Arnolds Park, Iowa
7 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1985. It stands in Center Grove Township. It lies in ZIP code area 51331. The Survey maps it on the Spirit Lake SE quadrangle. 1,110 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,424 feet above sea level.
On record in Arnolds Park
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 2 records
Pillsbury Point State Parklisted 1993
Spirit Lake Massacre Log Cabinlisted 1973
Population over time
2 figuresArnolds Park fell from 1,126 to 1,110 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,126 | |
| 2020 | 1,110 | -16 (-1%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 7 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Fairmont quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Spirit Lake SE quadrangle1:24000
- 1985 USGS Iowa Great Lakes quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
30 since 2006Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Arnolds Park between 2006 and 2017, burning about 598 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 24 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2006 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Iowa Wetland Management District | BLOOPER |
| 31 July 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 27 June 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 9 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 25271 182ND ST., CENTER GROVE TWP, SPIRIT LAKE, IA |
| 6 April 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | 2305 225TH ST., MILFORD TWP, MILFORD, IA, IA |
| 30 April 2015 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 3 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Iowa Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 24 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 24 workings within 5 miles of Arnolds Park: 17 past producers, 6 producers, 1 unknown. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dickinson County Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Frey Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Herman Wedking | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Leith Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Milford Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Milford Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Rohlin Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Roth Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Unknown | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown |
Storms near this place
23 since 2001Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Arnolds Park in 23 storm reports between 2001 and 2026: 11 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | $150,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree and power line damage, with resulting power outages. The tree damage included several large trees blown down. Power poles and light poles were also blown down. Some vehicles and homes sustained damage from falling trees and tree debris. Several rides were damaged at Arnolds Park Amusement Park. Docks, boat hoists, and several boats were damaged along the shore of Lake Okoboji. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines. |
| June 2024 | Flash Flood | Arnolds Park | - | Heavy rainfall during the mid-evening from 2 to 4 inches in a brief time resulted in street flooding in numerous locations from near Spirit Lake to Milford. One car stalled in high water on U.S. Highway 71 in Arnolds Park. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for areal and river flooding for Dickinson County. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | Thunderstorm winds downed a large 100-year-old tree, and removed gutters from a house. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | Large tents destroyed by Arnolds Park Amusement Park. |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Arnolds Park | - | Rainfall from 3 to 6 inches in a couple hours brought a rapid onset to flash flooding around the Iowa Great Lakes. Significant street flooding began in Arnolds Park, with water flowing across and blocking Highway 71 at 1633CST. |
| June 2018 | Flash Flood | Arnolds Park | - | Life threatening flooding was underway with a car completely submerged on Highway 71 due to rapidly rising water. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including an 8 inch diameter limb blown down onto a road. |
| June 2016 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | Nickel size hail was accompanied by damaging gusts. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage. The winds were accompanied by nickel size hail. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Arnolds Park | - | Heavy rain flooded roads, including three feet of water covering U.S. Highway 71. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2024 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2023 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2019 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2018 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2016 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| July 2009 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| April 2001 | Hail | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Arnolds Park | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crows Nest Resort | 0.0 miles | 7 | |
| Village East Resort | 1.0 miles | 8 | |
| Okoboji | 1.6 miles | 8 | |
| West Okoboji | 2.4 miles | 8 | |
| Crescent Beach Resort | 2.5 miles | 8 | |
| Wahpeton | 2.6 miles | 8 | |
| Manhattan Beach Resort | 2.6 miles | 8 | |
| Egralharve | 3.3 miles | 8 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Arnolds Park | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q766339 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 454240. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.



