A vintage car tour of Iowa’s state park system that was meant to occur during its centennial last year has now hit the road with a stop at Lake Darling State Park as a part of the All State Park Tour this Thursday.

Former director of Iowa state parks Kevin Szcodronski proposed and organized the tour which is led by an original 1930 Ford Model A. He explains how automobiles relate to the state parks’ origins, “It’s where it all began with this vintage car visiting those parks. And from there it just grew because it wasn’t long before they figured out that, ‘Oh,you need roads in parks.’ ‘Oh they’re stopping for picnics so maybe we need picnic areas.’ Then, ‘Oh, some people even want to stay the night,’ so campgrounds evolved. So that’s kind of my idea to begin with is to use the car for history. And everybody likes to see vintage cars, it seems like it brings a smile to their face. So I’m kind of just using the car as a mascot, if you will, to bring interest to state parks.”

Szcodronski says after a year of waiting he is anxious and excited to be doing the tour. All residents and vehicles are challenged to drive behind the Model A at its cruising speed of 40 miles per hour. Those interested can meet up with the tour at 9:30 a.m. in Brighton near Federation Bank. The tour will depart Brighton in time to arrive at Lake Darling State Park by 10 a.m. to do a windshield tour of the park and listen to a short presentation in the lodge by park staff. The Friends of Lake Darling will serve light refreshments. Three tour loops with 36 state parks are being accomplished this month, with the remaining four loops and 58 stops set for sometime in 2022.