Forest City, Iowa
Since beginning our full-time journey to discover the country, we have found something to appreciate in every city and town we have passed through. We hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we have enjoyed discovering them!
No person, business or attraction has paid us for an endorsement.
Population: 4,117
Founded: 1855
Average income: $27,090
Average price of housing: $142,700
Median age of the population: 32
https://www.cityofforestcity.com/
Geographically Forest City is a small community located in the north central area of Iowa. We also visited the towns of Clear Springs and Garner.
Home Base: The Campground
For us, a campground is not our destination. Our RV is self-contained. Rarely do we use campground services or amenities. We are explorers, not campground reviewers! This will be an unusual description of a “campground”!! About 6 months prior to arriving in Iowa, we made a reservation at Winnebago Industries in Forest City to have some work done on our motorhome. Because we were having services done, Winnebago provides free sites. Electric only. Water and dump stations are available nearby at the WIT Rally area.
Downtown
We are always drawn to quaint, unique downtown areas. Forest City had a nice downtown area with many stores and restaurants. Waldorf University is downtown. Forest City is the county seat for Winnebago County but is also uniquely situated in Hancock County. There is a beautiful operating courthouse with a huge WWII tank out front. Also, in front of the courthouse there is a statue of a Union soldier atop a water fountain. According to the plaque on the court house their solder/fountain is one of only two in the country, theirs and one at the Smithsonian!! (Opening photo)
Food and Drink
Forest City: While we stayed in Forest City, we had a chance to check out many of the local restaurants. Sally’s Restaurant in downtown Forest City offers home cooked breakfast and lunch. Sally is the cook and the cashier! Shooterz Bar and Grill on Route 69N offers traditional bar fare, hamburgers and a good pizza. I had always heard of having A&W root beer in a frosted mug, but I had never experienced it until Forest City! This was a throwback to years ago, founded in 1919. There are only 600 A&Ws left in the country. Cabin Coffee is a local chain and has fresh brewed coffee and really good chocolate croissants. Who knew you could find a good Mexican restaurant in a small town in Iowa? We found one, Ay Jalisco, in downtown Forest City. The food was tasty, plentiful and reasonably priced. Seemed to be a local favorite.
The place we ate the most often while in Forest City was at the restaurant in the Hy-Vee Grocery Store! It has a small restaurant attached to the grocery store, tucked behind the deli. The food is good, plentiful and inexpensive! The first time we went to the grocery store, we didn’t even know it was there! They open at 6 a.m.
Attractions
Forest City: Winnebago Visitors Center tour. One of the best things to do in Forest City is to go on a tour of the Winnebago Factory. It was very interesting to see “Big Bertha”, the RV assembly plant and to watch the workers in the fabric shop make everything that is fabric in an RV (chair cushions, curtains, bed blanket, etc.) The tour is free and takes about 2 hours. Make sure you stand close to either the guide or the bus driver while you are in the plant. It is hard to hear anyone talking inside the plant! It was interesting to see where our Winnie was built!
Forest City: Heritage Park of North Iowa. Heritage Park is a grouping of many turn of the century buildings and newly built museums with a nod to the past. You can drive or walk through the Park anytime. But the older buildings and museums are only open at designated times throughout the year. It is still interesting!
Forest City: Pilot Knob State Park is a must see. You can drive around the park; there are hiking trails, picnic tables and a campground. But the most interesting is the Pilot Knob observation tower. It is a stone building constructed in the 1930s. There are about 50 stairs on the inside for you to be able to get to the top of the tower. When we were there it was a little hazy, but we guessed based on the distance of the roads, we could see about 10 miles across pretty flat corn fields!
Forest City: Pammel Park lies along the Winnebago River. There are picnic tables and a campground, as well as a cable bridge across the river to the golf course. It is a quiet little park along the river. We frequently took walks on the paved 1.5 mile walking trail.
Crystal Lake: Crystal Lake State Park is about 15 minutes south west of Forest City. There is a VERY small downtown with only a post office, general store and a VFW hall. There is a state park with camping and picnic areas. The lake itself is beautiful. It is too bad that a picture of the lake taken from any angle will have a windmill in the background.
Businesses that Deserve Credit for Quality
Forest City: We scheduled an appointment at Winnebago Industries to have some work done on our Winnebago Motorhome. We spoke with our technician, Paul, every morning at 7 a.m. when we dropped it off and every afternoon at 3 p.m. when it was delivered back to us. Rebecca is the person who greets you and can help you with any problem you may encounter throughout the day. We were very impressed with Paul, Rebecca and the quality of work that was completed on time and under estimate. Impressive!
Forest City: While we were in Forest City we scheduled an appointment at CDI to have the front mask on our motorhome replaced. The mask is the “plastic” covering on the front of the RV that protects it from rocks and weather pitting. CDI paints all of the RVs for Winnebago and applies all of the masks and lettering for Winnebago. We were able to have the mask replaced and have body work done all within the time promised. Dan was responsive to emails, helpful with our questions and went out of his way to accomplish a “special”, “impossible” task for us. Again, we were very impressed with the quality of work that was completed on time and at budget. Impressive!
Garner: If you are in the area and need to board your cat/s or dog/s we HIGHLY recommend Garner Pet Resort and Wash, next to the Garner Veterinary Clinic. Garner is about 15 minutes south east of Forest City on U.S. Hwy 18. Jason, the staff person at the pet resort, was wonderful. We felt Lucky, our 14 year old cat, was well taken care of.
Summary
This is probably the only place we have ever stayed that we have seen everything we wanted to see and eaten at every open restaurant in town! If we were questioning getting another RV – WHICH WE ARE NOT!!!!! – based on our experience with Winnebago Industries and CDI, without question, we would buy another Winnebago and have any painting done at CDI.
Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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