Diamondhead Lake, IA

Diamondhead Lake is a census-designated place in Penn Township, Guthrie County, centered on a residential community around an artificial 186-acre lake. The lake lies just south of the South Raccoon River, about four miles northwest of Dexter, six miles northeast of Stuart, and 38 miles west of Des Moines. The 2020 census counted 371 residents. Water, roads, and lakefront homes make the physical arrangement easy to read: the community is organized around the reservoir instead of a traditional town center.

Long Branch Maintenance Corporation represents lake members and oversees maintenance, while a Rural Improvement Zone manages watershed and water-quality work through an elected five-member board. Current community operations include lake-level monitoring, sanitary-district coordination, building and zoning review, dock projects, and maintenance of the lake grounds. West Central Valley schools in Dexter, Stuart, and Redfield serve the surrounding area. Diamondhead Lake is an Iowa residential CDP whose everyday structure depends on the lake, the organizations that maintain it, and the nearby school communities.