Green Valley State Park, Creston, Iowa

 5/9/2023 to 5/16/2023


    Green Valley State Park is a base camp for people fishing at three area lakes. We came in on a Tuesday and were surprised to find the campground very full - like most parks on the weekend. We found out that one of the neighboring campgrounds on a fishing lake is under renovation. People who had planned to go there came here. By Thursday every site was filled. The sites are small and crammed together. Some sites are available to reserve online, plus about half that are first come first serve. This was true at Waubonsee, so I assume it's an Iowa park thing. In other states, sites can all be reserved. This is a view of the camping area from the trail on the other side of the lake. 





    The park has a 9+ mile trail all around the lake. Half is a paved trail that meets up with other paved trails that go to Creston and another campground. The other half is mowed grass with loads of ticks. We took Annie on a variety of 2-3 mile hikes, starting at a different access point around the lake each day. We liked the grass path on the other side of the lake, which went through trees. One day we biked from the park to Creston along the trail. There were rolling hills, so we appreciated our electric bikes.




    It was clear that most people were here for the fishing. The only things in their campsites besides a car and trailer were boats and areas for cleaning fish.  We had all our usual stuff out, including a "screen house" that we got a while back. Campers going by looking for a site asked if we were Park Hosts, since no one else would have anything out around their RV. 



    We had a view of the sunrise from our screen house until Thursday when all the campsites totally filled up. After that all we could see from any direction was RVs and boats crammed together. 



    We've been amazed by all the dandelions at both Iowa parks so far. Even the yards we saw in Creston were full of them. Scott suggested they ought to be the state flower of Iowa. Here is a picture of ones in our yard at this campsite. 



    We enjoyed using new phone apps this week.  One is the SwimTopia App that lets us follow John's progress at the Lazer swim meets. Not the same as being there, but a small measure of participation. Another app is the Merlin Bird ID, which allows you to record and identify bird sounds. Next best thing to having Margaret here with us to identify birds. The third is the AllTrails app, one I downloaded as a trial and forgot to cancel. Was glad to have it when we were lost on the Green Valley Lake Trail in the woods. Worked amazingly well to get us back on track. 

 


    We got to paddleboard one morning, when it wasn't too windy. Saw a deer along the bank, and also a blue (or gray) heron. It is probably predictable that it would be windy, since there are wind turbines all around the lake. Haven't seen those since Mart, Texas, near Fort Parker. 
    






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