Hiking, biking, fishing, kayaking, and even OHV-ing is what I found when I visited Fort Dodge, Iowa on a FAM trip with Midwest Travel Network. This trip was 3 full days of outdoor activities! Any outdoor enthusiast will never get bored in this Midwest area. Even though this was a sponsored trip, all opinions in this article are held only by Happy Trails Hiking. We started our first evening at the Fort Dodge Grain Silo Mural. This 360-degree mural was created by international artist, Guido Van Helten. It shows local residents "who are part of the industrial and cultural fabric of the community". It was certainly a neat start to our visit to Fort Dodge. Dinner that evening was provided to us by Amigos Restaurant. Biking and kayaking were the activities for our first full day in Fort Dodge. We started our morning on mountain bikes at Lizard Creek Mountain Bike Trails with guides from Fort Dodge Mountain Bike Club and Walker's Bike Shop. Lizard Creek Trails are 10 miles of mountain bike trails along the Lizard Creek water trail. You can access these trails near Water Trail Access 1. Our group rode 3.5 miles on the trails. As a beginner at mountain biking, I only crashed a couple of times, but I was "all in" and enjoyed the ride enough that Matt and I bought bikes when I got home. For the kayaking adventure, we headed to Dolliver State Park on the Des Moines River. After the high-energy on the mountain bikes in the morning, a relaxing float on the Des Moines River was a welcome change. It was a beautiful day on the river from Dolliver State Park to Lehigh, IA We were guided by Karen from Webster County Conservation and Doug Breyfogle. Day two in Fort Dodge started much more relaxed with fishing at Brushy Creek State Recreation Area. Brushy Lake is 690 acres. It is a "no-wake" lake for boating and fishing. Fishermen can fish for bluegill, crappie, largemouth bass, channel catfish, walleye or muskellunge. There is an official swimming area. We had a few hours of fishing in the morning guided by the Iowa DNR officers and a volunteer, Daryl Roberts. I even caught two fish! That is a record for me! In the afternoon, we had an adventure of a whole new color for me. We got a tour of Gypsum City OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) Park. Gypsum City serves at a destination for OHV riders across Iowa and the Midwest! It is the largest OHV park in Iowa. Gypsum City is located on around 800 acres of reclaimed gypsum mining land. The park offers over 60 miles of trails for riders of all skill levels. There are also fishing ponds and a campground with pull-through sites and a few "tiny houses" that can be rented. This park is managed my Webster County Conservation. On our last morning in Fort Dodge, we got to visit Camp WaNoKi. This park is run by Webster County Conservation. It is a 77 acre forest on the riverfront that used to be owned by the Hiawatha Council and used as a Camp Fire Camp. The Webster County Conservation website says "The primary goal of this property under the direction of the Webster County Conservation Board will be to provide outdoor education and recreation opportunities for the general public." They do have a secondary focus that provides programming for groups. The team building activities we took part in there would be great for organizations. To experience more of the trip to Fort Dodge, Iowa, please see the video below. The places you will see in this video are: Brookstone Inn & Suites, Fort Dodge Grain Silo, Fort Frenzy, Lizard Creek Mountain Bike Trails, Hacienda Vieja, Des Moines Water Trail, Gaga and Hoo Korean Restaurant, - Shiny Top Brewing, Ja-Mar Drive in, Brushy Creek State Recreation Area, Gypsum City OHV Park, Dariette, Buford’s Steak House & BBQ, Soldier Creek Winery, and Camp WaNoKi. I am thankful to all the community and volunteers of the City of Fort Dodge and Webster County that take so much pride in their area and wanted to show us the best they have to offer. I am also thankful that they took such great care of this amatur outdoorsmen as I tried new things on this trip. I couldn't have done them without these volunteers. If you want more information about traveling to Fort Dodge and what they have to offer, please contact Kerrie at the Fort Dodge Convention and Visitors Bureau https://www.fortdodgecvb.com/ She will tell you how you can #DodgeTheOrdinary Other Bloggers on this trip were:
Travel with Sara - Sara Broers Des Moines Parent - Erin Huiatt Simplify Live Love - Michelle Marine Country Pilgrim - Dan Cline |
AuthorAt Happy Trails Hiking, we encourage you to live the life you love and seek solace and adventure in America’s Parks and Public Lands. This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
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