Found by hiking at the Wildcat Den State Park. Lovely little campside with 19 places, rustical without electricity, dump etc. But got one waterstation and toilets. Every space with picknicktable and fireplace, surrounded by trees. Places are gras. Sorry for my english, Camp from Germany :-)
Campground offers primitive sites with open grass sites, fire rings, tables, some shaded sites along perimeter . RR on sit, a trailhead , overflow parking across entry. Park offers historical gristmill and schoolhouse.
Small campground and very affordable. Absolutely NO privacy between sites as it's basically a grassy field of sites surrounded by an outer loop of more grass. Saving grace was that on a random Thursday in June I was the only camper. Lots of gnats and other flying bugs, so bring spray. Sites have picnic tables and fire pits with multi-level grates on top
Park has historical sites, Pine Creek running through, wooded/ limestone cliff trails, shelters, and campsites. Main CG has primitive sites with tables, fire rings, reserved sites, restroom, CG Trailhead. There is a youth group campsite too across road from main CG.
Campground is non electric. Many trails and a limestone bluff. Beautiful state park
Really loved this campground. Been traveling from Chicago and this was the perfect peaceful site. Price is great $9 it’s reservable and walk ins. The forest walk is incredible. Love the park.
Small campground with access to great hiking to Devils Punch bowl and more. Excellent spring wildflowers, historical grist mill and schoolhouse. .
Beautiful area with lots of hiking trails. We keep coming back to this one.
Wildcat Den State Park is somewhat of an unknown gem. Surrounded by cornfields, rolling hills and the Mississippi River, this park is tucked neatly away in Southeast Iowa. We've been here in all four seasons and each one provides a different landscape.
The park offers non-electrical campsites with pit toilets located in the campground area. A portion of the sites are available on a first come first serve basis. The remaining sites have to be reserved. Each campsite has a fire pit and picnic table. There is well water available. There is also a large shelter across the road from the campground area. The bottom portion of the park, where the Pine Creek Grist Mill is located has modern restroom facilities as well as another shelter.
Hiking the Wildcat Den Trail Loop is a must. Looming sandstone cliffs, tall pines, and rock formations are all part of the park's landscape. This is also a great place to view spring wildflowers. There's several spots of interest you'll want to be sure to take in while there, including the Devil's Punch Bowl, Steamboat Rock, The Pine Creek Grist Mill built in the 1800's, the Melpine School, and most recently, a renovated log cabin. The Mill offers tours during the warmer months and it's worth the time to take the tour.
While the trails at the Den are very scenic, they're not well-marked. This is perhaps the only downside of the park. The park is dog-friendly, but they must be on leash at all times.
This is one of my favorite "hidden" parks in Iowa.
