Gull Point State Park
Encyclopedia
Gull Point State Park is a state park
of Iowa
, USA, located on West Okoboji Lake
. It is the primary state park unit in the Iowa Great Lakes
region.
in the 1930s. Seating up to 140 people, it can be rented for private events. Several open picnic shelters are also available. The shaded campground, one of the most popular in the area, has 112 sites, over half with electrical hookups. Other campground facilities include modern restrooms and showers, a holding tank dump station
, and a playground.
.
landscape created during the last glacial period. The region was impacted by continental glacier
s advancing and retreating between 13,500 and 12,000 years ago. Interconnected sloughs were created by runoff channels and hills by piles of rock debris. Many of the lakes and wetlands formed around blocks of ice left imbedded in the ground as glaciers melted back. The shores of Gull Point are strewn with glacial erratic
s, igneous
and metamorphic
boulders from far to the north that were carried and dropped by the ice.
holiday. With crowds of several thousand packed onto the small beach, many individuals wind up standing in the water up to waist-deep. This has raised safety concerns, compounded by binge drinking
and risky activities. Underage drinking, public indecency
, nudity, and sexual assault
have become issues. While hard liquor
is banned in Iowa state parks, beer and wine are not. In 2010 the state government considered a ban on all alcohol on the 4th of July and adjacent weekends for Gull Point and nearby parks, soliciting public comment. Ultimately a governor-appointed commission within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
narrowly voted down the ban 4-3. Instead the multi-agency law enforcement presence has been increased, coupled with a parking ban on the entrance road to ensure access for emergency vehicles. According to the State Parks Division, the heavy visitation and drinking issues have not extended to state parks outside the Iowa Great Lakes region.
State park
State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...
of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, USA, located on West Okoboji Lake
West Okoboji Lake
West Okoboji Lake is a natural body of water, approximately in area, in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa in the United States. It is part of the chain of lakes known as the Iowa Great Lakes. The area was long inhabited by the Santee or Dakota Sioux...
. It is the primary state park unit in the Iowa Great Lakes
Iowa Great Lakes
The Iowa Great Lakes are a group of natural glacial lakes in Dickinson County in northwestern Iowa in the United States. The three principal lakes of the group are Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake. They are the largest natural lakes in the state of Iowa. The largest, Spirit...
region.
Facilities
The park features the largest lodge in Iowa to have been built by the Civilian Conservation CorpsCivilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
in the 1930s. Seating up to 140 people, it can be rented for private events. Several open picnic shelters are also available. The shaded campground, one of the most popular in the area, has 112 sites, over half with electrical hookups. Other campground facilities include modern restrooms and showers, a holding tank dump station
Holding tank dump station
A dump station is a place where raw sewage may be entered into a sanitary sewer system in a safe and responsible way. Dump stations are often used by owners of motorhomes, campervans, recreational vehicle or boats that are equipped with toilet facilities and a sewage holding tank, also known as a...
, and a playground.
Recreation
Gull Point State Park provides numerous opportunities for water recreation, from a beach and boat ramp to fishing. The western half of the park features nature trails and, in winter, cross-country skiingCross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
.
Geology
Gull Point State Park occupies a peninsula on the west shore of West Okoboji Lake, Iowa's deepest natural lake, jutting out between Miller's Bay and Emerson's Bay. The area's lakes, wetlands, and sloughs interspersed with knobby hills are a kettle-and-kameKame
A kame is a geological feature, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier...
landscape created during the last glacial period. The region was impacted by continental glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s advancing and retreating between 13,500 and 12,000 years ago. Interconnected sloughs were created by runoff channels and hills by piles of rock debris. Many of the lakes and wetlands formed around blocks of ice left imbedded in the ground as glaciers melted back. The shores of Gull Point are strewn with glacial erratic
Glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
s, igneous
Igneous rock
Igneous rock is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava...
and metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
boulders from far to the north that were carried and dropped by the ice.
Controversy
A tradition has developed of young adults gathering for a massive party on the Gull Point State Park beach during the 4th of JulyIndependence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
holiday. With crowds of several thousand packed onto the small beach, many individuals wind up standing in the water up to waist-deep. This has raised safety concerns, compounded by binge drinking
Binge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...
and risky activities. Underage drinking, public indecency
Public indecency
Public indecency refers to conduct undertaken in a non-private or publicly-viewable location, which are deemed indecent in nature, such as indecent exposure and sexual intercourse or masturbation in public view. Such activity is often illegal...
, nudity, and sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
have become issues. While hard liquor
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
is banned in Iowa state parks, beer and wine are not. In 2010 the state government considered a ban on all alcohol on the 4th of July and adjacent weekends for Gull Point and nearby parks, soliciting public comment. Ultimately a governor-appointed commission within the Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Iowa Department of Natural Resources
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is a department/agency of the U.S. state of Iowa charged with maintaining state parks and forests; protecting the environment; and managing energy, fish, wildlife, land resources, and water resources of Iowa.The Mission Statement: To conserve and enhance...
narrowly voted down the ban 4-3. Instead the multi-agency law enforcement presence has been increased, coupled with a parking ban on the entrance road to ensure access for emergency vehicles. According to the State Parks Division, the heavy visitation and drinking issues have not extended to state parks outside the Iowa Great Lakes region.