Stone State Park Campground, near Sioux City, Iowa, offers a rustic camping experience surrounded by nature. With a mix of tent sites, RV accommodations, and cabins, it’s a straightforward place to set up camp and enjoy the great outdoors.

The campground is shaded by large trees, providing a cool retreat from the summer heat. Visitors have noted the peaceful atmosphere, with one camper mentioning, “The night was filled with thousands of lightning bugs.” Basic amenities like picnic tables and fire pits are available, making it easy to enjoy a meal outdoors or roast marshmallows by the fire.

For those eager to explore, the park boasts a network of trails that wind through the wooded landscape. While some trails may be a bit overgrown, they offer a chance to immerse yourself in the local flora and fauna. Just be prepared for limited cell service, so download any maps before you arrive.

The facilities are basic but functional, with showers and pit toilets available. Campers have shared mixed feelings about the cleanliness, but many appreciate the park ranger's presence, who checks in on visitors and provides helpful information. If you're looking for a quiet getaway with a touch of adventure, Stone State Park Campground is worth considering.

Stay overnight in one of three camping cabins or at the park’s campground. Camping cabins contain heating and air conditioning, but do not offer sanitary facilities. The cabins are located near the campground, which contains electric sites, a large youth group campsite and a modern restroom and shower building. One-fourth of the campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis and advance reservations can be made through the online reservation system for Stone State Park. 

Stone State Park is an urban wildlife sanctuary on the edge of Sioux City and the heart of the Loess Hills. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built many of the park’s structures in the 1930s including entrance portals, the Calumet shelter, and a rustic stone lodge. Visitors can explore the natural history of the park by walking its many of miles trails, looking for wildlife and birds, or at the nearby Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
Overnight in one of three camping cabins or at the park’s campground. Camping cabins contain heating and air conditioning, but do not offer sanitary facilities. The cabins are located near the campground, which contains electric sites, a large youth group campsite and a modern restroom and shower building. One-fourth of the campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis and advance reservations can be made through the online reservation system for Stone State Park.

Stone State Park Campground

Looking for the best campgrounds near North Sioux City, SD? North Sioux City is filled with the activities, sights, and experiences to make everyone in your crew a happy camper. Discover great camping spots near North Sioux City, reviewed by campers like you.

North Sioux City

The Best Camping Near North Sioux City, South Dakota

quiet beautiful and easy to get to.
no wifi is the only down

good secluded camp

Sugh a great place to camp! Normally some.grounds seem over crowded in the summer, but not here!

Lots of trails, a little man made lake and a playground in the park for the kids. Beautiful hills and scenery and so quiet! You would never guess that it was right off of the highway, but the campsite itself is nestled away deep into the park itself! A great place to go for a very low price

Beautiful views

$11 for one night in a tent. Was a halfway point to my destination and a last minute thing. Has some cool trails, and the area is nice enough. Bathroom/showers are a mess, but it’s a state park so I didn’t expect much. 

Good enough

This is a large state park in the northwest corner of Iowa, surprisingly wooded considering how close to Sioux City it is located. Touted as a year-round park, there is a large network of trails, some of which can be used as equestrian. HOWEVER, the trails are not labeled and there is no (or very fleeting) cell service so that even after looking at the map (located on a board in the park, not a paper one), I wandered aimlessly around the park getting lost. One of the trailheads requires that you tramp directly through Site 12 to access! I explored this trail for approximately a quarter of a mile, but it became very overgrown and because I was not sure where I was going, I ended up turning around.

  

The campground is divided into three sections

• Sites 1-11 are located on either side of the access road are a bit too close together for our preference and despite the park being so wooded, have no foliage or other visible separation between the sites. These sites all have electric hookups

• Sites 12-14 are at the top of the hill and have the easiest access to the restrooms; they also have electric hookups. In my opinion, Site 14 would be the most desirable. Given that there are only three sites here, there was a surprising number of cars driving past these sites.

• Sites 15-30 are primitive tent sites and located near Cabin#3 (a CCC cabin). 

  

The bathrooms were clean and (don’t laugh at me), the toilets had lids! Given the current virus situation, this was a nice and welcome surprise! 

  

There was no camp host and we only saw one ranger during our stay. There is a nice playground, but it is not located anywhere near the campground (it is located closer to two of the cabins). If you are camping with children, please note this. There are three cabins, one that was built by the CCC and a lodge which also looked to be a CCC product, although it did not appear to be open when we were there.

Small campground in a large state park

Stone State Park, Sioux City, Iowa

End of a not to long day driving across Iowa......corn, lotsa corn! We stopped at Dolliver Memorial State Park for a hike about midday, it looked a bit better taken care of then Stone SP. 

This is basically a small primitive campground with electric added to some sites. Not horrible for an overnight....

First impression.....I considered getting back on the road. The people that I saw in the meager campground looked somewhat homeless. No offense and they do need to stay somewhere however they could also keep their areas decluttered and detrashed. There was a family staying on the far side of the ditch that seemed to be camping. 

There was constant vehicle traffic around the small loop my site was on, they seemed to have no purpose other then to stare. The campground shower house was used by whomever felt like using it which also added to the traffic.

After Maquoketa Cave SP this is a disappointment. The trails were overgrown and the map was not easy to orient. I only explored so far so I may have missed the cool stuff that signifies this park. There was sketchy coverage for your phone so I couldn’t pull up Alltrails, make sure to download before You drive in.

Busy

We stopped here for the night during our road trip. We were not sure we would even get a spot due to the July 4th Holiday. We found a primitive spot that had a fire ring and picnic table. It was very shady however the campsites are super close to each other and unfortunately the spots were quickly filled. The bathroom was so gross and the shower did not spray. It ran down the wall and I had to get really creative with washing my hair. It served its purpose, shoes were definitely left on while in the shower, and I guess I left cleaner then when I went in. 
The park ranger came by to verify our rental slip and was very nice. 
Everyone seemed to respect the 10:00pm quiet time. 

Served its Purpose  

Drive in and it was great. Plenty spots as well as showers…. 


Shade and very green. 

12.00 for camping and 20.00 for fill hook ups. 


Green and shady

Planned to stay for the weekend to test out new tent but storms came through &amp; we left after one night. Basic campground in shady area under trees. We did not get an electric hookup. Ground was mostly dirt not grass on our site &amp; mostly dry. Large trees provided shade which helped as very hot &amp; humid. We were next to a ravine but with plenty of bug spray did not get many bites. Hiked the Bear &amp; Buffalo trails. Campground very quiet though a few people came &amp; went. Washrooms are very basic &amp; chose not to use shower. The Park Ranger did check on us &amp; advise on weather conditions. Picnic table &amp; fire pit were fine.  Got only 1 bar signal on both Verizon &amp; AT&amp;T. No WiFi. Overall basic, woody/shaded. Good for short stay. 

Quick weekend trip

Had a grassy &amp; shady tent site. There were vault/pit toilets close and regular restrooms with showers a little walk away (showers needed to be cleaned). Water spigot was close by too. Wish we had more time to explore the park itself because there was lots of hiking/waking trails. Overall no complaints 

Photos of Stone State Park Campground

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