Best Tent Camping near Castana, IA

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.

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.

I arrived just in time to see the beautiful sunset over the small lake near the primitive campground closest to the Park Office. It only cost $10 for tent camping and $3 for a vehicle pass. Campground and vault toilets were pretty clean. There is a fire ring and picnic table at each tent campsite and there are plenty to choose from near the water. You can bring your own kayak or canoe and even fish here. We had a nice encounter from the campground employee who explained how to put the stake out to claim our campsite. Right away, I saw abundant wildlife, including turkey, deer, black squirrels, woodpeckers, geese, ducks and bats. Come prepared for the mosquitoes but overall I would highly recommend this place!

Our family and another family shared a primitive tent site near the back of the park. We were first and foremost impressed with the freedom we had in choosing our site. Tent camping here is non-reservable, but once you enter the park, you may choose from any spots containing a fire pit outside of RV loops. Tent sites range from lake-front, to playground side, to more private sites on the outer rim of the park. We chose a large, private site at the back of the park. This site was well maintained and had enough space to easily accommodate two families of four. We even had a picnic shelter all to ourselves. Our site was lined by woods and farmland and had a good view of a small pond. The night was full of exciting animal noises from both the nearby farm and pond. Vault toilets were a short walk away with clean shower facilities just a few loops away. The kids enjoyed riding bikes up and down gravel roads, looking for frogs, and playing on the playground. Canoe and paddle boat rental is extremely reasonable. Hiking trails near the park entrance are rugged. The staff was incredibly kind and easy-going, yet attentive. Just a short drive from neighboring towns, this is a good starter campground for families with younger kids. We hope to return in winter to check out the camping cabins.

We camped in a tent and it was $10 so great and the bathrooms were super clean

Was it expecting how nice this campground was compared to more primitive ones in the area. Beautiful site! Has tent camping, full rv hook ups, and a nice playground for the kids.

Small park in a cute neighborhood. 8 RV spots with electric and water. Tent camping as well. $15 / night for RV spot. $10 / night tent spots. 5 day max. Pay at the bath house, no host on site.

Single free dump station as well.

The park has cabins, rv sites, tent camping and backcountry hike in camping. The nature center is a nice place to cool down the the summer and learn about the loess hills. The backcountry campsite have pads with pea gravel for tents and fire rings. Nice and quiet.

I like that you can tent camp anywhere in the Camp area down by the lake with all your friends close by. the trails and playground equipment is nice and the fishing is great! Great Lake for kayaks or canoes as well.

The people who run this campground are really nice! There are really none camping and only 10 dollars a night with electricity for a tent site. Showers and large campsites.

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.

One of our favorite places to camp when we don't want to go too far from home. We've RV camped there several times and I plan on doing some tent camping there as well. Nice little hiking trails and a fun Geocache find (if you're into that sort of thing). Great prices!

The campsite seems to be more for RVs. Tent camping is just a field with a few picnic tables in it and has a bit of a walk from the parking lot with your equipment. The shower house was nice and clean. There is a barn there to use as a picnic shelter which is very pretty. The overall campground is pleasant and in beautiful country.

Had a grassy & 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

The tent campsites are close together in the campground all of them have fire rings with grates. There is a vault toliet just up from the site. There are also a lot of hike in sites that are equiped with a fire ring, no bathrooms though. Tons of hiking trails ranging from hard to easy. Plenty of RV spots and they have cabins

Stayed here for one night while on a road trip. Not a bad place to stop for the night, we were able to take the dogs hiking and didn’t have a problem. The tent sites are open but they aren’t on top of each other, the RV sites seemed close together but we only walked by it so I can’t say for sure. Everyone was super friendly and we didn’t have any issues even though it was a very busy weekend, would definitely recommend this place!

A tent site was $40 with no electricity so it’s more pricy then other sites but they have a ton of things to do. Checkers, chess, swings, play set, mini golf, inflatable bouncy blog, pool, and more. They had a gift shop with anything you needed to buy. The bathrooms were very nice and clean but did smell a bit. They had electricity/ wall outlets in the bathrooms. The highway is very close so you do hear cars. Privacy fences around the site to block out the neighborhood. Very nice staff!

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.

so glad to get off the road! and it is a sweet spot and affordable. it’s full with lively folks who are seeming not to take covid-19 too seriously. but we are outdoors, so hearing the happy sounds of family and friends, over decent country music feels like a balm tonight.

this morning i see what the 5 star reviews are about — the tent camping and the setting. just day use getting off the road for a rest or picnic, this is a 5-star recommend.

also, ideal for kids, fishing, and combination of the two.

why 4 stars? many rv sites like the one i got are right up next to each other. people take the entire site with rugs, dogs, tents, you name it. so zero privacy, zero peace and quiet.

Stayed here for one night on a cross country trip the Monday before Labor Day. RV sites were fairly full already. We arrived early afternoon and opted to cook dinner at our tent site before setting up camp for the night. Good idea since the nearest day-use picnic shelter was occupied by a rather loud drunk couple who kept shouting at us they were leaving soon—they did leave once but only to buy more liquor! We packed it in and found a more secluded site. A huge storm rolled through the area and we ended up sleeping in our van. Really appreciated the clean shower house (single occupancy/locking) with plenty of hot water!   Would like to come back and spend more time.