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Forest city

4 to mason city
Pilot Knob State Park

Pilot Knob State Park is located just a few miles east of today’s
route leaving Forest City, along Pilot Knob Road (340th Street). After
glaciers leveled the prairies of north-central Iowa, the remaining
deposits helped form the hills and valleys that are now Pilot Knob.
Pilot Knob was originally a guide point for pioneers going west in
covered wagons. The state park was dedicated in 1924, and as one
of the oldest units in the state park system continues to draw nature and history enthusiasts. Several
structures within the park were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1934 and are listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, including the observation tower, entrance portals, three
stone bridges and an amphitheater. A climb to the top of the observation tower on Pilot Knob, which
is the second highest point in Iowa at 1,450 feet above sea level, offers beautiful scenic views. The
tower is 30 feet tall, but was supposed to be 40 feet tall. When winter set in the CCC had to stop
construction. Also located within the park is Dead Man’s Lake along the park’s interpretive nature trail.
It is a sphagnum bog, the only one of its kind in the state.

Mason City Downtown
Historic District

While you are spending some time in Mason City, be sure to
take a tour of Mason City’s Downtown Historic District. The dis-
trict includes over 50 buildings from the late 19th to early 20th
century. The district is roughly bounded by N. 46th Street, Geor-
gia Avenue, Washington Avenue, and S. 2nd Street. The historic
district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2005. Perhaps one of the more famous buildings among them
is the Park Inn Hotel. Completed in 1910, the Park Inn is the only
remaining Frank Lloyd Wright hotel with its Prairie School-inspired
architecture and streetscape. During difficult economic times in the
1920s, the inn and adjacent bank were sold and used for other
commercial purposes in 1926. The building continued to be un-
characteristically remodeled, but experienced gradual decline
and was closed in 1976. The inn and bank received a complete
renovation through numerous grants and was returned to its
former glory in 2011. Mason City is also home to its “favorite
son” Meredith Willson. He is best known for the famous musical
The Music Man, in which many of the characters were inspired
by people Willson knew as a child in Mason City.