Lake View Recreation Area (Saylorville)

Lake View Recreation Area is a day-use facility located on the 26,000-acre Saylorville Lake Project, which stretches over 50 miles up the Des Moines River Valley. The lake provides a wide variety of recreational activities, including boating, swimming, fishing, hiking and hunting. This day-use area contains a picnic shelter that can accommodate up to 50 people. Amenities include water and electricity, a public bathroom with flushing toilets, a boat ramp and access to hiking and biking trails. The attached restroom is available for the general public. Visitors come to Saylorville Lake for its great boating, sailing, water skiing, windsurfing and swimming opportunities. Anglers fish for walleye, wiper, largemouth bass, catfish, crappie and northern pike. The paved Neal Smith Trail, on the east side of the lake, winds 24 miles from Des Moines to Big Creek State Park; designated a National Recreation Trail, it is used for biking, hiking, jogging, walking and in-line skating. The Lake View shelter is situated on a ridge overlooking the west side of the lake. Dense timber stands surround the recreation area, but shade is limited within the site. Wildlife is abundant throughout the project — white-tailed deer, turkeys, pheasants, waterfowl and other small game animals roam the lands around the lake.