Escape into nature and disconnect from your daily life with cabin camping near Carter Lake. Find the best cabin camping near Carter Lake. From secluded to easy-to-reach, these Iowa cabin rentals are perfect for any adventurer.
$10 - $50 / night
Mahoney State Park offer Full Hookup, Electric Plus and Electric campsites. There are a total of 148 campsites. Lakeside Campground (100-148 campsites) are located close to Baright Lake and Owen Marina. Little Creek Campground (1-99 campsites) is close to a playground, basketball court and the coin operated laundry facility. Both campgrounds have drinking water, showers and modern restrooms. A dump and fill station is located conveniently near the park entrance.
Tent camping is available at Mahoney State Park in the two modern campgrounds. Tent campers will use the grassy area next to the pad site to set up their tent. Those tenting will pay the camping fee applicable to the site occupied. If making reservations, look for the site description of “tentable.” This means there is a level grassy space for a tent.
Reservations are accepted for half of the campsites in Lakeside and Little Creek campgrounds up to 180 days in advance of arrival date and paid in full at the time the reservation is made. All other camping at Mahoney State Park is first-come, first-served. Campers with advance reservations and those camping first-come, first-served must stop at the Lauritzen Administration building located at the park entrance to check-in or register to camp prior to setting up on a campsite. If arriving after hours, campers must go to the Peter Kiewit Lodge customer service desk and check in or register for a first-come, first-served site.
This modern state park is the perfect year round destination for a family escape. Families can visit the aquatic center and indoor playground, explore the park’s hiking and biking trails, adventure through the treetop ropes course, climb the observation tower and, when the weather turns cold, enjoy indoor rock climbing, sledding and ice skating. The jewel of the park is Peter Kiewit Lodge, which offers 40 guest rooms, most with balconies that offer a stunning view of the Platte River valley. The park also offers an arts and crafts center, an array of cabins, as well as camping opportunities. Mahoney State Park is located midway between Nebraska’s two largest cities, Lincoln and Omaha and is open year round.
There's plenty to do at this award-winning KOA, just a short drive from downtown Omaha and Lincoln. Enjoy the Jumping Pillow, mini zip line, pedal karts, banana bikes, large playground, swimming pool, mini golf, basketball, sand volleyball, badminton and horseshoes. Weekends (Memorial Day to Labor Day) feature breakfast in the Cornhusker Cafe, hayrides, ice cream socials, movie nights, tie-dye and other planned activities. Area attractions include the Henry Doorly Zoo, Strategic Air & Space Museum, Boys Town and museums, and the new beautiful Nebraska Crossing Outlet Mall. Nearby, enjoy wineries, casinos, top - rated golf courses and hiking/biking trails. Patio RV Sites and Deluxe Cabins make camping seem like a luxury vacation. Wings and freshly made pizza get rave reviews: You can even have them delivered to your site! Fido will love the off-leash doggie playground. Pool: Memorial Weekend - Labor Day Weekend. Max pull thru: 90 feet. Your hosts: Carrol & Eric Murray.
This West Omaha KOA campground offers Nebraska camping at its finest! Our campground is Big-Rig friendly, with 80-foot full-hook-up pull-throughs and 50-amp service available. You can also enjoy our scenic tent sites, or stay cozy in one of the cabins. Our cabins and deluxe cabins are all heated and air-conditioned for your maximum comfort. All cabins and RV sites have cable TV.
Once you're here, relax under a huge shade tree or activities, then refuel with a freshly made pizza - delivered right to your campsite! Or, enjoy breakfast in our tropical Cornhusker Cafe.
Canine owners will love our K-9 Park, where you can let Fido romp and play off the leash.
Your KOA hosts will be happy to provide you with information and maps to the many fun places to see. Come visit us - we'll make you feel welcome!
Platte River State Park is nestled halfway between Nebraska’s two largest cities – and makes a great place for camping near Omaha. Before it was a state park it was two separate camps – Harriet Harding Campfire Girls Camp and Camp Esther K. Newman – and a tract of woodlands. The charming, vintage cabins that once housed campers today provide cozy accommodations while the gorgeous new glamping cabins offer a luxurious yet nature-immersive experience. Other popular draws are the park’s picturesque waterfall, spray park, scenic hiking and biking trails and two observation towers that allow those who climb to the top a spectacular view of the Platte River Basin.
$10 - $165 / night
$30 / night
$10 - $35 / night
Stay overnight in one of two camping cabins or at the East and West campgrounds at Prairie Rose. Each cabin is equipped with heating and air conditioning, a microwave, a small refrigerator, table and chairs, two twin-over-full-sized bunk beds, a picnic table, grill and fire ring. The East Campground contains electric and full hook-up sites with a modern shower and restroom. The West Campground contains electric and non-electric sites. One-fourth of the campsites are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and advance cabin and campsite reservations can be made through the online reservation system for Prairie Rose State Park.
$11 - $14 / night
$30 / night
Stopped overnight in late August. Did not want to drag our gear up/down a hill to the tent campsites in the lower loop. Paid more to stay in the upper RV loop where we listened to a neighbor's generator all night. Pretty buggy. Showers/toilets okay. Note there are at least 2 railroads running nearby in the wee hours of the morning. Also, this is on the flight path for jets leaving (I assume) the Omaha airport. Not a restful night--won't be back.
If you don’t mind lugging your stuff to your tent spot, it’s primitive, no frills camping at its finest! We chose the closest spot to the vault toilets. There are only 4. It’s a bit off the beaten path but we got to enjoy the beautiful horses. Bonus!
I planned an event at this military installation because of pricing and being a gated community. The prices are good and the overall area is clean but the reason for the rating given is below:
Due to this being a military site with a managed gate, ID or authorization roster is required...I submitted and got my roster approved within the allotted time only to find out that it was not shared with the gate guards so no one was being let in. The keys for each facility had issues like broken locks or no pin code given for the key system to even get the keys. The cabins are nice but not very well cleaned and the emergency phone number that is provided is a great feature although no one answered it.
If you find yourself looking for a venue for your event, pass on this one. Too much hassle for the money saved. I wish the state of Nebraska could figure out how to hire competent people to manage their facilities.
Stayed one night on Sept 4. Camped at site 35 in the non-equestrian campground; non-electric fee $15. Parked van on the grass at this site. Like nearly all of the sites in this campground, this site was close to the campground road. Overall, I felt that the campsites were all bunched together - offering no privacy and spacing between sites. The shower house was closed during our visit. Water was also turned off at the wayer pumps in the campground. There was one single vault toilet available for all of the campers; it was reasonably clean. Wayne, the campground host, was nice & helpful. There is a self-serve firewood station in the campground; cost is either $5 or $10, depending on the amount of wood you purchase. The campsites have a picnic table & metal fire ring. I wasn't too pleased with this campground, but I was very happy with the nearby hiking trails within the park. It's a pretty state park with hills & lush forest. The day use areas looked great. I recommend those traveling along I-29 to stop at this park - not necessarily for the camping, but for the hiking. Had some T-Mobile 4G service.
This park was a great place to head to and unplug for a weekend. We camped in the area without hookups, so we pretty much had that area to ourselves. The area with hookups was somewhat crowded. The bathrooms and shower were clean. Water is easily accessible. The park is small, and we didn't find much to do other than a few hikes.
There are signs in the bathrooms warning of the raccoons. These signs are not exaggerating. We had a raccoon at our campsite trying to steal our food while we were there, like the raccoon was less than 10 feet from humans during mid-day.
Don’t forget the day use fee it’s $14 a day for out of state and seven dollars in state A decent number of mosquitoes on my visit in July in the evening
Do not pay Dyrt to use this campground. They are not affiliated.
We camp all the time at different locations, and I 100% recommend this campground! The hosts are so polite and helpful and they keep the place immaculate. Even the pit toilets were spotless and didn’t smell. The hosts went around several times a day collecting trash and even mopping the pit bathrooms. Camping here also gives you access to the playground and nature trails into some beautiful countryside. The only downside is bring several bottles of bugspray, the mosquitos are terrible!
Populated but spacious. Friendly staff. Lots of greenery and trees. Only stayed one night but the list of activities seemed great. Safe, relaxing place. Bathrooms and showers could use some work but I was happy for a warm shower after traveling so long. Highway and trains can be heard from a distance but I found it soothing.
A short drive from Omaha, two rivers offers generally clean TV and tent camping sites across multiple campgrounds. I camped right by the river. Also a short walk to the outhouse and playground. Fun and quick trip if you’re in the Omaha area. My boys (4&7) loved it.
Only spent one night but would have stayed longer if we would have had time. Nice clean bathhouse and restrooms. Lots of hiking trails and even hiking sticks. We really enjoyed this short stay!
State park with many amenities! River and small lake fishing as well. No wifi, good T-Mobile cell service
Camping in the teepee was hands down our worst camping experience ever. The teepee was hot, dirty and falling apart. We stayed in the“big chief” teepee and it was on a horrible slope with tons of ruts on nothing but bare uneven dirt. There was no privacy as the other two teepees beyond this one were set up so other campers were constantly walking by your camp. Even the door placement to the teepees were bad. There was a more well placed teepee they save for first come first serve camping, not reserved camping. That makes no sense. The worst teepee should be reserved for unreserved campers. There are also bike trails directly around the teepees so in daylight, meaning early and late, you will hear groups of bikers riding around a technical course and lots of whooping and cheering as well as hard landings. To make things worse, they didn’t tell us about an ROTC event they were hosting in the park where groups of ROTC young people were constantly walking by our camp from early morning to afternoon, looking for markers for a kind of seek out practice for them. This was highly disturbing. Zero calm and privacy. The teepee was shabby and the indoor outdoor carpet was dirty and old, and you got the feeling you were sleeping and living over everyone else’s ick. Also, right over the teepee there were loads of huge dead oak branches. With the high winds, we were pretty scared a branch might fall on us. It’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt, or worse. There were many loud people in cabins with dogs, even dogs barking and crazy dogs running loose the whole time we were there. There was also a lot of trash and littered personal items scattered around in the woods and on the campground area. In the end, it is a very poorly planned campground for comfort, beauty, safety and privacy. We would have been better off to stay home. Like many things now, Platte River State Park feels overrun with activity and under preserved. The exact opposite of why one wants to get away from the city and camp in nature. Waste of time and money.
a great place
This campground is amazing! I’ve stayed at 100 plus campgrounds and I will say that this one is top 10. The park has beautiful views and the river is not far away.
Friendly reminder to bring CASH FIRST COME FIRST SERVE
Pros
Literally no cons.
This is my favorite place to tent camp! Nice bathhouse, and even the pit toilet is clean and unoffensive. Tent sites are spacious and most are separated by lots of trees so there's plenty of shade, privacy, and wildlife. Firewood is available and hiking trails are nearby. Unfortunately, I have to find a new favorite spot because I can no longer lug my gear up and down the hill between my car and my tent.
It appears not many people camp in Iowa in February. We had the campground to ourselves. We missed the crazy cold and snow by a day but it was 20 degree with the wind when I hiked the prairie. Lovely little state park, clean and the trail system was pretty neat. Wasn't perfectly flat and had some overlooks. Very much enjoyed!
We stayed here one night as we were just passing through. The park is really nice and the playgrounds are the nicest I have ever seen! I even had to take my turn on the swings and down the slide. . The new campground is nice with full hook ups, however this is not your normal state park style camping. This is full on RV parking lot with campers stacked on top of each other. I’m never a fan of sitting at my picnic table to eat 8 foot away from someone dumping their sewer tanks. That’s the only con I see here. Luckily we had one of the end sites.
We camped in a tent and it was $10 so great and the bathrooms were super clean
We had two problems with our stay here. 1. The tent sites seem to have been an afterthought of the planning they have little to no shade/shade, no privacy and a very busy roadway quite close to them with nothing to separate them. There also is pretty much no flat ground.
The showers and bathrooms were fairly clean and were pretty nice and the shop had lots of food and goods. For RV camping it might have been fine, but do not go if you are tent camping.
All the amenities you would expect at KOA. Super friendly staff. Pizza and wings at the office, delivered to your site. Bathrooms nice and clean.
It was a bit cold, lots of bad weather, but we found some great places nearby, a dutch windmill near by! Very cool
The sites for tent camping are okay pretty close together and down a hill, no parking next to your site. There are also pack in sites available and depending on location very nice. There are electic hook ups and cabins to. The bathrooms are a vault toilet.
Nice walking trails and facilities. Lots to do for the entire family
Multiple ponds/lakes to fish at plus the river. Facilities are nice and the people in the little store was great and food yummy. Check in staff completely rude !!!!
We tent camped in the modern loop. Bathroom was clean, lit, and stocked - even had hand sanitizer! RV loops had flush toilets and showers, but we didn’t stay long enough to make the trek worth it. The walk down to the tent sites was annoying at worst, but plenty doable. Campsites were level enough, and there were a few sites with pads. Lots of ticks to look out for. There’s an airfield nearby so plane noise was regular but not frequent. Wifi didn’t quite reach the tent campsites; nor did Verizon service, but T-Mobile was good. All around a fine campground.
Camping near Carter Lake, Iowa, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful getaway or an adventure-filled weekend, there are plenty of campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Carter Lake, Iowa, has something for everyone, from families to RV enthusiasts. Just remember to plan ahead and enjoy the great outdoors!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular cabin campsite near Carter Lake, IA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Carter Lake, IA is Hitchcock County Nature Center with a 4.6-star rating from 28 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 20 cabin camping locations near Carter Lake, IA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
