Best Glamping near Derby, IA

Recent Glamping Reviews near Derby, Iowa

87 Reviews of 13 Derby Campgrounds

• 

  Matt S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 1, 2016

  Pammel County Park

  Try out the Middle River Trail at Pammel Park

  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.

• K

  Kelly

  Guide

  

  Mar. 25, 2021

  Pammel County Park

  Nice spot.

  Road 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.

• 

  Brian G.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 22, 2019

  Pammel County Park

  Beautiful

  Nice small park settle nicely in the iowa country side!

• 

  Lisa H.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 13, 2021

  Wallashuck

  One of my favorite parks

  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

• A

  Adam

  Guide

  

  Nov. 7, 2020

  Winterset City Park

  Loved this cute park!

  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!

• R

  RideTheWaveofBlessing J.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 11, 2021

  Timberline Campground

  Blow-My-Mind Camping

  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.

• 

  Matt S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 1, 2018

  Hickory Hills Park

  Indian Mounds and hiking trails at Hickory Hills

  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.

• 

  Matt S.

  Legend

  

  Sep. 24, 2016

  Island View Campground — Lake Rathbun

  Island View has nice views of Rathbun Lake

  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.

• 

  Shannon G.

  Legend

  

  Jun. 29, 2021

  Thomas Mitchell County Park

  Creek side sites available

  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.

• 

  Matt S.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 1, 2016

  Winterset City Park

  If you love John Wayne you will love Winterset City Park

  Don'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.

• 

  Carrie C.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 9, 2021

  Hickory Hills Park

  Osceola ,IA

  Pulled 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.

• 

  Aliyah B.

  Guide

  

  Oct. 6, 2018

  Hickory Hills Park

  Great Quiet Free Campground

  We 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.

• 

  Matt S.

  Legend

  

  Nov. 1, 2018

  Hickory Hills Park

  Solid County Park with large sites and great hiking in the woods.

  This 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.

• 

  Steve H.

  Traveler

  

  Mar. 4, 2020

  Hickory Hills Park

  Nice park in the spring and fall! Historical site.

  Definitely a great camping place. Historical site. And a great place to rent out!

• 

  Vita M.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 25, 2021

  Lakeside Casino RV Park

  No frills clean campground

  All the spaces are pulled through. It is very clean. There is full hook up for water, electric and sewer. All spaces are paved. There are picnic tables scattered throughout the park. If you are here to gamble, you will love it. If you are here to rest, you will love it. My wife and I feel safe in this park. I am in a wheelchair and this park allows me to move around freely.

• 

  Sherry R.

  Traveler

  

  Mar. 14, 2022

  Lakeside Casino RV Park

  Clean And Quiet

  I stayed 3 nights traveling to my next work assignment. The park was clean with level sites. The front desk person was friendly and helped me with my reservation. It was a close walk to Pilot for supplies.

• 

  Renee H.

  Ranger

  

  Oct. 31, 2023

  Lakeside Casino RV Park

  Decent place to spend the night

  RV park is relatively quiet and easy to get into. The concrete in our site was in poor condition, it had crumbled leaving a dip in the pad. The cable didn’t work, but electric and water had no issues. Easy on and off to the interstate. There is only one garbage dumpster near the entrance and we didn’t see a camp host on site or anybody to check in with. We stayed just one night on our way through the area and were comfortable.

• T

  Tom D.

  Traveler

  

  Nov. 20, 2020

  Lakeside Casino RV Park

  Good stop on the road

  If you are looking for a nice clean RV park on the road this is your place, if you are an outdoor enthusiasts looking for you adventure not for you. We stayed over night on our way down south. Very convenient off the free way. Good hookups and level pad. Photos are in fall almost winter so no leaves or green grass, not parks fault.

• 

  Steve H.

  Traveler

  

  Mar. 4, 2020

  Otter Creek Park

  Little limited, secluded.

  Love this little 1st come first camp county park!

• M

  Mansel J.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 17, 2024

  Otter Creek Park

  The park is closed for camping indefinitely

  The park is closed for camping indefinitely

• 

  CM

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 25, 2020

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Great lake, nice beach.

  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!

• 

  CM

  Traveler

  

  Sep. 25, 2020

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Great lake, nice beach.

  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! Bathrooms and showers were nice and clean.

• 

  Derrick W.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 31, 2017

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Fun campground

  Great campground with lots of things to do. There is fishing, boating, hiking, mountain biking, and many more things.

• m

  marilee S.

  Scout

  

  Feb. 21, 2022

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Closed in 2022

  The web link from Dyrt is out of date, and thus park is closed for 2022

• 

  Jodi H.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 20, 2019

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Family Favorite

  I have been going to this campground for 40 some years. Great place to fish and have family time!

• 

  Larissa C.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 3, 2018

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Great Stargazing, Campsites Cramped

  Stayed there a few different weekends during the summer. It is easily accessible from Indianola and the best parts of the park are the well-kept trails and stargazing! Unfortunately, we felt like we were literally on top of surrounding campers. The campsites are all extremely packed in together, so you can really feel a part of other people's conversations and activities. However, if you're able to catch Lake Ahquabi on a good weekend when it isn't crowded, then it is amazing!

  Lots of great fishing and canoe/paddle board rentals available too! We take our canoe there often and there is an awesome access point from the campgrounds with tons of shade, so if you have a one-seater (like us) the partner can wait in the shade.

• 

  Caitlyn H.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 28, 2018

  Lake Ahquabi State Park Campground

  Nice Place

  I have tent camped at Lake Ahquabi Campground several times. There are some great spots down by the lake that are perfect for tent camping. There is quite a bit to do in this State Park. There are a few trails, there is plenty of fishing, a swimming beach, and they have water sport rentals! The area is very pretty and peaceful. I would recommend for campers with kids and without. There are showers and plenty of bathrooms.