Tuttle Lake Campground

The Great Outdoors

Book an RV in Emmet County and camp at Tuttle Lake Campground to be within an hour’s drive of the Iowa Great Lakes. A popular summer vacation destination since the mid-19th century, the three glacial lakes – Big Spirit Lake and the West and East Okoboji lakes – are the state's largest natural lakes. While Spirit Lake is the biggest, the spring-fed West Okoboji Lake has the bluest waters. Swimming, tubing, and waterskiing are popular pursuits, and on land, hiking and biking happen on more than 100 miles of paved trails. Several microbreweries line the lake shores, so perhaps a bike-and-brew self-guided tour is in order.At the Dolliver Memorial State Park, follow nearly six miles of winding trail that will take you through the "Copperas Beds," a 100-foot sandstone formation that provides a cross-sectional view of the 150-million-year-old riverbed carved out by the Prairie Creek. Keep to the trail to reach the Bone Yard Hollow where the first inhabitants of the area uncovered heaps of bison bones thought to have been the remains of herds driven over the canyon edge. Animal petroglyphs can also be seen etched in the canyon's rock formations, including that of a bison. And be careful where you put your feet: ancient Native American burial mounds are found in the park.The Pipestone National Monument just across the state line in southwestern Minnesota, is another sacred place for Native American peoples. Red pipestone used for prayer and ceremonial pipes is quarried here, as it has been for countless generations. Native Americans believe the pipe's smoke carries their prayers to the Great Spirit. There is an active quarry site in the park and a seasonal cultural demonstration in the Visitor Center where you can view craft workers shaping and creating pipestone crafts and pipes. You can also stretch your legs in the short and pleasant Circle Trail where you can see waterfalls tumbling over quartzite cliffs after heavy rains.

Exploring the Area

Camp in an RV near Dolliver and you’ll get to spend some time in some of the county’s educational museums. As the seat of Emmet County, Estherville has plenty to offer visitors for a city of its size. The Emmet County Historical Museum makes a great introduction to the life and times of early settlers; an 1800's farmhouse, a buggy, and antique farm implements, and a 1920's house in its original condition are just some of the exhibits you can view in the museum. Another museum in town houses a large chunk of a meteorite that fell in the nearby farm on May 10, 1879. It is part of a meteor, said to be the largest in North America, which broke into three.Just half an hour’s drive from the campsites at Tuttle Lake Campground, a fort was built in the 1860s to protect the settlers from attacks from Native Americans. While the fort was decommissioned and its timbers reused not long after the Civil War, the Fort Defiance State Park nearby was named after the structure. The trails that traverse the hills and rugged woodlands of the park make for an invigorating hike or equestrian ride while the wooded park provides stunning contrast amidst fields of corn and beans. Keep your eyes peeled for the bright yellow plumage of goldfinches, the state bird, flitting about.Renting an RV in Dolliver allows you to cover more ground, whether you wish to explore more of this “beautiful land” or hop across the border into the “land of 10,000 lakes.”