Oh, the places to go in Iowa
Posted on April 23, 2026 at 11:02 AM by Achilles Seastrom
In 2020, Iowa’s first state park, Backbone State Park, celebrated its 100th birthday. To mark this milestone, Sally Ortgies and her husband, Tony, set their own ambitious goal: to visit every state park in Iowa.
Sally’s husband began mapping out routes and, over the next year and a half, Sally and Tony hiked, camped and explored their way through 93 state parks and recreation areas.
The project was a true show of love and support for state parks in all their forms, but Sally isn’t new to showing love and support for Iowa’s parks. She dedicated her entire career to West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department, beginning as a landscape architect and eventually serving as the Department’s director.
When Sally retired in 2023, (after launching West Des Moines’s ongoing Five Waters Project) she took some time to rest.
“I sat around and enjoyed a spring sitting on my patio, reading books, and then I started feeling like I needed something to do,” Sally explains. “And I just thought to myself, ‘Oh, loved doing that state park thing. What if I did every county park in Iowa, too?’”
Sally had documented her state park visits under the social media channels @iowaparklady on Facebook and Instagram. One day, Sally filmed and posted an announcement that she was undertaking a new venture to visit all of Iowa’s county parks.
“And then,” Sally says with a grin, “I got to thinking. I have no idea how many county parks there are.”
The answer is over 2,000 (and counting).
That wasn’t going to stop Sally, though. She started with Dallas County and by January of 2026, Sally has visited 552 county parks and visited all parks in 37 counties.
Along the way, nearly 3,000 followers on Facebook and almost 1,000 on Instagram have joined Sally for her adventures. She shares photos and writes captions that tell stories about her outings, shares the history of Iowa’s parks and describes the unique natural resources and landscape of every park.
Sally says the posts give her a place to present her photography and writing hobbies and serves as a diary of her experiences. They’re also an extension of her role at the West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department. She’s still acting as a public servant, a role Sally feels she was destined to fill, and connecting Iowans with their public parks.
“It’s creating awareness about these special places in Iowa,” Ortgies explains, “because you can’t imagine the number of people that I hear from who say, ‘I live in that county, and I never knew that that was there!’”
Another part of Sally’s public service is supporting and bringing together her Iowa communities. In 2025, Sally partnered with local West Des Moines screen printing shop The Side Garage to make an Iowa Park Lady t-shirt.
“I thought it would be fun,” Sally admitted, laughing.
But Sally also said it was never her goal to make money from her Iowa Park Lady ventures so, after the t-shirt campaign ended, Sally directed proceeds to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation. Once again proving herself dedicated to public service, Sally made her donation so that new parks, trails and wildlife areas can support Iowa’s diverse communities.
There’s still time to follow Sally on her journey. With 552 parks over the last two years, Sally’s adventure still won’t end for at least another 1,500 parks. Sally’s insightful captions, creativity and zest for exploration might even inspire you to find a park in your county you never knew existed.
Categories: Blog Posts
