Rathbun Lake Airport

The closure was primarily due to economic reasons and a shift in land use priorities. As a state-owned facility, the costs of maintenance, operations, and liability for a relatively low-traffic, special-purpose airport were likely deemed too high. The managing entity, likely the Iowa Department of Natural Resources or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, decided to repurpose the valuable lakeside land to better support more popular recreational activities like boating and fishing.

The airport is permanently closed and has been fully repurposed. The physical runway pavement remains but is no longer used for aviation. The site is now part of the South Fork Recreation Area. The northern half of the runway serves as an access road named 'Airstrip Road,' leading to a boat ramp. The southern half of the runway has been converted into a large parking lot for vehicles and boat trailers. All aviation-specific infrastructure, such as markings, lighting, and buildings, has been removed.

Rathbun Lake Airport, which used the FAA identifier I42 (the ICAO code US-11332 is a non-standard database identifier), was a state-owned, public-use airport. It was constructed in the early 1970s following the completion of Rathbun Lake in 1969. The airport featured a single paved north-south runway (18/36) that was approximately 3,000 feet long. Its sole purpose was to support tourism and recreation by providing direct 'fly-in' access for general aviation pilots visiting Rathbun Lake, one of Iowa's largest and most popular recreational areas. This made it a unique facility designed to attract visitors from further away.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Rathbun Lake Airport. The site has been physically and permanently integrated into the park's infrastructure for ground-based recreation. Re-establishing it as an airport would be cost-prohibitive and would require the removal of the current road and parking lot. The region's general aviation needs are served by the nearby Centerville Municipal Airport (KTVK).