Maquoketa Caves State Park Campground

Following up on my review from over a year ago, I’m adding a bunch of additional reflections and tips as well as an abbreviated post pointing out the HIGHS and LOWS of this camp loop near the remarkable cave system of Maquoketa Caves State Park, Iowa.

HIGHLIGHTS: (1) The campground is nestled under a dense canopy of tall trees, offering shade, peace and a deep-woods feel rarely found so close to a major trail and cave network; (2) It’s just a short walk from the trailhead of the park’s famed 13-cave system, making it ideal for early morning spelunkers or families wanting adventure without long drives; (3) Campsites are reasonably spacious and include essential hookups with 24 of the roughly 28 sites featuring 20 / 30 / 50-amp electric and many are well separated from neighbors; (4) The modern bathhouse and showers are clean and appreciated, especially after muddy hikes through the caves; (5) Wildlife and geology lovers will be delighted, where you can expect to see deer, turkey, and perhaps even a bat fluttering near dusk, with cave formations and hiking trails that are genuinely outstanding; and (6) The campground here really is one of the best I’ve ever come across, where it is nicely tucked away AFTER you pass by the tourist trappings that these bat caves produce, but what you will enjoy most is the serenity of the place, watching as the thick mist lifts from the campground area as the sun rises higher during the day giving off a very cool vibe to this place.

LOWLIGHTS: (1) Some of the access roads and pads are packed sand and gravel rather than smooth pavement, which can challenge level setup for larger rigs after rain; (2) Trail signage can be minimal and navigating the caves may get confusing without a good flashlight or headlamp; (3) Although the hookups exist, this campground is still basic compared to full-service resorts (which, TBH is why I love it here so much), so no big clubhouse or elaborate amenities; (4) Sites closer to the entrance (like #1-#3 or #27-#28) can register more traffic and less tranquility than those deeper in the loop; and (5) Bee and mosquito activity near the creek and cave edges can pick up at dusk in the summer, so a bit of bug protection goes a long way.

Happy Camping!

Hand’s down, this is one of Iowa’s best state parks, so if you’ve never made your way here to Maquoketa Caves SP, you need to start making your plans. And if you are coming with a large group of kiddos, Maquoketa SP has you covered with not one 1, but 3 individual large group sized campsites with each accompanied by its own duo split restroom albeit basic with a simple, but very clean privy. You’ll access all three of these youth camping sites by taking your second left after accessing the SP turning left on 98 Street after passing the Maquoketa SP Visitor Center. Each site is completely shrouded by tall grasses providing some solid privacy as you stare up at an unobstructed view of a perfect star-filled night sky. Each site has its own designated firepit accompanied by several picnic tables and chopped logs, which serve as extra seating.

Beyond this, there’s no additional amenities, however there are more than 6 miles of hiking trails that await your ‘spazierengehen’ pleasure as well as pretty close access to Raccoon Creek, which is not big enough to do anything that includes oars (but at least you’ll have a good view of a trickling stream). Apart from the youth campground itself, there’s 13 bat caves to explore and scattered throughout the SP, you’ll find plenty of shelters with picnic tables featuring an assortment of both in-ground and stand-up BBQ grills. There’s a very good children’s playground near the only other campground here at Maquoketa SP, and it’s just a short hike up the hill past the bat cave entrance– about ¾ mile hike from the youth campground.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) While there’s not much in the way of decent, deep waterways at this SP to explore, if you head due east, check out 6B’s Campground, which on its lower level you’l discover has direct access to the Maquoketa River, which is definitely worth your oar paddling effort, but do yourself a favor and reach out to 6B’s before paying a visit; (2) In the event that you grow weary of trying to conjure up your next meal from the depths of your Cordova roto-molded cooler and you want to check out some local fare, trust me, there’s not much in these parts, although there is a small hidden-in-the-weeds joint called Bluff Lake Catfish Farm that not only serves up some amazing Midwest comfort food (fried catfish, cole slaw, fried shrimp, sirloin, fried chicken, prime rib, fried haddock), but the food shack sits in front of a lake complete with ducks who will eat your leftovers right out of your hand; and (3) If you’ve never gone spelunking before – and trust me, if you come here to Maquoketa SP, you’re going to want to – then make sure you bring the right gear: headlamp, good sturdy hiking boots, pants to keep the bugs, spiders and ticks away as well as plenty of water to stay hydrated.

Happy Camping!

This Iowa SP campground is simply AMAZING and if you are a bat cave spelunker, you are going to be absolutely excited by this place, if you don’t know it already. For the rest of us outdoor enthusiasts who are simply looking for a great campground, then you’ve also struck the campground lottery, but if you are interested in staying here, I would STRONGLY encourage you to mind your dates taking note of when bat hibernation ends and begins – for what it’s worth, my brother and I drove all the way here only to find out that hibernation began the day of our arrival. That said, we could still hike all of the amazing trails, but couldn’t access the bat caves.

The campground that resides here, is less than a quarter mile away from the access point to the bat caves, creating huge upside for selecting this campground in the first place. A heavily wooded area encompasses every single site (there’s 28 in total w/ 24 offering 20 / 30 / 50 amp electric) providing a substantial amount of shade, will also allowing decent sunlight as well along a slowly winding lone lane that leads one into this shrouded camping haven. While the spots (#12-#16) towards the end of the lane are more earmarked for mi tent pitchin’ bredren, whereas the rest of the sites (#1-#11; #17-#28) are set-up for the RV and 5th Wheel toting crowd (although you could easily set up a tent on any one of these sites should you choose to).

A couple of points to keep in mind– the entrance to the campground is the busiest, so if this is of concern, steer clear of #1-#3 or #27-#28. Second, if you have kids and want to be planted near the playground, you might want to target sites #26-#28, where the spacious kids playground sets right behind these sites. In the event that being nearest the built-in amenities (restroom, shower, water source, community library, trash, firewood) are important to you, then look at sites #5-7 and #23-26. With this in mind, as you meander further down the lone campground loop lane, the quieter and more sheltered the place gets, so from #6-#24 should be a prime target for you if peace & solitude are important to you. Despite all of the advice I’ve just given, I don’t think you can really go wrong with any site here.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you’re looking for a primitive tent camping experience, then you’re going to want to book sites #12 and #13, which set a bit further back for the cul-de-sac end of the lane offering up more privacy and less noise from the rest of the camping commune; (2) All sites designated for RV’s are back-in and range in driveway length between 31 and 68 feet; (3) The campground itself is closed between December 1 thru February 28 each year; (4) This SP offers up more than 370 acres with 6 miles of hiking trails with 13 distinct bat caves to explore, so bring good hiking shoes, headlamps, proper long sleeve shirts and pants to keep the bugs and ticks away, which abound here aplenty; and (5) There’s plenty of picnic tables, most under shelters as well as scattered stand-up and in-ground BBQ grills all offered up on a first-come, first-served basis.

Happy Camping!

General: Very popular state park with a small, 30-site campground (five walk-in tent sites and the rest electric). I read somewhere that the campground was recently upgraded, and I did see some evidence of upgrades. We were dismayed when we arrived at 3 pm on a Sunday to find the place packed with day-use visitors. The campground provided a quieter respite and when we returned after dinner (around 7 pm) to explore the caves, most everyone had gone home! The good news is that likely due to the bats, there were no gnats or mosquitos but there were many annoying flies! 

Site Quality: Gravel pads that all appeared to be level. Although not exceptionally long, we did see quite a few big rigs fit into the spaces. The campground is wooded and there is some separation between sites, but you could still see (and hear) your neighbors. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring with a grill. 

Bathhouse: This did not appear to be part of the campground upgrades. The handicapped stall was closed and because the cave trails were muddy, there was a lot of mud tracked into the bathroom (not the fault of the park). Apparently, people have taken their pets into the showers because there was a sign letting people know they could not do this! 

Activities/Amenities: Explore the caves! Some require spelunking but others have stairs and/or walkways for easy exploration. I had read on the All Trails app that the trail system was confusing and easy to get lost on, but I did not find this to be the case when we were there. There was good signage and if you pick up a map (there were plenty at the entrance to the campground), you should not get lost. There was a naturalist station with several activities that would be good for families. At night, the fireflies are abundant and put on a great show! 

Maquoketa Caves has long been on my list to visit and I’m glad we finally made it!

This is one of our favorite parks in the Midwest. We usually make a day trip from Chicagoland, but this time we camped at the park. We are glad we did!

You really can't go wrong with any trail or cave. The kids enjoyed hiking between Lower- and Upper-Dancehall Caves. The trail goes underground and through some water. Window Cave was also a hit. You can climb up about 5-7 feet and out the "window". The kids felt like real spelunkers!

While the park is usually crowded during the day, we find it nearly empty beginning in the late afternoons on the weekdays we visited. It felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The campground is about a five minute walk to the park's main entrances. The campground was very quiet... just the way we like it. There is a family of cats that hang around: they visit from a nearby dairy farm. The kids loved this added attraction. The dog did not.

The bathroom and shower house is clean. There is only one. So it gets pretty busy during "flush hour". Our campsite was right next to the bathroom/ shower and dumpster. We noticed flies and the occasional whiff of trash.

We'll continue visiting this park. And we look forward to camping on site.

Maquoketa Cave State Park , Maquoketo, Iowa

We stopped here for two days on our “Westward Ho” road trip in mid August 2020. Temperatures 80’s in the day to 60’s overnight.

I am not highly familiar with Iowa, I will admit however I AM extremely amazed at this little unique Park in the middle of farmland Iowa. Most of the trip here was driving between fields of corn as far as the eye could see (we came through Illinois).

The town of the same first name is small but the necessities can be had. Found a small shop with local meat, honey and yummies. The drive to the park was pretty straight forward with signage along the way.

This is a very basic park, no lake, no added attractions just trails , picnicking and a small , quiet (well.... I had a family directly across with very talkative, argumentative, sometimes loud children, ...luck of the draw ;) and well shaded, electric sites. I like the spacing, privacy and shade. There are several water hydrants throughout the campground to use. A shower house that I will be visiting soon. Firewood on site, with donation box.

You probably don’t want sites 1 or 2, they are directly across from the dump site. The plus is they are directly across from the playground , picnic area and trail access.

Trail access is a short walk across the shelter/ picnic area. As of right now Officially the caves are closed. I saw several hikers not being official though.

The trails have sign posts and the map in a VERY general way gives you some idea as to where you are at BUT there are trails criss crossing everywhere so make sure you have your map tracker on. The trails/scenery are AMAZING! LOVED IT! Needs some maintenance (ie, downed trees) but they may have limited staffing right now. I would suggest a visit even if you only have a few hours. Once they reopen the caves I will absolutely be back.

The campground here was quiet during the week and small in general which we like! There are a few walk-in sites that are accessible by walking down a path about 150-200 ft. Wish it had been a little farther back away from the parking lot and other sites but i think we always wish that. Decent privacy with only a few other campsites back in that same area of wood so that was nice.

The caves were unexpectedly super cool! Neither my husband nor I had ever gone. We weren’t expecting much but wow! Lots to see in a small area. The hike didn’t take too long around and many of the caves were closed (probably due to COVID) but we kindve stuck our heads halfway in and WOw. We want to come back when they’re are more opened. I bet it’s super busy on weekends. Probably would avoid that. There was other hiking to do away from the caves but we didn’t venture too far as it was quite hot and we were running low on water. There’s a little stream that runs kindve out into the prairie lands on one side and we stopped to stick our feet in. Highly recommend that.

Over all, lovely few days out in the woods. We would visit again!

We stopped here for two days on our “Westward Ho” road trip in mid August 2020. Temperatures 80’s in the day to 60’s overnight.

I am not highly familiar with Iowa, I will admit however I AM extremely amazed at this little unique Park in the middle of farmland Iowa. Most of the trip here was driving between fields of corn as far as the eye could see (we came through Illinois).

The town of the same first name is small but the necessities can be had. Found a small shop with local meat, honey and yummies. The drive to the park was pretty straight forward with signage along the way.

This is a very basic park, no lake, no added attractions just trails , picnicking and a small , quiet (well.... I had a family directly across with very talkative, argumentative, sometimes loud children, ...luck of the draw ;) and well shaded, electric sites. I like the spacing, privacy and shade. There are several water hydrants throughout the campground to use. A shower house that I will be visiting soon. Firewood on site, with donation box.

You probably don’t want sites 1 or 2, they are directly across from the dump site. The plus is they are directly across from the playground , picnic area and trail access.

Trail access is a short walk across the shelter/ picnic area. As of right now Officially the caves are closed. I saw several hikers not being official though.

The trails have sign posts and the map in a VERY general way gives you some idea as to where you are at BUT there are trails criss crossing everywhere so make sure you have your map tracker on. The trails/scenery are AMAZING! LOVED IT! Needs some maintenance (ie, downed trees) but they may have limited staffing right now. I would suggest a visit even if you only have a few hours. Once they reopen the caves I will absolutely be back.

Maquoketa Caves is a must visit destination for camping! There are several factors to take into consideration when planning a trip here; due to concerns for wildlife (primarily bats) the caves close frequently, check the park website for details about when they will be open and respect the closures when they occur. In addition, be sure to clean your shoes before and after visiting the park to prevent spreading potentially dangerous fungus to the caves. Overall, the cave network is stunning and a great place for group camping! There are caves for everyone, whether you're claustrophobic and don't want to be in tight spaces or you're willing you army crawl for 1/4 mile. The rangers in the campground can be strict and will mandate that you have only one "camping unit" per site, aka tent, even though the website says sites can hold up to six people. They do check on sites regularly so trying to sneak extra people in isn't a great idea. Even with the cave closures and the strict rules for camping I still go every year, hope to see you there!