Best RV Parks & Resorts near Derby, IA

Well maintained campground with mature shade trees. Gravel sites, a little bit of leveling required. Poor Verizon cell signal, no internet signal. Not much natural privacy between sites, but sites were well spaced apart. Paved trail nice for biking and walking. Fishing nearby and the Dutch themed town of Pella is a short drive and a must see. Bathrooms and showers were nice, clean. Handicap camp site and bathhouse available. Firewood for sale at front gate. The potable water available at the dump station was clear and good for drinking. Dump station is easily accessible. Dumpsters were positioned around the campground. Staff was friendly. The night we stayed, there was a severe weather threat, and the staff, at the end of the night, had unlocked the storm shelters (utility area in the middle of the bathhouses) should the need arise. We ended up having to seek shelter because of a tornado warning.

Walnut Woods is conveniently located 25 minutes outside of downtown Des Moines. Sites are paved and mostly level, although we did have to throw a couple of blocks under one side of our TT tires. Most sites feature 20/30/50 electric, a fire ring and a picnic table. Some also have water and sewer hookups. Sites are relatively small and close together, so get comfortable looking into your neighbors’ site/camper depending on how your site is oriented. The road around the campground is paved, but very narrow. We had to ask our neighbor across the street to temporarily move their tow vehicle so that we’d have adequate room to back into our site.

There is a bathroom, trash dumpsters, and a dump station with both potable and tank cleanout water spigots. There are trail heads near the campground that follow along the raccoon river for almost 2 miles. It was very muddy when we camped here, so we had to turn around about 1.5 miles into our hike and backtrack due to an impassible area.

3 bars of T-Mobile and 2 bars of AT&T were more than sufficient for internet browsing and streaming.

We called ahead to see if they had sites available that night. Arrived just before the office closed at 7pm. They were ready for us and escorted us to our pull-through full-hookups site near the front of the campground. This is a huge property but laid out in different sections that each have their own flavor. The pull-throughs near the front are level, gravel pads with grass all around. Other areas are forested and some are hilly. Full-hookups worked fine. We stayed in site 121, which faces an open grassy area backed by a little forest that echoed with beautiful wildlife sounds in the evening. There are no campground lights except at the restrooms, so it’s great for stargazing! The restrooms were good.

Wonderful trails, lots of space.  Access to DM River, has nice pond, playgrounds, just a beautiful area.  Fishing not the greatest, Pond is silted to about 9ft deep, have caught few small bass, bluegill.  Never tried the river here, but is known for big cats.  Camp sites are best around, large flat white rock cinder size area with picnic table, fire ring.  Sites are well spaced.  Shaded.   Double lane dump station.  Close to home, can usually get site without reservation, IF you roll in on Wed.  By Thurs night, it's full.  Few reservables, 90% i'd say are first come.  The way it should be in my opinion.

Lake Rathbun 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. Prairie Ridge campground is one of those facilities.

The campsites are good. They have a fire pit, a place to hang food to keep away from raccoons, electricity, and a nice gravel pad for your vehicle or camper. It has modern toilets and some of the campsites have a nice overlook of the lake.

What stands out at this campground is the prairie grass and all of the wild flowers. It is a nice weekend getaway.