(Wahpeton)– If you’re thinking about camping this weekend in the Iowa Great Lakes Area and don’t already have a spot, chances are you’re going to be out of luck.
Dave Stoever, a Park Ranger at Gull Point State Park on West Lake Okoboji, tells KUOO news the last available spot at Marble Beach Campground was occupied Thursday evening. That was the last state campground in the lakes area to fill for the Fourth of July holiday period. Stoever says Emerson Bay had already filled on Tuesday; Gull Point was full Wednesday.
Stoever says this is the earliest in recent years the campgrounds have filled in advance of the Fourth of the July.
Stoever adds they’re ready to handle the problems that come with having large crowds in relatively small places. He says most of the problems are alcohol-related, and involve underage drinking. He says that translates to noise problems after the quiet hours take effect at 10:30 p.m.
Stoever says the D-N-R Parks Division will have a full staff of officers on hand throughout the weekend and he says violators of various laws will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
