Entry No. 40 — the Des Moines file — filed under: stone-tower
Clark Tower
Clark Tower is a genuine 25-foot limestone castle-tower built in 1926, reached by a one-way, one-lane gravel road winding a mile through Winterset City Park — you climb the spiral exterior steps and a steep interior metal staircase to a rooftop overlook above the Middle River Valley that most park visitors never find. It survived a direct hit from an EF4 tornado in March 2022, which somehow makes it even more dramatic.
The move: Drive the narrow one-way gravel road into the park at golden hour, hike or park and walk the final stretch to the tower, then climb the winding stone steps and the steep metal ladder to stand on top together for a hidden valley panorama — bring a blanket to spread on the grass below afterward and watch the light fade over the limestone bluffs.
📍 Before you go The tower sits about a mile inside Winterset City Park, at the end of a narrow, one-way, one-lane gravel road that twists through the woods — fine for a normal car but not for RVs or trailers, so take it slow. Access is seasonal: the road is generally open spring through fall and closed in winter, and it closes nightly around sunset, so golden hour is your window, not after dark. There's no admission and no reservations; it's a public park, so just be patient with oncoming cars on the single lane. While you're in the park, pair it with the Cutler-Donahoe covered bridge nearby, and Winterset itself adds John Wayne's birthplace and more of Madison County's famous bridges.
- 📍 Winterset
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 2278 Clark Tower Rd, Winterset, IA 50273 (Winterset City Park, ~1 mile in on the one-way gravel road)
Hours: Mined 2026-06-07 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: exploremadisoncounty.com · Wikipedia · Yelp · Roadside America
last checked: 2026-06-07