Ribbon Cutting at Big Hollow on Sept 9

Much has changed at Big Hollow Recreation Area this year and Des Moines County Conservation is hosting a ribbon cuttting with the Greater Burlington Partnership to celebrate. The event will take place at noon on Monday, September 9 at the new campsites just west of the main RV campground. 

The 800-acre county conservation park a few miles west of Sperry, IA is the department's keystone park featuring a 178-acre lake with a beach, fishing piers, boat access and much more. This year, the department completed nearly $400,000 worth of improvements to the park, almost all of which were paid for with grants and donations. Improvements completed this year include:

• 18 new electric-only campsites in the wooded area west of the existing RV campground. Five of the sites are arranged in a circle for group camping, six of the sites make up three double-occupancy "buddy sites" with the rest being single occupancy sites. 
• Paved walkways around all three sides of the beach and extending out into the swim area. These walkways are connected to paved parking at the top of the hill by an ADA-compliant walking path. 
• Paved walkway on the fishing jetty below the RV campground, with a paved connecting path to the kayak launch dock.
• Three paved full-hookup RV sites in the original RV campground.
• Two new sediment ponds, one on either side of the primitive campground west of the RV sites. These ponds are built as part of the lake's water quality improvement plan to capture sediment and runoff that was reaching the main lake.

The demand for campsites and outdoor recreation has increased since 2020, often exceeding capacity at Big Hollow, one of the region's most popular camping destinations. As such, new campsites, water quality improvements, and ADA improvements were all identified as priorities in a park master plan developed in 2021. Community members, businesses, and local organizations soon began contributing to the vision and with those funds, Des Moines County Conservation was able to leverage a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for the campground and ADA improvements and a state fish habitat grant for the sediment ponds. 

"None of this would have been possible without the support of the community," said Chris Lee, Executive Director at Des Moines County Conservation. "I'm proud of what's been accomplished here, but the credit belongs to the people in this community who shared our vision of a park that will impact generations to come."

The ribbon cutting will be held at the new campground. The address to the park is 11853 152nd Ave., Sperry, IA. Once at the park, follow the signs toward the shooting range. The ribbon cutting will be just west of the main campground. For more information, contact Chris Lee at 319-572-1564 or via email at leec@dmcounty.com.