Yes, You Really Can Sleep In a Yurt Overlooking Iowa Lakes
If you enjoy camping, there's an option you should put on your list for a potential weekend thing to do in Iowa. It's a state park that has yurt cabins and you really can stay in them overnight and wake up to a dreamy Iowa lake in the morning.
Kudos to Only In Your State for this reminder. Their article mentioned the yurts you can rent in Pammel Park. But, they're not the only option for yurt camping in Iowa. There are yurt cabins near Clear Lake, too.
If you're wondering "what's a yurt?", I can help you with that. Wikipedia explains it pretty well:
A traditional yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger (Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes of Central Asia. The structure consists of an angled assembly or latticework of wood or bamboo for walls, a door frame, ribs (poles, rafters), and a wheel (crown, compression ring) possibly steam-bent
The Madison County Conservation Board offers the Pammel Park yurts for $70 per night. The Clear Lake yurts are only about an hour and a half drive from Waterloo to the west of Mason City.
Iowa State Parks offers the Clear Lake yurt cabins through their website. Availability tends to fluctuate depending on when you want to go, but expect summer to be tricky on reserving one of these beauties. Based on the date range given, it looks like reservations are possible now through September 14.
As of right now, there were many open dates available, but I would have to believe that will change quickly. Those that stay overnight in a yurt seem to love the experience.
Would you be up for a night in a yurt? There's a reason why this is a very popular option if you can get one reserved in time.