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Preparation Canyon State Park, in the heart of the Loess Hills in western Iowa, encompasses 344 acres, including what used to be the town of Preparation. Today, Preparation Canyon is a quiet enclave offering backcountry hiking, picnicking and beautiful views of the unique Loess Hills.
Camp in one of ten hike-in camping sites, which are some of the only hike-in sites in the Iowa state park system. The trailhead to the hike-in sites is located in the southeast corner of the park. The sites each have a table and fire ring, but no bathroom facilities. Registration is on a first-come first-served basis with self-registration in the east parking lot.
$9 / night
$15 / night
Traveler
Cute little campground, electrical only. Picnic table and grill at each site. No fires. Shower house available until it's gets down to freezing weather. Dump station and water fill.
Guide
Ok, so I stayed 3 nights, the second week of November. It was myself and two other campers who were there together. We had the entire campground to ourselves. Water was on and the bathrooms were open and clean! I happened upon a site with full hookups and it was $20.00 a night. I’m guessing in the regular season these would either be taken or they might charge more. Anyway, great relaxing stay! ****No cellular service available ***. I was able to get nominal service with an external antenna and booster…
Traveler
Very quiet and peaceful place I have been there few times and I never see anyone else around. There is no bathroom or drinking water so make sure you are ready for that. October is a very colorful time of the year very peaceful the pond for what I heard isn’t a good place for fishing but just a mile away there is a hunting park highly recommend it
Guide
I pulled in late at night easy to navigate stayed the next day and did some trails apparently the land formations are 1 of only 2 in the world how about that Iowa.
Guide
This is a no-frills stop off on a road trip kind of place. The bathrooms were pretty gross and there are lights on all night so hopefully you have a blackout tent or good shades on your RV. It's nothing to write home about but it was quiet and I slept well. I would stay again
Scout
It’s a good place for camping not perfect. Has a descent size lake good for kayaking and fishing.
TravelerStopped 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.
TravelerWe live(my dog and I) on a motorcycle - think Van Life on two wheels. A quiet place to put up a tent is so welcome. There are no amenities. It's strictly dry and pack out but a great place for a few tents or a couple vans. Highly motorcycle travel recommended
Guide
Stayed July 2024,
Good: Flat piece of grass to place two tents for only $ 20 bucks. Just what I needed at 10pm
Bad: One quote from son sums it nicely, "saw the mens room and so used the women's". Also, two miles of dirt road was less than fun. Would have been nice if the pay station had more directions.
Future: I would remember to make a reservation at the KOA 10 minutes away.
Scout
This campsite seems nice, but with blaring Omaha heat and no trees, the heat here is absolutely brutal. It was mid July and still 96 degrees at 7:00pm, so I ended up leaving knowing it would be too hot for a comfortable night sleep. Beautiful view of the lake and short walk to the swimming beach.
Ranger
Great spot! Easy on/off. Was $45 for overnight with amenities.
We opted for the free stay which was great. Nice, flat parking lot with other rv’s and tractor trailers off to the side.
Slept great. Used the casino bathrooms and really liked it for a free overnight. Casino is fun too!
Would def stay here again. Felt very safe and well lit. Noise was minimal and only came from the tractor trailers. If I had parked at the other end I wouldn’t have even heard it.
Got take out from Modern Love to bring back. Molo is amazing - all vegan and most GF too. Never pass through Omaha without a visit there. Great way to end the night.
Guide
Beautiful park, beautiful scenery and amazing playground!
GuideWe camp all the time at different locations, and I 100% recommend this campground! The hosts are so polite and helpful and they keep the place immaculate. Even the pit toilets were spotless and didn’t smell. The hosts went around several times a day collecting trash and even mopping the pit bathrooms. Camping here also gives you access to the playground and nature trails into some beautiful countryside. The only downside is bring several bottles of bugspray, the mosquitos are terrible!
Scout
This was the perfect place for us — just passing through on our way out to Wyoming. This camp ground is awesome all around — especially for tent campers. Absolutely beautiful views of the lake and so many open camp sites even on the 4th of July. I wish we could have spent more time here.
Guide
Clean and mostly well-kept campground. Much nicer than I had expected. Has on-site host, but we didn't see much of her/him/them. Had good cell service (ATT).
The only serious complaint I can make is that the water, while potable (so we were told), has a very, very strong iron/metallic taste. To the point that, for us, it was undrinkable.
The campsite we chose was level, concrete, and cost $20 (the site we wanted by the water had electric). Very little shade though, which made it really hot (other sites had more shade).
Other observations:
The river current is quite fast here. I wouldn't plan on letting my kids or dogs get into the water, except to, maybe, wade at the boat ramp where it is protected from the current by small islands where the creek comes in.
They have a table near the boat ramp that, I assume, is for cleaning your caught fish. If it matters, it did not have running water.
The small dock from the boat access area felt unstable and one had to step across a couple of rocks to get to it from land, maybe because the river level was up(?).
Of the 4 bathroom/shower combination rooms in the bathhouse, only two were unlocked. That said, we were the only tent campers and the RV campers didn't seem to be using them. And they were clean and in good repair.
Our campsite was right next to the facility loading/unloading barges next to the campground. (They were unloading dried soybeans while we were there.) There are also security lights, but the light is mostly blocked by the trees at night. They start work at 7am and seem to stop at 4pm during the week.
I would call this location reasonably quiet. But not absolutely quiet. There is noise from various sources at various times: the loading/unloading from the barges, the farming going on across the road from the campground, boats going up or down the river, and, minimally, the sound from the traffic on the highway. So not absolutely quiet, but it wasn't loud enough or continual enough to detract from the stay.
Lastly, it probably doesn't need to be said, but I didn't think of it before our stay (duh), so just a reminder. You're camping by a river (i.e., water), so there are many, many flying insects. Be sure to have insect repellent, as they are merciless.
ScoutPerfect place to get away for the weekend. Grounds are clean bathrooms are clean. Shout out to Dave the park ranger for being very generous. We drove from Davenport to stay here for Father’s Day weekend and we will definitely be back. You also can tent camp right next to the water as well. Love it!
ScoutWe called the casino & they told us we could park in the lot for free. If you want electricity & ahowers, you can pay. We just needed a place to sleep as there are not a lot of campgrounds here. Highway was a bit noisy and a distant train was heard twice through the night. No one bothered us which was all we needed! Got a shower at a nearby truck stop. Big open lot with lots of space. Also had a dumpter I made use of (small bag of car trash).
ScoutOnly spent one night but would have stayed longer if we would have had time. Nice clean bathhouse and restrooms. Lots of hiking trails and even hiking sticks. We really enjoyed this short stay!
ScoutRaised prices by 12 dollars to 38 a night, there are better parks for that amount
ScoutWe have been coming to this campground every year. They have recently open during the winter which is great because not many campground are open during this time. Steve is such a great guy who is always looking out for you.
Scout
Tented camped in late October, the weekend before closing. I was only tent camper in the electric only sites. If there was a tent only location, I didn't see it. Those in campers that need water and electricity are regulated to gravel 'parking lot' sites.
Beautiful park with playgrounds, swim beach, fisbee golf, paved trail, many fishing bars, and more.
Electric only sites are small and spaced out well. Most have level drive perfect for sm camper or suv camping. Grass has slope, but I think you can find a good enough place for tent, I did. Bathroom clean enough, I didn't use showers. I enjoyed the privacy of lake-front site J.
Traveler
Iowa has many great county parks, and this one is no exception. There are three campgrounds in the park. The South campground, Middle campground, and North campground.
The South campground is closed for renovations. I read they are adding full hookups to this campground. The Verizon signal at this campground is usable for calls& text, but internet speeds are slow. Streaming will probably work but a video call will probably not.
The middle campground has nice level spots, and a nice shower house with warm water. There are 4 individual bathrooms, each with a shower. This campground had about the same Verizon signal as the South campground- good enough for calls and texting.
The North campground has grass sites with more space between them than at the other two campgrounds. This North campground does not have a shower house, but it has a two room bathroom with running water. The Verizon signal at this campground is a strong 5G signal with great speeds. I also tested T-mobile and AT&T at this campground, and they were plenty usable but no where near as fast as Verizon.
There is a meat shop and a sports bar restaurant within walking distance from the park. The walk within the park is a long walk. From the North campground to the registration box at the entrance is about 1 mile.
While at the park I saw deer, raccoons, turkeys, and a 4 inch caterpillar crossing the road. There are also bison and elk in a fenced in area.
GuideDecent park and great price! We stayed 2 nights for my husband to do a job down the road. Shower house could have been cleaner but you can’t beat the price at $17.50/night! They had electric hookups, grills and picnic tables at every site plus a small playground for kids. Free dump station and water fill was nice. Every spot was filled the second night and the parks and recreation guys came through a few times checking on things. We’d definitely stay again if passing through!
Traveler
Not too busy. Spots have water and electric for $25/ night
ScoutWe made a one night stop as we traversed I80. Clean with shaded park like area. Electric, water and sewer available. Bathroom and shower were clean. But old style, so small and well worn.
TravelerCampground was as I hoped. Empty except for 3 others. Oxbow lake is nice with a sandy shoreline. The campground is set in an Aspen glade. Very nice.
RangerI’ll just say that yes this campground has no trees to keep you cool, but it’s all brand new amenities with concrete pads, 40 amp hookups, sewer hookup, water, gated entry, and good signage. If you don’t expect a beautiful campsite then it’s a great stop off the interstate, and for a good price.
I was told the bathrooms and showers are all really nice. It won’t disappoint!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Dunlap, IA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Dunlap, IA is Preparation Canyon State Park Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 6 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Dunlap, IA?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 tent camping locations near Dunlap, IA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
