No matter what the season, the trees make Red Haw a beautiful place to visit. The 649-acre park is filled with hawthorns, oaks, maples and pine trees. During the summer months, visitors can enjoy swimming and boating. In the winter, visitors can enjoy ice skating, sledding, skiing and snowmobiling. Hiking trails wind through the park and around the sparkling clear 72- acre lake.

Rice Lake is a 1200 acre lake that provides many activities for the outdoor enthusiast. Any size motor is allowed and boaters like to water ski, jet ski, and fish. The species of fish in Rice Lake include bass, bluegill, walleye, perch, norther, crappie and bullheads. Make sure you check the current length limits and possession limits for any fish caught out of Rice Lake.

The beach provides an ideal spot to sunbathe and swim. The lake's 15 miles of shoreline gives anglers a chance to try their hand at catching bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish, saugeye and bullhead. The deepest water is approximately 18 feet and the average depth is about nine feet. The lake is excellent for trolling or casting. Ice fishing offers anglers a chance to catch king-sized bluegill and crappie.

The Farmington Unit contains Bitternut Lake campground with 8 sites, available on a first come first-serve policy, and a boatShimek Pond ramp. The Farmington Unit also has Black Oak Lake with a handicapped accessible picnic area, fishing dock, parking area, and restrooms. There is walk-in fishing access at White Oak Lake, also on the Farmington Unit. The unit has 18.9 miles of hiking trails.

A boat ramp on the lake provides convenient access for anglers seeking crappie, largemouth bass, bluegill, sunfish, bullhead and catfish. Ice fishing is enjoyed in the winter. Three fishing jetties are located along the lake trail. Boats using the lake may only use electric motors. A boat ramp is located on the Middle Raccoon River. A trail also takes anglers to a fishing riffle.

Stephens State Forest is located in south-central Iowa and is divided into seven units totaling over 15,000 acres. The forest is dispersed over five counties: Lucas, Clarke, Monroe, Appanoose, and Davis.

A visit to Stone Park would not be complete without a visit to the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. The center features a variety of interpretive displays, including a "walk-under" prairie, a 400-gallon aquarium of native fish, and natural history dioramas. A children's discovery area provides opportunity to handle furs, antlers, fossils, and other artifacts. Two miles of hiking trails exist around the nature center.

Located on the west side of Big Spirit Lake, Templar Park offers the user a boat ramp to launch their boat and several areas to fish along the shoreline. Templar Park's boat ramp is one of the most popular on Big Spirit Lake because it is situated on a lagoon that allows users to launch their boats on the windiest of days.

Located on silver Lake, Trapper's Bay offers a boat ramp to launch a boat, and several areas to fish along the shoreline. Trapper's Bay also has excellent fishing. Anglers will find challenging sport pursuing a variety of game fish, including walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, white bass, perch, bluegills, crappies, catfish, and bullheads.

North Twin Lakes is a 453 acre natural lake. There is no restriction on boat motor size and there are two state boat ramps on the south shore of the lake. Major fish species include bluegill, channel catfish, crappie, and walleye. All areas of Twin Lakes State Park are day use only, no camping is available. The main area on the east side of North Twin Lake is open to fishing only, 24 hours a day and has a modern restroom. Both the east and west areas offer a sandy beach swimming area and modern playground.

Union Grove State Park, located in northwest Tama County, is a very popular outdoor recreation area. The park was established in 1938. Its focal point is beautiful 110-acre Union Grove Lake. The lake and the attractive parklands provide a pleasing contrast to the nearby residential and agricultural areas. Union Grove State Park truly offers outdoor recreation fun for everyone.

The 137-acre lake was constructed in 1957 and is 44 feet at its deepest point with many bays and projecting points on its four and one-half mile shoreline. Viking Lake is well stocked with crappies, bluegills, bass, bullheads and catfish. A sandy beach is located on the west shore with unsupervised swimming.

In addition to the Volga River, beautiful Frog Hollow Lake provides abundant fishing opportunities. The river contains smallmouth bass, rock bass, channel catfish and white suckers. The lake offers bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish, among others.

The popular lodge is an outstanding feature of the park. It is a beautiful setting for weddings, family reunions, holiday parties and business meetings. The lodge was built in the 1930s of limestone brought in from an eastern Iowa quarry and rough-cut hand-filled lumber. The lodge is available for rental on a reservation basis. The lodge may reserved online through the park reservation system.

The Wapsi River has long been famous for its channel and flathead catfish, spring crappies, bullheads and smallmouth bass, especially below the dam near the park entrance. Dutch Creek meanders through the park and empties into the Wapsi. At its mouth, fishing is good almost anytime. This is also a feeding area for walleye and northern, providing anglers with a great challenge.

Five camping cabins are also available, two are year-round and are quite spacious. The 1400 square-foot (ADA accessible) Windy Knoll[6] camping cabin sleeps 10, and the 800 square-foot Chinquapin[5] camping cabin sleeps 4. Amenities include full heating and air conditioning, a kitchenette (microwave & refrigerator - no running water - water available outside), comfortable furniture, wood fireplaces, beautiful hardwood floors, outdoor fire rings and grills. Three other smaller camping cabins (Administration[4], Hide Away[9], and Cook's Cabin[8]) are also available but only through the normal recreation season. They have air-conditioning but no heat. Restroom and shower facilities for all camping cabins are available in the Waubonsie campground; quaint outhouses also accompany each camping cabin. All of these cabins can be reserved online through the park reservation system. In the future, two more cabins are slated to be remodeled as modern family cabins with full restroom facilities.

One of the focal points of the park is the Pine Creek Grist Mill located in the eastern part of the park on Pine Creek. The mill was built in 1848 by Benjamin Nye, one of Muscatine County's first settlers who also built the county's first store and post office in 1838. The Pine Creek Grist Mill is one of the finest examples of mid nineteenth century mills left in the country and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Friends of Pine Creek Grist Mill and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is working to restore the mill to its original condition. The "turn of the century" Melpine Schoolhouse is located near the mill and offers park visitors another glimpse of Iowa's past.

Wilson Island, named after former Governor George Wilson, came into existence as an island sandbar around 1900. Today, Wilson Island State Recreation Area encompasses 544 acres of dense cottonwood stands. Seclusion is one of the area's greatest assets and spacious shady campsites, hiking trails and picnic spots provide a welcome retreat.

The Paint Creek Unit is of primary interest to the recreationist. It has the Big Paint Creek, Little Paint Creek and equestrian campgrounds with capacities of 48, 80 and 40 sites respectively. It also contains 6 miles of trout stream stocked from April through October and a marsh from which bass and panfish may be taken