Chichaqua Bottoms Greenbelt

Drove 6 hours to find out the campground is closed (apparently for all of fall and winter) without any awareness of that being the case online. Now I have to figure out somewhere to go at dinner time with my over-tired toddler and two dogs. Frustrated.

Just a great place to camp if you want quiet, relaxing, nature views! Camp host, Shelly was great and very helpful!! As with everything, the electric sites are $25.00 a night but we’ll worth it. Bathroom/Showers available and potable water at the front gate to load up before setting up camp site…. Also has small dump station at gate for on the way out…

This is a nice campground it has great trails and is in between Altoona Ankeny and Bondurant

Hidden gem just outside of Des Moines!

Pros: -Small park (only about 20 spots) but it’s easy to get a spot without reserving ahead -Site 15 for primitive campers is HUGE. Easily the size of 2-3 sites at other campgrounds. -Very shady campground, beautiful trees all around -Nice, well-marked trails -Plenty to do -Easily the best bathrooms I’ve found while camping (modern) -Gravel pads for electric sites are very large and flat

Cons: -The river was very low and muddy, so water sports like kayaking aren’t an option right now -The park closes at 10:30 so make sure you get back in time -The park is generally well maintained but we also found no fewer than a dozen batteries in our firepit and around our site :( -Some trails have weird unmarked forks that should be marked

The campground was well maintained and very quite. Great place for a quick trip. Unfortunately you can not rent kayaks or canoes at this time due to water levels. Overall a hidden gem I would say!

Next to skunk river oxbows, kayak, no swimming, water stagnant, no fish, about 4ft depth everywhere. Great hiking trails, clean, great camp hosts, ranger. All sites first come. Camp there 2-4 times a year.

But I’ll do my best. This place reminds me of a lazy river. There are electrical and primitive campgrounds. There are also primitive campgrounds out of the main area but close to the road. Most of the camping areas have fire pits and some have tables.

There are plenty of trails to hike and some really nice views of the prairies. You can bring a kayak/canoe to go on the water. There is also some pretty good fishing. Lots of bass and bluegill.

There are bathrooms with showers available and porta-potties in some campgrounds.

Make sure to bring bug spray. Overall it’s a nice place and pretty quiet most of the time.

We've taken our canoe here once and really enjoyed the winding, quite, green waterways. This is a relatively obscure place with little amount of crowds on any weekend. We haven't camped here, but have seen that the tent areas are right next to the water. Super serene with great hiking trails and bird watching!