreation Area had some improvements a few years ago, but my picnic table this week was in serious need of paint. Well worn picnic tables seem to be normal in all state parks, as well as very unlevel campsite pads. Marble Beach has a modern shower house with private shower rooms, but many state campgrounds still have the old style male and female shower rooms which offer much less privacy.

My favorite campground in the county is Marble Beach...