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A log cabin-style lodge built in 1928 provides an excellent setting for such
group activities as wedding receptions, family reunions, and community
get-togethers. For lodge reservations, call the ranger at Pilot Knob State Park
at 641/581-4835.
Ambrose A. Call State Park offers 16 camp sites. Of these, 13 include electric
hookups. A modern vault restroom is located in the campground. Camping permits
are obtained by self-registration.
The rugged and heavily wooded park offers two miles of trails that wind through
the forest, down a ravine, and along a picturesque winding creek. Many species
of shrubs, flowers and trees can be found at A.A. Call. A cross-country ski
trail is available in the winter.
The park is located in Kossuth County, approximately 1.5 miles southwest of
Algona.
Ambrose A. Call State Park is a 138 acre "oasis" of rugged hills heavily wooded
with virgin timber in an area of gently rolling farmland. The park is located
near the east fork of the Des Moines River. Ambrose Call and his brother, Asa,
were early settlers in the area who carved their claim, the first in Kossuth
County, on a walnut tree at the present site of the park. The brothers spent
their first night in Kossuth County on July 9, 1854. The next day, while Asa
went for his wife and supplies, Ambrose and a traveling companion, William
Smith, began work on a cabin in what is now the state park.
Seventy-one years later, in 1925, Mrs. Gardner Cowles made a gift of land to
the state in memory of her father, Ambrose A. Call. The park was dedicated in
1929.
The authentic log cabin is constructed of elm logs, some exceeding 18 inches
in diameter, which is typical of cabins built by the original settlers in the
area. Four men were needed to put the logs in place. The cabin in the park is
located in the approximate location of the first log cabin in Kossuth County. It
was moved from the August Zahlten homestead to the park.
Ambrose A. Call State Park
Route 1, Box 264
Algona, IA 50511
ph. 515/295-3669
E-mail address:
AA_Call@dnr.state.ia.us
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Camping