Best Cabin Camping near Des Moines, IA

We've tent camped twice at Springbrook, and though it's not perfect, it's a nice campground we plan to keep coming back to for a number of reasons.

Pros:

-Not a far drive from Des Moines, but still quite remote

-Lots of nice hiking trails

-Easy access to large, mostly clean modern bathrooms

-The lake is a peaceful spot to spend the early mornings, a nice place to fish (but don't expect to catch anything) and its beach is fun on the hot summer days, and tends to not be too busy. Has lots of benches around to sit and enjoy the view.

-No cell reception, which could be a "con" but we like that it forces us to unplug

Cons:

-Tent camping spots are clustered mainly in the middle of a loop, which feels a bit like a fishbowl with no privacy

-It's mainly an RV/camper campground, which can be loud/rowdy at night for tent campers. Lots of parties happening the two weekends we were there. Definitely don't recommend if you want a peaceful weekend away from the world.

-Other than hiking and a bit of swimming/fishing, there's not much to do

-Firewood is a short drive from the campground, which can get inconvenient

Though it’s closed this summer :( - the Ledges State Park campground is a long time favorite of ours. Lots of electrical and non electrical spots and also an entire section of hike-in tent camping that is just a short hike down to a secluded section of the Des Moines River. Secure your food at night or the racoons will dine lavishly on your supplies. :)

We stayed here while passing through on a road trip. It was easy to get a camp site. We opted for a hike-in site to try for a bit of seclusion. The site was nice. We didn't have other campers near by. The hiking trails are very short but there is a bike path that evidently connects several parks in the region. It is a family friendly park with bathrooms, spot for trash, and even shower station. There is a kayak launch point off Lower Ledges Road. The water was calm. This is more of a park for locals to picnic, fish and kayak than a destination for out of towners. It is a quiet park that had a lot of local dog walkers and would be a peaceful place to stay with the kids if stopping through the area. There is a playground on site and you can fish out of the Des Moines River.

Literally a single stone’s throw from I80, one of the busiest thoroughfares you’ll find yourself on here in the great ‘Hawkeye State,’ this is one campground that very much deserves your attention, despite being a KOA. In fact, this campground outpost is so close to the highway that you’ll be hard pressed not to see or hear it during your entire stay. While this KOA does sit down a bit from the hustle & bustle that comes with a major interstate highway, a good number of the available RV sites sit on a sloping hill that is the same elevation as the highway itself, so if you do have the choice, opt for the lower sites (more on that later). 

Sitting just 30 minutes east of Des Moines, Newton KOA offers up about 100 sites for RVs and 5th wheelers offering up all the standard hook-ups (water, sewage and 30 / 50 amp- but be careful because some sites only offer 30 or 50, while some do offer both, so be sure to ask when making your reservation). For mi tent pitching bredren, there’s about a dozen or so sites to choose from and all are fairly intermingled with the RV sites, although each site does sit on a plush patch of grass, so this KOA does a nice job on that front of integration. Oh, and if you don’t have an RV, 5th wheeler or a tent, on worries, this KOA will rent you one of its three cabins. 

As this is a KOA you can expect a ton of amenities and this place does not disappoint with: catch & release fishing pond w/ fish cleaning station (that is oddly placed about as far away from the fishing pond as you can get), disc golf course, K9 camp for the puppies, cable TV, WiFi, in-ground pool (available 5/25 until 9/3) with ADA pool lift, horseshoes, meeting rooms, firewood for sale, LP gas refueling station, pool table, shuffleboard, social lounge, two kids playground, laundr-O-mat, basketball court, restroom & shower facilities, mini-market with basic groceries, ping pong, jump pad, game room, gaga pit, designated dumpster and dump station and of course the scattered fire pits and picnic tables. Just to go above and beyond, this KOA serves up free breakfast of flapjacks on Saturdays. Yahoo! 

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Whether you are pitching a tent or pulling up in your RV, the best sites IMHO are those in the lower valley, but located right in front of the main office, where there are 6 RV slots numbered #45 – 50 and 6 tent sites numbered T1 – T6; (2) Should you get hungry and might want to try some local fare, check out Taco John’s and La Cabaña Mexican Restaurant, which I guess stand for ‘local’ around here, although there is Newton Family Restaurant. If you are looking for something really different and amazing, I would suggest heading on over to Dan’s Sandwich Shop, which feels like real Americana from a bygone era, complete with a diner-esque vibe and matching elbow counter to warm up to over a nice piece of apple pie, scoop of ice cream washed down with a hot mug of coffee; (3) While this KOA has a mini-market, you will find a bigger selection with better prices just down the road at the local Walmart, where just due west of this, you’ll find a Hy-Vee Grocery store with a wine & spirits shop positioned there as well. Further down the road, you have excellent fresh cut meat from Fareway Grocery, but check out the local hotspot, Newton Market as well; and (4) While what you will discover from an outdoor standpoint at Newton KOA is interesting, if you want something more substantial, head to Newton Arboretum & Botanical Gardens for 6 acres of family-friendly landscape to explore with more displays and demonstrations that you can shake a stick at! Seriously, there’s a butterfly garden, peony border and nearly 200 individual species of trees here to check out. 

Happy Camping!

One of the more beautiful places to camp in Iowa. Awesome hiking trails and really well-shaded campsites. The hike in spots are great if you like privacy and being in the middle of the woods - but you don’t want to be THAT far from your car.

Beware of the raccoons. They’re plentiful and crazy smart here. We had one open our cooler, steal an egg from the cartoon - without disturbing anything else. Honestly, I was impressed! But some of our friends had them rip through their tents to get at food - not as impressive.

This was one of the nicest county campgrounds I've ever seen. We've been to a lot of them, but this one stands out. Not to mention that the price was unbeatable! So much more reasonable than at home. Set off the road a bit in a tiny little town in Iowa, it's along a river and very close to the Raccoon River Valley Trail, an 89 mile loop trail (paved) that goes through several towns and counties. It costs $2/person/day if you are 18 or older, or a year pass is $10. There is also a lodge that you can rent.

We rented a cabin for $50, because it was only about $10 more expensive than what we were planning on spending for a campsite in Minnesota. Normally, we stay in tents, so we were very pleased to find the options that this campground had to offer at such reasonable cost! If you wanted a tent site without electric, it was only $8. Electric sites were only $12. And the sites were incredibly well groomed. They were clean (I didn't see any trash). And they were tucked into the woods. A caretaker lives on site, and although we rarely saw him, it was obvious that he cared about his job. The bathrooms were clean and cared for too!

We were in a cabin and they were simple, but suited our needs. They had two wooden cabin-style buildings with little front porches (not screened in, but room under the overhang for chairs). Inside, you had two bunk beds, and the bottom bunk of one was a pull out futon, so you really had room to sleep 5 people. (Must mention: The futon in our cabin was horribly uncomfortable. I would have given 4 stars to the review because of it, but the futon alone shouldn't take away from the rest of the campground, which was immaculate). There was also a bathroom with an ADA shower, toilet, mirror and sink. In the room, there was a mini fridge, coffee maker, microwave, little sink and it even had air conditioning! Tucked in the corner was a folding table and chairs. A few hooks scattered around the walls completed the room. The A/C in ours wasn't at full working capacity, but it did chill the room down enough to be very comfortable. And it was very hot outside! We also had a little fire ring and picnic table, just outside the door.

The campground could accommodate plenty of tents and campers alike. Some electric, some not. All with very nice grassy pads for tents, all with picnic tables and fire rings. Grass was well clipped and there were plenty of parking spaces. It was very quiet when we were there, but I assume it gets busy on the weekends. The shower/bath house had separate bathrooms (both unisex) and both with toilet, mirror, sink and shower). Both were very clean for a camp bathroom. A little campground for those wishing to camp together was at the back of the park. It, too, had bathrooms. But they were locked, so I couldn't peek inside.

Bottom line, it was well worth our $50 for the cabin (you can't even get a hotel room for that price any more). I'd love to go back and tent in the quiet of a weekday eve when the crickets are chirping and I can feel the breeze through the tent!

Please note - there are no trash cans at the campground if you are in tents or RV's (the cabins have them inside). It is a carry in/carry out campground

There are LOTS of water pumps all over the campground. Yay for water!!

I have to say, of all of the campgrounds and parks that I have visited in southern Iowa near highway 34, Three Mile is the best.

This park is clean with nice amenities and a beautiful lake. During the week you can almost have the place to yourself... it is a different story on the weekends.

You can tent camp or pull your camper and just enjoy the setting. If you don't like to tent camp and don't have a camper, don't worry, there are several cabins for rent.

There are showers and bathrooms and an awesome playground for the younger kids.

I am definitely adding this to my list for regular stays with my family.

This little gem is a great place to stay.  Small lake.  Some sites are reserveable online and some are first come first serve.  We had water and electric on site.  Showers were not open yet in April.  The frogs in the nearby swamp were fun to hear.   Lots of birds too.  This looks like it is a popular park for local people in the summer.  There are 3 cabins also.

Most packed side by side, back to back. The few good sites are continually reseved.
Campers are loud well beyond midnight. If you like to whoop it up all night, this is the camp ground to go to, no enforcement Small lake is nice, trails are nice. Camp store and beach house (rentals) closed up long ago. 1 dump, long wait. Nearest store 10 miles away, weak cell, down in river valley.

You’ll love this little park if you want to really disconnect and get away from things as there was absolutely 0 cell reception where we were at. That’s definitely not a bad thing since that’s exactly what we were looking for!

The park was very clean and everyone we met was extremely nice! Bring some hiking equipment as well as they have multiple nice trails to go hiking on.