Restaurant Popular Among Visitors to Viking Lake

The restaurant and concession building at Viking Lake State Park is open for the season, providing campers with a unique service found nowhere else in the state park system.

The full-scale sit down restaurant offers steaks, chicken, and fish as well as burgers and fries. The building shares space with a concession that offers bait and tackle, boat rental, items for camping, firewood, hunting and fishing licenses and soft serve ice cream. The building was re-opened on April 15, 2008 after a fire destroyed it in July 2006.
"It's pretty popular," said Todd Carrick, park ranger at Viking Lake, who is busy getting the just-as-popular campground ready and the water turned on. Viking Lake is one of the state's busiest campgrounds sitting about 60 miles southeast of Council Bluffs, in Mills County.

"The campers and anglers seem to really enjoy the service the store and restaurant offer," Carrick said. "They can do some shopping, rent a paddleboat or pontoon, or have some ice cream with the kids. It's just a unique service that we are fortunate to have."

The restaurant sits near the beach with a nice view of the lake.

"We like to go to the restaurant when working at Viking Lake," said Bryan Hayes, regional fisheries biologist with the DNR. Viking Lake was renovated during 2006 and restocked in 2007.
Hayes said Viking Lake should offer good fishing for channel catfish and largemouth bass this season. He said bluegill fishing is also good, but the fish may need a little more growing time to pass 7 inches and start being harvested by anglers.

"Things are looking good and should just continue to improve," Hayes said.