Camping Brown’s Lake in Iowa

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Videos by Outdoors with Bear Grylls

Camp Iowa: We are with Brian from the Woodbury County Conservation talking about Browns Lake. How long has that park been around?

Brian: Since the 1960s I believe.

Camp Iowa: What are some of the most popular activities that are there?

Brian: Boating and fishing are a big thing. Picnicking, we have a beach area that’s very popular. Of course, our camping is popular as well. We have a shelter house which hosts big parties, wedding parties, stuff like that. Those are the main things that our park is used for.

Camp Iowa: Where is Browns Lake located?

Brian: It is just off of I-29. If you go off I-29, take a right, and you’ll go about two miles and we’ll be on the right there at Bigelow Park Road. It’s called Bigelow Park Road, and you’ll go right into our park.

Camp Iowa: Is there any towns that are close, or what other attractions are in the area?

Brian: The city of Salix is close. They have a restaurant in there. That’s actually about it for that. There’s different wildlife areas that are close here, different hunting areas and stuff that people can use for hiking and hunting and stuff like that. Picking mushrooms I know is a big thing, morel mushrooms in spring.

Camp Iowa: At Browns Lake, do you guys have any camp office with ice or food, any of those type of amenities?

Brian: We have a host here that will sell firewood. We do have wireless internet that’s free of charge. Other than that, we don’t have any ice sales or stuff like that. There’s a pop machine [inaudible 00:02:25] people can use, but that’s about it for our vending and stuff.

Camp Iowa: That’s great to be able to have firewood and that stuff onsite, though.

Brian: Yep.

Camp Iowa: In terms of the camping, do you guys have any group sites available?

Brian: We don’t have any group sites, but they’re close enough together that you can pick off a certain area that big groups – we do have camping groups like [inaudible 00:02:55] and stuff like that that come in and just take a little section of the park and use it.

Camp Iowa: How the campground is set up, are the sites secluded? Is it a little bit more open?

Brian: They’re not really secluded; they’re more open. It’s fairly condensed, our campground. Yeah, it’s fairly condensed. The spots are fairly close together. But we did widen them here, the paths, a year or two ago, so we do have more room than we had in the past.

Camp Iowa: That’s fantastic. Along the lines of being in the park, if you could only spend one hour in Browns Lake Park, what would you do?

Brian: It would probably be – fishing is usually one of our better attractions. There’s pretty good fishing, especially in spring and later in the fall, so that would probably be what I would do.

Camp Iowa: Great. And if you were in the Browns Lake campground, you could spend just the one night there, what campsite would you choose and why?

Brian: I believe it’s Site #6 and it just has the most room all the way around it, the most shade, and it’s close to the restrooms and the to the host. Kind of has all your necessities right there, and close to the playground. Kind of a nice spot.

Camp Iowa: Great, that’s fantastic. Always good to know a good spot to choose when you come there.

Brian: Yep.

Camp Iowa: Perfect. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it..

Overall, there is great opportunities for camping at Brown’s Lake in Iowa!