Best Glamping near Amana, IA

Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area and Palisades-Kepler State Park house upscale glamping accommodations near Amana, with stylish canvas structures featuring modern amenities. These well-appointed retreats offer climate control and comfortable bedding for guests seeking nature without sacrificing comfort. "We stayed in a cabin - not luxury or glamping but clean and in good condition," noted one visitor about Pleasant Creek, where the grounds are meticulously maintained. Most glamping sites include picnic tables, fire rings, and proximity to scenic trails, while providing electric hookups and access to modern shower facilities—elevating the traditional camping experience with touches of luxury.

Hiking trails wind through the wooded landscapes surrounding these glamping destinations, with Pleasant Creek offering an 8-mile loop trail around its lake. Visitors appreciate the recreational opportunities, from kayaking and fishing to wildlife viewing in peaceful natural settings. According to a camper, "There are wild raspberries and mulberries, lots of wildlife. We had a blue jay that visited us regularly at our campsite, along with deer walking through." Morgan Creek County Park and Tipi Camp at Walking Stick Adventures Farm provide additional glamping experiences, with the latter offering authentic tipi accommodations. These properties operate seasonally, typically from April through October, with most requiring advance reservations during peak summer months. Several glamping sites remain accessible during shoulder seasons for visitors seeking quieter experiences.

Best Glamping Sites Near Amana, Iowa (16)

    1. Palisades-Kepler State Park Campground

    9 Reviews
    Ely, IA
    20 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 895-6039

    $15 - $80 / night

    "Super chill and plenty of space, especially for tents on site 39. Bathrooms are very nice and modern and clean, maintenance was very nice to let me shower before he could clean it."

    "Situated along the Cedar river, fishing and paddling can be done. Lots of trails, CG and cabins closed for winter season for improvements and online reservations."

    2. Lake Iowa County Park

    7 Reviews
    Williamsburg, IA
    20 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 655-8465

    "Bathrooms and entire area was really in perfect shape. One of the cleanest showers and bathrooms I have seen. $10 for tent, $16 for electric - how can you go wrong?"

    "Looked like a decent amount of folks here but we didn’t drive very far into the park. If you take a look at the PDF maps on their website you can see how vast the places is with 122 spots!"

    3. Morgan Creek County Park

    3 Reviews
    Palo, IA
    15 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 396-2363

    $23 - $40 / night

    "The bathroom was pretty nice and clean. The grounds were beautiful, even though you can tell some trees took a hit from the recent derecho. The camp host was friendly and helpful."

    4. Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area Campground

    6 Reviews
    Shellsburg, IA
    22 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 436-7716

    $17 - $60 / night

    "Cabins were nice - not luxury or glamping but clean and in good condition.  The gentleman that takes care of the campground takes great pride in his work and it shows - kudos to him! "

    "It's a great recreational area, and a beautiful campground, tent camping is a breeze with very secluded sites, and well water very close to each site and a trail that leads to a large dumpster."

    6. Pinicon Ridge Park

    9 Reviews
    Central City, IA
    33 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 438-6616

    "Water and electric hookups, dump station near by. Clean shower house with storm shelter. Mixed sun and shade with generous grassy sites, fire pit and picnic table."

    "Storm shelter right on site. Playground is awesome for kids of all ages. Hiking trails are well marked and all over the park and state land nearby. Lookout Tower is a must see."

    7. Little Bear Campground

    8 Reviews
    West Branch, IA
    33 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 627-2676

    $22 - $49 / night

    "Little Bear Campground is located right off I-80 at the West Liberty exit. It is right next to a trailer park. There are a few tent sites ($22/ night)and Rv sites($33/night)."

    "Very cute campground right off highway. I called while traveling and Mike was very accommodating. Full hookups and showers. Even got a pool. Gas station nearby full of character."

    8. Windmill Ridge Campground

    1 Review
    Kalona, IA
    26 miles
    Website
    +1 (319) 656-4488

    "Family and pet friendly, clean, well kept property, amenities on site,completive priced sites for camping and to gather together and enjoy life for a moment or two."

    9. Rock Creek State Park Campground

    21 Reviews
    Kellogg, IA
    50 miles
    Website
    +1 (641) 236-3722

    $15 - $46 / night

    "The lake has lots of features like brush piles, vertical structures, mossy areas and you can go over by the bridge and fish the rocks. It’s a great place if you have a boat or kayak/canoe."

    "Stopped overnight on our way home from Iowa City. No reservations & took our chances on finding an electric site. Score! Neighbors were friendly."

    10. Cedar River Campground

    11 Reviews
    West Liberty, IA
    40 miles
    Website
    +1 (563) 946-2431

    $35 - $50 / night

    "Convenient location a lot of amenities and activities"

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Recent Glamping Photos near Amana, IA

1 Photos of 16 Amana Campgrounds


Glamping Reviews near Amana, IA

97 Reviews of 16 Amana Campgrounds


  • C
    Jun. 6, 2018

    Matsell Bridge Natural Area

    Nice little inexpensive primitive site... spaces almost always available

    Nice quiet little primitive campground next to the Wapsipinicon River. Unfortunately, when I was there the last weekend of May, the gnats were bad, and the mosquitoes were just starting to gear up. HOWEVER, take bug spray and enjoy the rustic peacefulness of this "best kept secret" for primitive and inexpensive camping sites. Beautiful location, ranger close by, wood for sale just across the bridge, fire pits and picnic tables at every site. Good for RV, trailer or tent camping… level ground and lots of shade. Primitive bathrooms, no showers or running water.

  • Randall K.
    Aug. 9, 2024

    Lake Iowa County Park

    Great spot for a great price

    Very well kept campground! Bathrooms and entire area was really in perfect shape. One of the cleanest showers and bathrooms I have seen. $10 for tent, $16 for electric - how can you go wrong?

    Only issue is that the spots are pretty close together. Around 2:30am there was so much smoke in our van from nearby campfires that I woke up sick and my dog threw up all over the bed. At 3am we decided we needed to move to an electric site because it was too much to have the windows open. I felt really bad for anyone in a tent. I coughed all the next day.

    The campground was not that busy so there is no way I would stay here on a busy holiday weekend due to the spots being too close. If a few people make a fire you better shut down all your windows. No sleeping in the cool, night air here.

    But this is an issue at other places too. Just never experienced anything on this level before. Esp considering no one in our section even had a fire going.

    I wish campgrounds would start banning these fires. But that’s a topic for a later date.

    Other than that it was a great spot.

  • Leslie K.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 7, 2024

    Outback Campground & Resort

    Wallaby Cabin Review

    This review is for the Wallaby cabin. This cabin supposedly has a bathroom with a shower, 3 beds and a kitchenette. The bathroom has a shower so small it is difficult not to rinse one's hair while applying shampoo. There is no sink in this room for brushing teeth, washing hands or face, etc. There is no mirror either, or hooks for towels or washcloths or clothes. There is also no heater. The cabin has no closet or any place to hang any clothes. There were several bugs crawling on the ceiling. The wall A/C could not help but spew dust, as it was coated with that on the filter and cover. The trash can had a clean bag, which occupants are required to leave in dumpster at checkout. When removing the bag, the stuck-on mess under it was appalling. The bed in each loft area had obviously been used and not changed, as the covers were in disarray and the bottom sheets not clean. The main bed has a zipped on plastic cover which the loose fitting fitted sheet will not stay on, causing occupants to end up sleeping on plastic. We purchased a blanket to go over it for the next night. We would not have stayed more than one night but, as we had reserved 3, it is not refundable. The tv is to the side of the immovable chairs, so that one must have head turned completely to one side to watch. The cabin has such a slant that a ball will roll by itself to the entrance side. All this for more than$350 for 3 night stay.

  • David S.
    Sep. 1, 2022

    Pinicon Ridge Park

    Nice clean and generally spacious

    Stayed in The Plains area. Water and electric hookups, dump station near by. Clean shower house with storm shelter. Mixed sun and shade with generous grassy sites, fire pit and picnic table.

  • Michele M.
    Jun. 5, 2023

    Rock Creek State Park Campground

    Worst spots in the park- 6 & 7

    Stayed 2 nights in 6/7. No shade, giant electrical boxes, whole campground is downhill from dump station and the smell on Sunday morning is really unpleasant. Feels like whole campground is crammed together and smoke from campfires is thick enough to chew.

    When we were there, teens were running littler kids off the playground; someone dumped all the TP in the men's room in to the toilets on Sunday morning, and the showers were too hot to use, with no way to adjust water temp.

    On the bright side, the lake is pretty, it's right there at the campground. Boat, kayak and canoe rentals seemed reasonable and little store was convenient.

  • Jackie J.
    Jul. 1, 2021

    Cedar River Campground

    Friendly, green scenery, a bit noisy

    We stopped over for the night, and it was a good respite. They have mini-golf, a nice pool and a creative rugged play area for the kids. Unfortunately, the pool was closed for the evening cleaning, so we didn't get to use it. There was a beautiful wetland just down from the campground. It is right off the highway, so it was loud when we were outside, but we couldn't hear it at all when we were in our Tab 400. The manager, son of the owner, was really nice and helpful. His mom has owned the RV park for 27 years and ready to retire. There are some friendly seasonal and long-term residents who are in a separate section, but you see them driving through on their golf carts and are super fun and gregarious.

  • Khenia F.
    Sep. 20, 2022

    Palisades-Kepler State Park Campground

    First time, one night

    Super chill and plenty of space, especially for tents on site 39. Bathrooms are very nice and modern and clean, maintenance was very nice to let me shower before he could clean it. It was our only night there and we heard a lot of movements by the woods that it creeped us out but we were hearing haunted stories before arriving so the Halloween vibes was definitely there. Loads of shade and quiet nice neighbors.

  • Kim F.
    Aug. 10, 2024

    Windmill Ridge Campground

    Hidden little gem

    Clean, quiet and well set campsite for all camping styles. Set well off the main road, the gravel road is well maintained, graded well for easy driveable whee truck, rvs or trailers. Family and pet friendly, clean, well kept property, amenities on site,completive priced sites for camping and to gather together and enjoy life for a moment or two. Check it out, don't believe you will regret it. Peace fellow travelers.

  • Stuart K.The Dyrt PRO User
    Apr. 1, 2024

    Little Bear Campground

    Convenient EZ On- & Off-Highway Family-Style Campground Outpost

    It’s smaller than a football field and tucked behind one of those old-school gas stations that you see in the middle of a desert that looks permanently closed, but then you see old Jethro sitting on the corner around the bend from the fuel pumps smoking a cigarillo not worrying about whether the place blows up or not. That’s how I found Little Bear Campground. When I arrived, the place was closed, but thankfully there was a sign posted on the door to call Mike, so I did. And he couldn’t have been nicer, offering me up any open site in the place. 

    So, I took a spin around the joint, which I would describe as ‘intimate’ with all of the very level grassy spots being fairly close to one another, interspersed with plenty of cover shadow from all of the trees that you’ll find this place populated by. The place was half empty, so I guess whatever crowdedness might actually exist in reality was somewhat lost on me. That said, if you are driving an RV or hauling a 5th Wheeler, I would certainly be less than impressed by seemingly the great proximity you will have to your fellow neighbor. Maybe that matters to you or maybe it doesn’t as many of the RV locations I have seen over the past year all land on more intimate quarters than not. The sites for RV / 5th Wheelers are small rock / gravel, which I gather from my mobile home hauling friends is that it is the preferred surface when concrete is not available. 

    While we showed up the last week of the season to encounter that the community pool was closed, apart from this, there really wasn’t a ton of other amenities to speak of although there was a community hall where I understand that group activities like bingo, euchre and other family-friendly games are played. Of course, there were the basics of in-ground fire ring and standard-issued picnic tables. There was a kid’s playground with swingset and teeter-totters that had definitely seen better days. Apart from the main office, which I presume served also as a mini-market and as I understand has both showers and laundry facilities (although I wouldn’t know as it was locked up) there isn’t much here. 

    The few primitive camping sites that do exist here are located on the western side of the property up against the corn fields, which I actually appreciated, and had very good mature trees growing around the area, but one would definitely feel like a ‘second class citizen’ here. As a tent pitcher myself I was absolutely bummed by the lack of privacy, where seemingly you would be on full display for the rest of the RV parking crowd having full view of your campsite. In all, there’s 45 RV slots here with all of the basic hook-ups including water, sewage and 30 / 50 electric amp. By my count, there was 5 or so individual primitive camping sites. And for $22/night for tent camping and $33/night for RV parking, you really can’t beat the prices. 

    Insider’s Tips? Here’s a few: (1) Should you be looking for some place to try out the local fare, while there’s Taste of India (which by the look of the place I would steer you away from), there’s only just a handful of other joints nearby that might be of interest like Saap Saap, a Loatian joint (yeah, I just said that, a Loatian joint in the middle of nowhere, Iowa) that is actually quite good in the little town of West Liberty, which is, ironically, south of here (not west) and offers up a few other culinary finds like JB’s Grub & Pub, Shanghai Chinese, Puebla Mexican Restaurant and El Patio; (2) If you are looking to marinate in some good US history, then you are in luck as there is a museum near here to little known / revered President Herbert Hoover that has a bunch of exhibits and other dusty things; and (3) Should you be wanting to embrace nature, then head west to Hickory Hill Park that offers up some really nice hiking, biking and walking trails on 185 acres of pristine Midwest prairieland. 

    Happy Camping!


Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Amana, IA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Amana, IA is Palisades-Kepler State Park Campground with a 4.2-star rating from 9 reviews.

What is the best site to find glamping camping near Amana, IA?

TheDyrt.com has all 16 glamping camping locations near Amana, IA, with real photos and reviews from campers.