Seven Oaks Recreation

We did the river floating on tubes. The staff was so nice and helpful. They explained everything thoroughly and even told us some cool things to look out for like a train on the train bridge. The first 3 hours were awesome and we had a blast.
Then, there was a freak thunderstorm that crept up on us. The staff was still so great, though. We were so worried about getting out of the water before the storm hit, especially when lightning struck within a few hundred feet. We started swimming and made it close to the pick up point where we saw a staff member flagging us down. He helped us carry all of our stuff and get to safety.
We will definitely be checking out Seven Oaks for any future adventures! They’ve got cool events year round!

I have been leaning to snowboard here and so far it’s been pretty great (especially student discounts at night). Definitely too small for anyone better than average. I especially love that I can come in and have an old main beer when I’m beat.
Although this is listed as a ski resort, the tubing/​camping/​canoeing is pretty fun too. Maybe a bit pricey for what you get though.
Final say: decent

Considering that the local area of central iowa is predominantly pretty FLAT, I’d have to say that Seven Oaks is actually a pretty great place to fulfill the itches for hitting the slopes.
The staff is really friendly, the runs are actually decent and very family friendly.
The cost for a half day (330pm — 9pm… cant remember if they stayed open later when I went)…was only $ 35 for lift + rental.
Obviously the more avid skiers and boarders would probably venture outside of Iowa to find more challenging runs.