Someone tagged me a link on Facebook about castles in the US. I saw that there was one in Iowa near the Covered Bridges of Madison County and I was like we need to go. Castles, Covered Bridges, World's Largest Anything, Baseball landmarks, and geographical markers all rate up there as must stop. Maye it goes back to my first trip to Germany where we saw another castle on the Rhine. I love old castles and if they are not museum-isque even better.
The Clark Castle, which in my opinion is no where close to being a castle, is located in Winterset City Park. It is also known as the Clark Tower because it is really a castle tower. It was built to honor pioneers of Madison County, Caleb and Ruth Clark.
To reach the Clark Castle, you follow a windy single lane road through the park. Visit Cutler-Donahoe Covered Bridge, also located in the park, on the way to the tower. You can continue to follow the road to get out of the park.
Most castles include several towers. This is literally just the tower. It is a three story tower that you can actually climb. The climb to the second story is a up stone spiral staircase. It is too bad. The hubby can handle it.
The climb to the top of the tower is small, steep metal staircase that wasn't too bad going up but trying to maneuver to go down was a bit tricky especially since I don't like going down anything backwards unless I have to.
You do get spectacular views from the top of the tower. I read that sunset and sunrise are great times to climb the tower for the best views.
It was a nice quick stop while in Winterset, a bit overlooked but well worth it. If you are checking out the covered bridges of Madison County, you might as well check out the Clark Castle as well even if it to say you were in a castle in Iowa.
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