Great Western Park

Email Share

Location

Great Western Park is located south of Manning on County Road M66 (just south of the new Manning Regional Healthcare Center).

Address:

31203 Birch Avenue, Manning, IA 51455

Operating Hours & Seasons

P A R K H O U R S

Great Western Park is open year round from 5:00 am - 10:30 pm. All Carroll County Conservation Board parks close at 10:30pm.

All traffic after hours is monitored.

Discover Great Western Park in Manning

Great Western Park is located on the southwestern edge of Manning, IA and is managed by the Carroll County Conservation Board. The original lake was restored and the whole park is continually being developed. The park features a shelter house, modern restrooms and shower house, playground, fishing, walking trails, shooting range, and a campground. The lake is 12 acres and 14 feet deep, equipped with a boat ramp.

H I S T O R Y

One of the oldest and best loved parks Manning has had is G.W.P. It was built and developed by Mr. & Mrs. Johannes Hansen around 1901. There were two connecting ponds which were both great for boating, fishing, & swimming.

The park was home to many attractions including a dance hall, bowling alley, ice skating rink, dinner club and more.

The G.W.P. (formerly known as the Four Corner recreation area), had several owners until the 1980’s when the Carroll County Conservation Board (CCCB) started dreaming about developing a multi-use recreation area that would include a 12-acre lake, campgrounds, shelter, restrooms, trail and picnic areas.

The dream stated to materialize in 1993 when the first parcel of land was purchased from Gerhardt & Billie Voge. The Voge’s assisted the CCCB in every way possible so the park dream could become a reality. Many volunteers from manning took out fences, cleaned up the site and planted trees.

The second parcel of land was purchased in 1995 from the Godiksen family. They were also very supportive of the park concept and worked with the CCCB some five years before private funds were available to make the purchase. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation became a very active player in actually purchasing both properties making the financing available to the CCCB.

The third parcel was purchased by the Manning Community Foundation from Phil Sextro. Other groups donating funds were Carroll & Audubon chapters of Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited and Trees Forever. Funds were granted through the DNR’s wildlife habitat fund & federal funding was received through the wetland reserve program and the CRP. The city of manning & city utilities pledged funds for five years.

We do not take reservations for camping. All CCCB campgrounds are on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you have any questions please check out our campground rules and regulations or contact the Carroll County Conservation Office (M-F 8:00 am – 4:30 pm) at (712) 792-4614 or email office@carrollcountyiowa.org