AJ Taylor3 hours agoLast Updated: April 16, 2021
The Winnebago County Conservation Board will open their two county campgrounds, at Thorpe Park and Dahle Park, on Friday, April 30th! On that day, all utilities will be available and the tables and fire rings will be set out. Both parks also have pit toilets that will be ready for use.
There have been some changes to the camping rates according to Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls.
Camping is limited at either site to two weeks per stay. According to Ralls, people will be able to pay their camping fees using cash or checks. However, the WCCB has a new option that will make camping at Winnebago County parks more convenient this year.
AJ Taylor6 hours agoLast Updated: April 14, 2021
The Winnebago County Conservation Board will open their two county campgrounds, at Thorpe Park and Dahle Park, on Friday, April 30th! On that day, all utilities will be available and the tables and fire rings will be set out. Both parks also have pit toilets that will be ready for use.
There have been some changes to the camping rates according to Winnebago County Naturalist Lisa Ralls.
Camping is limited at either site to two weeks per stay. According to Ralls, people will be able to pay their camping fees using cash or checks. However, the WCCB has a new option that will make camping at Winnebago County parks more convenient this year.
All campsites at Dahle are numbered and include electrical outlets, and no more than one camping unit is allowed per campsite. Dahle Park is located 4 miles northwest of Lake Mills and also includes water, a pit toilet, a shelter house, and access to the Winnebago River.
Camping rates at the WCCB’s other campground at Thorpe Park will remain the same at $12/night for electrical sites and $8/night at the two non-electrical sites. As at Dahle, all campsites are numbered and only one camping unit is allowed at each site. Thorpe Park is located five miles west of Forest City and includes water, pit toilets, a shelter house, a rental cabin, a small fishing lake (Lake Catherine), and hiking trails.
As the COVID-19 pandemic drove people out of public spaces and into their homes last year, many found an escape in the great outdoors.Â
While the pandemic caused near-universal economic strife as businesses did their best to survive, North Iowaâs outdoor institutions have thrived.Â
In Winnebago County, the numbers were dramatic. Camping, hunting, fishing, etc. Whatever activity people could do in the outdoors, they did a lot more of it in 2020 than any year in recent memory.Â
Eagle Lake State Park in rural Hancock County. LISA GROUETTE - Globe Gazette
According to Winnebago County naturalist Lisa Ralls in her December 2020 column âWelcome to your Outdoors,â Thorpe Park saw campers spend 355 nights in 2020, compared to 195 nights in 2019, an 82 percent bump. At Dahle Park, it was even more dramatic, as total camping nights went from 77 to 279, an increase of 262 percent.Â