A few Girl Campers got together for a “just camping” weekend at Clear Lake State Park in Clear Lake, Iowa. I towed the Rustic Trail Black Bear northwest to this popular location.
This was such a laid-back weekend! I had never camped at this park before. Clear Lake State Park has 50 acres of open spaces, mature oak trees, and a 900-foot sandy beach on 3000-acre Clear Lake. The campground has 117 campsites, two modern shower houses, and two dump stations.
Most/many of the campsites are pull-throughs. They are pretty small. One whole loop was closed due to a bunch of trees being downed. According to their website, the entire park will be closed for renovations starting October 1st, so plan accordingly. More information can be found here: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Places-to-Go/State-Parks/Iowa-State-Parks/Clear-Lake-State-Park
These sites were pretty small.
The biggest complaint I heard from some of our GC Attendees was about the small size of campsites. One lady’s tent took up the ENTIRE campsite, and she had very little privacy because the next campsite had a big rig on it, and it was literally within arms reach of her tent.
My site was a pull-through site that shared a green space with the next campsite. It was pretty small – but had great shade! Since the Black Bear is such a compact camper, I had plenty of room for my new 6-sided Clam Quickset screen room. Mosquitoes (and rain) were definitely an issue, but I had my bug-free and rain-free zone to hang out in!
Farmer’s Market at the Surf Ballroom!
Saturday morning, we went to the Clear Lake Farmer’s Market http://www.clearlakefarmersmarket.com/ in the parking lot of the famous Surf Ballroom.
Have you heard of the Surf Ballroom? It has a rich history: https://www.surfballroom.com/surfhistory.shtml
The Surf also has a sad history, known as The Day the Music Died. On February 3, 1959, American musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J. P. Richardson, and pilot Roger Peterson were all killed in a plane crash after the concert “Winter Dance Party” at the Surf Ballroom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died
It rained off an on most of the day on Saturday – but the rain did clear in time for us to have our potluck and group fire Saturday night! I also had time to set up my new ORANGE shower tent and waterproof it. Check out my cute find from the Farmer’s Market!
Tours of the Rustic Trail Black Bear
A couple of Rustic Trail Friends came down from MN to see the Black Bear in person. It was great to meet you, Audree and Rose! I also gave several spontaneous tours of folks who just stopped to check out this cool trailer.
What a wonderful, relaxing weekend. On to the next adventure!
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Theresa “Resa” Leppert
Guide Manager
Guide, Iowa & Wisconsin
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