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Listen to our full interview with Pulpit Rock Campground here:
Videos by Outdoors with Bear Grylls
Pulpit Rock Campground Iowa
Camp Iowa: We’re talking with Sue today. She’s the manager over at Pulpit Rock Campground down in Iowa. Sue, how’s it going today?
Sue: Good.
Camp Iowa: How long has Pulpit Rock Campground been around and how did it get its start?
Sue: I’ve been here for 14 years, but I guess it has been here for about 40 years. It started off with not much of much, and people could just come in here and park, and then it got developed more into specific gravel sites with electricity, and we are what we are today.
Camp Iowa: What are the most popular activities that the guests enjoy there?
Fishing Stream at Pulpit Rock Campground. Photo courtest of City of Decorah.
Sue: What they like to do here, because we have a trout stream running through the campground, is that they like to come and go trout fishing. It is stocked here on Fridays, this particular stream. Other people like to enjoy the Upper Iowa River, and they come to go kayaking and canoeing and tubing.
Camp Iowa: Are you saying that it’s stocked – is it stocked every Friday?
Sue: Every Friday with trout.
Camp Iowa: Wow.
Sue: The trout stream. Yep.
Camp Iowa: That sounds like a lot of fun.
Sue: They just have to make sure they have an Iowa fishing license and a trout stamp to fish for the trout.
Camp Iowa: Okay. Then can people keep those?
Sue: As long as you’ve got your fishing and you’ve got that trout stamp, you can keep those trout, and that’s a limit of five a day. But if you go to the Upper Iowa River and you’re just fishing for any kind of fish, if you catch a trout, you have to release it if you do not have the trout stamp.
Camp Iowa: What are some of the other attractions in the area worth checking out, if I was staying there for the weekend?
Pulpit Rock Campground
Sue: You’ve got the Norwegian Vesterheim Museum, and there’s other little museums. There’s also Wildberry Winery in Decorah. The downtown has unique little shops and there’s really good places to eat on the main drag. Some people will go tour and they will see the Amish, they will take an Amish tour. There’s a Niagara Cave. You can go see some caves. There’s just a lot. And there’s an 11-mile bike trail that they just put in, in the city here, so you can go do that. There are mountain bike trails too, and hiking trails. I’m trying to think of everything.
Camp Iowa: That’s a lot right there.
Sue: We have a really good public library. And there’s a Seed Savers Exchange also in the area here that a lot of people come here for. They have unique seeds and all kinds of things out there.
Camp Iowa: I have two more questions for you. One is if you were going to spend just one hour in Pulpit Rock Park, what would you do with the time?
Sue: If it was a hot day like it is today, I would take my lawn chair and go plunk it in the trout stream and put my feet in the water. [laughs]
Camp Iowa: That sounds awesome.
Sue: But otherwise I would probably, if I had the day off today, I’d go kayaking.
Camp Iowa: And if you could spend just one night in the park, which specific campsite would you choose and why?
Hiking and exploring Pulpit Rock Campground.
Sue: I guess my favorite one in the whole park would be #30, because I like the privacy that nobody’s on the other side of me, and it’s got a big yard. They all have fire rings, so I’d probably be having a fire and sitting there with friends.
Camp Iowa: That makes me want to leave my desk right now and come and do that. Well, that’s all I have for you. Thank you so much for chatting with us today, Sue.
