Looking for a place to go glamping near Chariton? Glamping is not only a fun alternative to traditional tent camping, but also allows you to pack more or less gear as you see fit. The Dyrt's camping photos, reviews, and tips are an easy way to find the right Iowa glamping spot for you.
Island View Park is located on beautiful Rathbun Lake, just nine miles northwest of Centerville, Iowa and 8 miles southwest of Moravia.
The 11,000-acre lake provides a variety of fishing opportunities for any angler: Crappie, channel catfish, walleye and largemouth bass are most common. The prevailing winds on Rathbun Lake, also known as Iowa's Ocean, make it one of the best sailing lakes in Iowa.
Rathbun Lake is situated in the gently rolling hills of the Chariton River Valley in southeast Iowa. The campground consists of open grassy areas dotted with trees. Bald eagles, white-tailed deer, Canada geese, wild turkey and other wildlife can be found at Rathbun Lake.
The Rathbun Fish Hatchery is nearby, offering self-guided tours Monday through Friday year-round. Hundreds of thousands of catfish and walleye are produced here each year. Southern Iowa's only Off Highway Vehicle Park is just 20 minutes from the campground. It is located on the south bank of the South Fork Chariton River and encompasses nearly 125 acres in an abandoned rock quarry.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (641) 647-2464.
$22 - $230 / night
$5 / night
Just steps away from all the action of Lakeside Casino, all 47 sites of the RV Park are fully equipped with water, sewage and electrical hookups, as well as Wi-Fi. With breathtaking views you can’t beat, and the best amenities any RV park has to offer, Lakeside’s RV Park is the perfect place to stay during any getaway!
MINUTES FROM THE FUN, MILES FROM THE EVERYDAY
$35 - $45 / night
$15 - $22 / night
Wallashuck Campground is located on Lake Red Rock, Iowas largest lake. It is just 10 minutes from Pella, known for its Dutch heritage, and 15 minutes from Knoxville, the Sprint car capital of the world. Visitors enjoy boating, fishing, hiking, biking and viewing wildlife. For more information regarding the Army Corps of Engineers and the Lake Red Rock Project, click here:Lake Red Rock Website
Lake Red Rock offers excellent boating, water skiing and swimming opportunities. Miles of water trails for kayakers and canoeists are designated along the shoreline. Anglers will find crappie, largemouth and striped bass,walleye, channel and flathead catfish, northern pike and bluegill. Several miles of trails for hiking and biking are in the area. The 15 mile paved Volksweg Trail stretches west from Pella to the Des Moines River and to the Cordova Recreation Area.
Lake Red Rock is situated on the Des Moines River. Hardwood forests cover the lake shore at Wallashuck, offering shade and scenic views. Wildlife is abundant around the lake. A wide variety of waterfowl, including the American White Pelican, migrates through the area in spring and fall. Bald eagles can be observed from November through March. White-tailed deer , turkeys and other small animals are commonly viewed around the lake.
Des Moines, Iowa's capital, is an hour away, with numerous shopping and dining opportunities, museums and the Blank Park Zoo.
A $10.00 service fee will apply if you change or cancel your reservation. The $10.00 service fee will be deducted from the refund amound. Cancel or change reservations through recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Late cancellations are subject to additional fees.
$20 - $24 / night
$15 - $20 / night
Legend
Pammel Park is awesome. It is actually a State Park that is managed by the local County Conservation Board. Pammel Park has amazing trails with varied terrain and nice forests.
The campgrounds are clean with options for tenters and RVs. There are even Yurt Cabins that can be rented. Pammel Park has a great water trail for Kayakers with several launch points.
The only caution I would have is pay attention while you are hiking, there are rattlesnakes in the park. Overall I highly recommend Pammel Park. It is about a 30 minute drive from Des Moines and about 5 minutes from Winterset.
I would consider Pammel Park a secret gem even for native Iowans. Checkout Pammel Park and spend some time in the historical town of Winterset.
GuideRoad improvement 2021 is nice, cutting down the shade trees, not nice.
This is a regular stop on my campground rotation. Camp host's are the best ever. Clean facilities. Has both shaded and open spots, yurts, trails. There are lots of activities, kids can swim below the ford, canoe starting on one side of the park and loop I'd guess about 3 miles on the middle river to the other side of the park. In and out are about 500 yards from each other thru the tunnel. If your rig is over 12ft, have to come in the back way. Winterset has lots to offer, great town square, farmers market on Saturdays, great car club fills the square every month, Madison county fair, Clark Tower, John Wayne Birthplace and museum, Covered Bridges. My only complaint would be all sites can be reserved, so if you don't reserve a site at beginning of the year, you are out of luck. Be nice if there were some first come/first serve.
GuideNice small park settle nicely in the iowa country side!
Guide
Wallashuck in Pella, iowa is one of my favorite places to camp. It’s mostly quiet and peaceful. Plus town is close and has plenty to entertain or fill up supplies
Guide
We will definitely return, we loved this park. The bridges of Madisin County, Clarke Tower, cute local ice cream shop, John Wayne Museum! So much fun in a cute Iowa community!
Scout
If you’re traveling through Des Moines, Iowa area; this is the place you will want to camp at! Outstanding facilities, beautiful and tranquil location, friendly and helpful staff, and a place you will always remember as a sweet spot.
Legend
This is a great little park just east of New Virginia, Iowa. I went to the park with my son and Boy Scout Troop for a night hike, that is why there are no pictures. This is a great little park. The hiking trails are pretty easy going through the forest and then opening up next to old Native American burial mounds. This is really a great place to pitch a tent. It is clean and well maintained.
Legend
Rathbun Lake is a destination for boaters and campers in the State of Iowa. The Army Corps of Engineers operates and maintains several facilities around the lake. Island View campground has some really nice views of the lake.
Island View campground is clean. The sites are pretty open, there are trees but there is also a lot of open space. The park has a nice play set for kids and there are baseball fields nearby.
This is a great place to go if you like to boat. There are three different boat ramps in the park.
Legend
Thomas Mitchell park is located outside of Altoona Iowa on 197 acres. There are electric and non electric sites available. The outer loop has a creek that flows behind the sites with large stairs to get down to it. Kids were having a blast in the water. Some sites are reservable and some walk up. There is a fishing lake,playground,sand volleyball, and hiking. The main hiking trails are wide with smaller ones shooting off the sides. There is also a group site that you can hike to on the Devote trail. The camp hosts are helpful and offer firewood,which they bring to your site, on Wednesday-Sunday. It is very peaceful but we also camp Sun-We’d when there isn’t a ton of people. We will definitely camp here again.
LegendDon't let the name fool you, for a city park and campground, Winterset City Park rocks. You probably didn't know that Winterset, Iowa is the birthplace of John Wayne. You may have seen the Clint Eastwood movie the "Bridges of Madison County," but you probably didn't know that the bridges are real and the movie was filmed in Winterset.
The campground is clean and there is a large space for campers/RV's and a separate spot for tents towards the back of the campground toward the park. The park itself is gorgeous and your just a few blocks away from the John Wayne Museum. If you are in Winterset the second week of October, stay for the Bridge Festival, it's a blast!
The campground is a solid 3.5, clean and well maintained. When you include all of the sites it pushes it up to a 4 star campground.
GuidePulled in late so didn’t get a good look, but from what I e seen this is a pretty nice campground. Looks to be about 10 sites, nicely spread apart. Big, clean fire pits with grills and a picnic table. Plenty of space to feel comfortable.
GuideWe stayed two night at this campground. Arrived late and just filled out the registration form. They have fire pits and picnic tables. They also have two clean pit toilets. You can stay 14 days free I think. Quiet and had the place to ourselves. Maintained and they had patrol checking through at night. Highly recommend it.
LegendThis is an update from my previous post now with pics and a little snow. This campground is a little off of the beaten path but it is quiet and has great hiking trails. It is also known locally for its effigy mounds where native american artifact were buried.
This is a great place if you like peace and quiet and local hiking trails.
TravelerDefinitely a great camping place. Historical site. And a great place to rent out!
TravelerLove this little 1st come first camp county park!
ScoutThe park is closed for camping indefinitely
ScoutMarion County is often overlooked by people in favor of the various Red Rock campgrounds that are nearby, but in my opinion, unless you have a boat, there is nothing that puts Red Rock above Marion County. They have done a great job in recent years updating sites a few at a time, adding pavement and full sewer hookups. The campground is well spaced out and it is almost always possible to get a walk up spot on the weekend even if you wait until Friday afternoon/evening. There is only one bath/shower house, but it is centrally located and not far no matter where you are. There are many stores within a 5-10 minute drive if you need supplies, but it still feels isolated while there. The hosts are always great and and on the rare occasion there is an issue, it is quickly resolved. We love going to Marion County and will continue doing so for a long time.
GuideWe really enjoy this campground and use it as a home base when we’re back visiting family. There’s a couple of parks onsite for kids- one with a zip line swing- plus a pond for fishing, areas to hike and bike. There’s also a historic village onsite that’s open for tours on weekends during the summer. Plus, it’s on the outskirts of town so restaurants and grocery stores are nearby.
The sites are somewhat unlevel so you’ll likely need to block up tires (we’ve had to block one side of tires on two different past sites). For our current site (site 58 with a 2.8 degree incline), we had to angle in a bit otherwise our auto leveling would throw an error since our front had to go up too high.
GuideGreat camping area. We had a blast!
TravelerCampground was very clean and staff was helpful and polite. A lot of spots have a nice view of the water. It tends to be very busy. My stay was a week past labor day and still over half full. Restrooms / showers were clean, nothing fancy. Did some fishing while there and caught enough crappie for a nice dinner with some left over for breakfast the next morning.
TravelerVery nice campground with lake to fish and boat on. Has beach access also.
GuideVery nice corp park. Campsites were spaced well apart with plenty of room on pad around campsites, cell service was four bars and air tv 30 channels
Guidelarge. clean campsites with ample shade. spectacular lake views especially for sunset. very quiet during the week.
Traveler
Spots to the north of the site are pretty tight and have very little grass. The lake is beautiful and the path around it is in great shape!
TravelerSpots to the north of the site are pretty tight and have very little grass. The lake is beautiful and the path around it is in great shape! Bathrooms and showers were nice and clean.
GuideGreat campground with lots of things to do. There is fishing, boating, hiking, mountain biking, and many more things.
ScoutThe web link from Dyrt is out of date, and thus park is closed for 2022
Frequently Asked Questions
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According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Chariton, IA is Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 13 reviews.
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