Best Cabin Camping near Ames, IA

The two cabins are fairly new and have all of the amenities. My mother-in-law stayed here while visiting recently and we enjoyed spending time at her cabin.

While camping is no longer allowed in Tower Rock park, you can still enjoy a walk down to the river or bicycling on the paved bicycle trail. Tube rentals are available nearby for the Iowa River, and a local outfitter will rent a boat for the day to fish Pine Lake or the small lake northwest of Steamboat Rock.

Pine lake is not that far away either and offers many fun activities.

One of the more beautiful places to camp in Iowa. Awesome hiking trails and really well-shaded campsites. The hike in spots are great if you like privacy and being in the middle of the woods - but you don’t want to be THAT far from your car.

Beware of the raccoons. They’re plentiful and crazy smart here. We had one open our cooler, steal an egg from the cartoon - without disturbing anything else. Honestly, I was impressed! But some of our friends had them rip through their tents to get at food - not as impressive.

My family and I rented on eof the cabins here. They were nice cabins just off the bank of the river! The cabin comfortably fit 4 of us. It had a nice stone fireplace a decent living room, small kitchen, and bathroom. Nice hiking trails right outside the cabin, along the river. Just down the road is a large lake with more hiking as well. Nice place overall!

We love hiking here, and the cabins are campground are very nice.

This was one of the nicest county campgrounds I've ever seen. We've been to a lot of them, but this one stands out. Not to mention that the price was unbeatable! So much more reasonable than at home. Set off the road a bit in a tiny little town in Iowa, it's along a river and very close to the Raccoon River Valley Trail, an 89 mile loop trail (paved) that goes through several towns and counties. It costs $2/person/day if you are 18 or older, or a year pass is $10. There is also a lodge that you can rent.

We rented a cabin for $50, because it was only about $10 more expensive than what we were planning on spending for a campsite in Minnesota. Normally, we stay in tents, so we were very pleased to find the options that this campground had to offer at such reasonable cost! If you wanted a tent site without electric, it was only $8. Electric sites were only $12. And the sites were incredibly well groomed. They were clean (I didn't see any trash). And they were tucked into the woods. A caretaker lives on site, and although we rarely saw him, it was obvious that he cared about his job. The bathrooms were clean and cared for too!

We were in a cabin and they were simple, but suited our needs. They had two wooden cabin-style buildings with little front porches (not screened in, but room under the overhang for chairs). Inside, you had two bunk beds, and the bottom bunk of one was a pull out futon, so you really had room to sleep 5 people. (Must mention: The futon in our cabin was horribly uncomfortable. I would have given 4 stars to the review because of it, but the futon alone shouldn't take away from the rest of the campground, which was immaculate). There was also a bathroom with an ADA shower, toilet, mirror and sink. In the room, there was a mini fridge, coffee maker, microwave, little sink and it even had air conditioning! Tucked in the corner was a folding table and chairs. A few hooks scattered around the walls completed the room. The A/C in ours wasn't at full working capacity, but it did chill the room down enough to be very comfortable. And it was very hot outside! We also had a little fire ring and picnic table, just outside the door.

The campground could accommodate plenty of tents and campers alike. Some electric, some not. All with very nice grassy pads for tents, all with picnic tables and fire rings. Grass was well clipped and there were plenty of parking spaces. It was very quiet when we were there, but I assume it gets busy on the weekends. The shower/bath house had separate bathrooms (both unisex) and both with toilet, mirror, sink and shower). Both were very clean for a camp bathroom. A little campground for those wishing to camp together was at the back of the park. It, too, had bathrooms. But they were locked, so I couldn't peek inside.

Bottom line, it was well worth our $50 for the cabin (you can't even get a hotel room for that price any more). I'd love to go back and tent in the quiet of a weekday eve when the crickets are chirping and I can feel the breeze through the tent!

Please note - there are no trash cans at the campground if you are in tents or RV's (the cabins have them inside). It is a carry in/carry out campground

There are LOTS of water pumps all over the campground. Yay for water!!

We had a nice and cold adventure camping Easter weekend this year (March 31). Wish we would have rented one of the cute little cabins that have fire places. This park has great hiking trails.

Brigs Woods is close to Webster City, IA.  There are several campsites, cabins, golf course, access to canoeing or kayaking on the Boone River, along with hiking trails, swimming and fishing.  This is one of the many county parks spread across Iowa.  They have reasonable rates and many do not take reservations.  One area is good for a group of campers as the sites are in a circle.  A walking bridge links the back loop to the other loop that has the bathhouse making it a shorter walk.

There are sites with full hookups, H2O and Elec, or Elec only.  Here is the website: https://www.mycountyparks.com/County/Hamilton/Park/Briggs-Woods-Park-and-Golf-Course.aspx

The wonderful thing about the park is the magnificent trees.

Nice campground. lower camp ground has circle type pads that hold 4 campers good for groups (friends, Family) upper camp ground has more single sites. as of 2020 more sites under construction both upper and lower area. they have some cabins and a couple walk in tent sites (short walk) WIFI in lower part of camp ground.

This little gem is a great place to stay.  Small lake.  Some sites are reserveable online and some are first come first serve.  We had water and electric on site.  Showers were not open yet in April.  The frogs in the nearby swamp were fun to hear.   Lots of birds too.  This looks like it is a popular park for local people in the summer.  There are 3 cabins also.

Union Grove is known for having good lake fishing. The lake is also a great place for kayaking or canoeing.

The campground has mostly RV sites, but there are a handful of smaller tent sites at the back, which are my favorite. The campground is quiet.

Amenities:

Showers and toilets

Dump station

Water

2 cabins

Things to do nearby:

Enjoy the lake

Matchstick Marvels in nearby Gladbrook

We have a smaller camper and got lucky to fit into a smaller spot that backed up to the woods. We both grew up around here and have always kayaked,fished,hiked, tent camped in the park. Love the scenic trails, there’s so many. Good for pictures. Also they rebuilt the boat ramp and it’s really nice now. Nice river to kayak, not as scenic as some but fun even though the rivers low. There’s 2 cabins you can rent which I did a couple times years ago, they are clean with kitchen. Overall nice park.

This campground is near home so I know it well.

The campground itself is nice, with some decent sized campsites, many having a great view of upper Pine Lake. There are flush toilets and showers. Campsites have electric hookups. It can get busy during peak season!

Some of the campsites are near the lake, some are near the road. Noise is usually not a problem as the road has a 35mph speed limit by the campground.

Things to do: (so much to list!)

• Paddle on upper or lower Pine Lake
• Fishing, shore or boat (lake, stream, or river)
• Bicycle trails
• Hiking trails (all around lower Pine Lake)
• Beach swimming (lower only)
• Float or paddle nearby Iowa River (tube and boat rentals nearby)
• Eat, replenish supplies in nearby Eldora

The RV parking area isn't really big, but all sites are great & feel private, especially the outer ones. We have never stayed in the cabins, but they look nice & well kept. Bathrooms & showers are nice. We LOVE the hiking trails. Some can be a pretty good workout & steep for a 61 year old, but they are do-able & have resting benches a long the way. There are some beautiful old bridges if you get on the right trails😁 Wifi is virtually non-existent there, but it is nice to be "unplugged" We have a DVD player & watch old movies if its raining. We wish the park cut-up it's own firewood & offered it for sale (there are plenty downed trees available) It would be an extra income for them. As it is, you can't bring in any wood outside the area because of the Elm Tree Borer possibly being transported, so you will need to go to Ft Dodge to buy some (Menards & possibly some gas stations) have bundles you can buy. It would be so much easier right at the park, like some places we go in Minnesota. We live an hour away and come just to hike sometimes. Nice, quiet place

Most packed side by side, back to back. The few good sites are continually reseved.
Campers are loud well beyond midnight. If you like to whoop it up all night, this is the camp ground to go to, no enforcement Small lake is nice, trails are nice. Camp store and beach house (rentals) closed up long ago. 1 dump, long wait. Nearest store 10 miles away, weak cell, down in river valley.

You’ll love this little park if you want to really disconnect and get away from things as there was absolutely 0 cell reception where we were at. That’s definitely not a bad thing since that’s exactly what we were looking for!

The park was very clean and everyone we met was extremely nice! Bring some hiking equipment as well as they have multiple nice trails to go hiking on.