Jester County Park, near Granger, Iowa, is a fantastic spot for families and friends looking to enjoy the great outdoors. With a mix of tent sites, RV accommodations, and even cabins for those who prefer a little more comfort, there's something for everyone here.

The park is known for its clean facilities, including hot showers and well-maintained restrooms, which visitors appreciate after a day of activities. One camper raved, “Showers are hot every time; it’s a wonderful place to be.” You’ll find plenty of green space, picnic tables, and fire rings to gather around in the evenings, making it easy to unwind and share stories.

For those who love adventure, Jester County Park offers a variety of activities right on site. You can explore hiking trails, check out the nature center with bison and elk, or even try your hand at archery and airsoft. As one reviewer noted, the campground has “amazing views” and is perfect for outdoor fun year-round.

If you’re looking for a peaceful retreat with plenty to do, Jester County Park is a solid choice. Whether you’re camping for a weekend or a longer stay, you’ll find a welcoming atmosphere and a range of activities to keep everyone entertained.

Jester County Park

Granger, IA is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. There are tons of hikes and other fun activities to partake in, as well as sights to see and explore. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.

Granger

The Best Camping Near Granger, Iowa

Had a great time with a group of volunteers. The view at campsite 4 was great overlooking Saylorville Lake. Great for families.

 National Trails Day

Pretty nice park during the week, on weekends it is way too crowded

Bison

Lots of different camp sites. Large park with great hiking trails and fishing.

Great park

So quiet and peaceful down by the water. Beautiful scenery, great playground, friendly atmosphere.

Quiet and Peaceful

As a kid our boy scout troop always came and camped at Jester Park for our troop campouts. A lot has changed since then. The County has invested a lot of resources into this park making it a great place to stay when enjoying the fun at Saylorville Lake. The facilities are modern and clean and there is some real pride at this park. I highly recommend it.

Jester Park is clean and quiet

I've been here several times! It's a HUGE park and so many hiking trails! They have a fun kids exploration area along with a viewing area with elk and Buffalo. Nearby there's a brand new mini golf course along with a full golf course. Definitely worth a stop! 

Great park! 

Great campsite for a night or the weekend. We camped in one of the sites nearest the water with no amenities. Not crowded with easy access to each site!

Simple and comfortable!

The campgrounds are clean and quiet. Currently some camping spots are out of use due to flooding, but they are working on clean up

A campground within a county park.  Great park with lots things to do and s

Jester Park is our go-to camping destination in central Iowa! By far, this county park has a lot of fun activities and access points to the Saylorville waterway circuit. In addition to the water access ways, there is a sweet pond to fish in, several hiking trails, a brand new (opened August 2018) Nature Center, amphitheater, bison and bird viewing, and even cabins if you want to rent them (fully stocked, linens included!).

Our favorite spot to camp is 410 and 409\. It's a secluded area within the 400s that is lined with trees on one side and a drop off into the Saylorville water circuit on the other (see photos). For $15/night/camping spot, you can enjoy the best view of stars and amazing sunsets. We go a couple times a year to camp and Jester has even been the place where we hold special events like birthdays/going away parties.

Best Camping in Central Iowa

Beautiful views from our campsite. No electricity in this part of the campground, but that also made it less crowded. Definitely coming back 👍

Great views from the tent spots

Great park with many different activities available!

Awesome park!

Good fishing nice open areas and trails to explore. Lots of cool kid activities. Buffalo ranch near by which is cool as well as Pingora outdoor supply store near by where you can purchase firewood and other camp supplies.

Fun easy spot near salorville mouth

Took my new to me PUP on her maiden voyage to Jester Park in July with my two kids, best friend and her daughter. We BARELY made it, pulling in on a Thursday around 4, and snagged one of 2 spots left! We were lucky enough to get a corner lot with some good shade trees. 
Staff was friendly, bathrooms were SUPER clean and campground was very quiet! 
The downfall is that raccoons in the park have 0 fear of humans, and I had an unknown hole in the wheel well cover... OF COURSE right into the cabinet where I kept the dog food. After a grand total of 3 hours sleep trying to figure out what on earth these critters were SO FASCINATED with at our site, we patched the hole with duct tape, the cabinet with duct tape and used a broom for security at 4am. (Yep, they got right in to my camper but no harm came to the sleeping kids, the snoring dog, the gang of 4 raccoons or the two adults unless you consider a severe lack of sleep to be harmful!) 
There's a lot to do at Jester Park including a natural playscape and plenty of beaches nearby. 
Would 100% stay again with a reservation and a solid raccoon proof plan! 

Just Made It!

Stayed at this campground for 3 nights while visiting Des Moines.  We stayed in Loop 1- site 138 because we wanted electrical.  The electrical box has 2 standard household plugs which is nice.  This loop was mostly RVs due to the electrical hook ups.  There aren't really trees between the sites, but it is in a wooded area which is nice and there is some space between the sites so you don't feel like you are right on top of the other people.  Generally, people were pretty quiet, especially once it got dark.  Each site as a gravel drive and then open gravel area with a picnic table and fire pit with grill grate.  Plenty of room for camp chairs and other furniture you may want to set up.  There is a grassy area all around the gravel with plenty of room for multiple tents.  2 bath/shower houses within a short walk from the site- they were both clean and solid to use.  There are some short trails within the park which are generally well marked, but just 1 trail is longer than about 1/2 a mile.  Didn't check it out, but there is also a large lake.  Lots of picnic areas throughout the park.  There's also a volleyball court and free lending library near one of the bathhouses.  Overall, I'd recommend this campground as long as you don't mind seeing your neighbors.  Quick drive into Des Moines too.

Solid campground

Nice fall colors!!

This site was great, it has a reserve site to its right, (the people never showed up) and a FCFS site to the left. No one showed up there either and it was Father’s Day weekend! Super quiet and relaxing. Each site towards the front of the 400’s is BIG. You have plenty of room for 2 vehicles and two sizable tents. There was four of us and a dog. 

A couple minor complaints that I developed would be that it is right next to the golf course so there is a lot of near by traffic, and people like to cruise on motorcycles and drive muscle cars through the twisty roads. The nice bathroom in the #300s camping area is a bit of a walk BUT has showers and really clean toilets. Some of the cleanest I’ve seen at a campground in Iowa. DO NOT USE THE “TOILETS” in the #400s area, they are dirty and basically a hole in the ground. 


Another downside is that things are pretty spread out, and with it being pretty hot out we weren’t able to walk miles to get to the different trails at the park. The short trails we did walk on were nice and up kept though. 

Jester park is great for a weekend with friends and testing new camping gear

We just spent 12 days on site 137 in Jester Park. It has electric only but a water spigot not far away to fill your fresh water tank.

These were the last 2 weeks of June and there was a lot of turnover throughout the campground. It is obviously a very popular place.

The bathrooms were clean and serviceable and the grounds were always neatly mowed and picked up.

Check out my YouTube Channel " Our Simple Adventures" for some footage!

Shady

Tons of trees, very lush, clean bathhouses.  Fire rings, picnic tables, level gravel sites.

Great campground!

Campground has a lot to offer for families of all types. Parks for the kids, hiking trails, nature center with bison and elk, golf course, mini golf, lake access, fishing and more. The different sites offer different feels. Some down by the water with a view of Saylorville with a lot more sun or others tucked in the trees with a secluded shaded feel. 

Lots to do

A lovely and quiet campground. The huge drawback is the water quality of Saylorville lake. It is toxic— blue algae from farm runoff. Not safe for man or beast. 

Jester campground

Great park. Nice sites, plenty of green space, clean.

Highly recommend 

We love Jester its been our home away from home all summer. We often spend 2 weeks at a time. They have nice clean restrooms and a large playground for the kids. They have the elk and Bison to learn from too overall a great campground.

Peaceful Iowa campground 

Nice CG located on the North end of Saylorville Reservoir. Camped in the upper CG site#145. Numerous shade trees, gravel pad and room for our 20' trailer and TV. CG has a kids playground, hiking trails, Equestrian Center, golf course and nature center. Plenty to do with the city of Ankeny just 15 minutes away. CG was fairly empty until around Thursday and filled on the weekend. Seniors can get$5 off per day of their reservation. Dump station is at the entrance of the CG. We camped at Jester Park in a Travel Trailer.

Nice, Quiet CG

The campgrounds are great the facilities are amazing they have airsoft ranges or tree ranges snowshoeing cross-country skiing and all 4 each and the campgrounds are between 20 and $25 a night.

A little bit of everything

Campgrounds amazing views airsoft gun and archery ranges snowshoeing equestrians and cross-country skiing

Little bit of everything 

we love it here people are great price is Right Showers are hot every time it a WOnderfull place •to be . 

camping 

went out here with family and had a amtime azing 

outing 

Beautiful campground! Lots of trees and peaceful area. Our spot was pretty level and well maintained 

Campground #1

We had a great stay here, check in was easy, getting firewood was easy, the bathhouses were so clean and nice, hiking and views were amazing! The only thing we had an issue with was a camp site of noisy people, which was not the parks fault! 

Loved our stay here

Iowa county parks are amazing. 
They pour money into them and it really shows. Clean, I mean immaculate. 
Nature/Conservancy center there is just next level. 
They advertise Elk and Bison which are smart enough to stay far away from humans, as it should be. 
Camp host was top notch, neighbors fantastic, quiet and respectful.
Only spent two days there but could make it a two week vacation and never get tired of it. 
Okay, let's address the dump station, I've never been to one so thought out and efficient. Weird favorite thing but if you know you know

Photos of Jester County Park

Real photos from real campers