Brushy Creek State Recreation Area | |
---|---|
Location | Webster, Iowa, United States |
Coordinates | 42°23′29″N 93°59′3″W / 42.39139°N 93.98417°W |
Area | 6,500 acres (26 km2) |
Elevation | 1,050 ft (320 m) |
Governing body | Iowa Department of Natural Resources |
Website | Brushy Creek State Recreational Area |
Brushy Creek State Recreation Area is a state park in Webster County, Iowa in the United States. With an area encompassing over 6,000 acres (24 km2), the facility is one of Iowa's largest public outdoor recreation areas.
A relatively new recreational area, Brushy Creek did not have an easy beginning. In 1967, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources published a controversial proposal to flood Brushy Creek's forested canyon. The proposal was met with enough public opposition that the idea was debated for the next twenty years. The resultant compromise called for the DNR to protect a sensitive 260-acre (1.1 km2) parcel, construct a smaller lake of 690 acres (2.8 km2), and purchase more land to build equestrian trails (1,750 acres).