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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.
Lodge reservations can be made online at park reservation system. It
is highly recommended that you contact the park ranger at Pilot Knob State Park (641/581-4835) if you are
unfamiliar with the facility and would like more information about the lodge.
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.iowa.gov
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Camping