Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Elkader, IA

This was a great surprise in a pretty little town. The campground is across the river from Elkader, up on a rise. The campground is next to the city pool and history museum, which has great exhibits and a few historic train cars to explore. The campground has hookups for RVs primarily, with a few tent sites in a grassy area next to the road. However, you can easily just get a site with hookups to be further away from the road (the sites in the middle seem to have better hammock trees, too). None of the sites have any privacy, but all have picnic tables and fire rings. The shower house is like a bunker house- seriously, it is the tornado shelter for the park and campground! It’s super clean and large, with separate toilets, showers, and changing rooms. FREE firewood!! They even provide a couple of wheelbarrows for you to haul firewood to your site. In town there is an access point for kayakers who want to play in the river at the rapids, as well as access for fishing. There is a GREAT bakery on the main corner in town- this is THE place to buy your hamburger buns (one of their biggest sellers). There is a nice cornerstone bridge crossing the river that you can walk across to view the spillway.

I enjoyed my 5 night stay at Oelwein City Park Campground. It's located on the south end of town, there is only one business within walking distance. It's a great restaurant (Oelwein Family Restaurant) and it's about a 15 minute walk.

There is one shower house, and several vault toilets throughout the park. The shower house is old and a little run down but was very clean. I had no problems using it.

The city park is adjacent to the campground and has picnic shelters, a playground, and a dog park.

There are electric and water hookups at most sites, and there is a dump station. The park was pretty full on the weekend as you would expect, but very quiet during the week.

I had great Verizon and T-mobile service here.

General: 58 sites with various amenities. Some are long pull-throughs, some are back-in, some have 30 amp with or without a patio, and some have 50-amp electric with or without a patio. Tents are NOT allowed. We were greeted immediately upon arrival and asked to sign a waiver and given a welcome packet. The rules are extensive, but most are common sense/courtesy and not at all unreasonable. 

Site Quality: All had gravel driveways and looked level. Decent separation between sites although they are close together, as would be expected in an RV park. Our site had a patio and decent-sized picnic table but it was chilly when we were there so we ate inside. 

Bathhouse: Very clean as were the showers. 

Activities/Amenities: There are many activities offered, including a dog park, basketball, horseshoes, games (cornhole, large checkerboard, and others), a barn with a television, a book library, puzzles, and a pool table. Coffee is available after 9 am. There is also a small chapel available 24/7 and a laundry room. WiFi is also available. There is a camp store with ice, ice cream, some camping supplies, clothing, crafts, and more. We were told several restaurants will deliver to the campground. 

We don’t typically prefer to stay in RV-style campgrounds, but it was conveniently located with easy access off Route 151 just over the Wisconsin border from Iowa, we were warmly welcomed, and enjoyed our short stay passing through. Pride of ownership was evident throughout.

I had good Verizon signal here (70 down, 20 up) but zero T-mobile signal.

The campground is close to down, there are two museums within walking distance (just steps from the campground entrance). Across the street is a walking & biking trail that will take you straight to downtown, where you'll find a coffee shop, a few restaurants, and other shopping. It's less than a 5 minute bike ride to get there, and very scenic as it follows the river.

The facilities are newer and pretty nice. The showers are the single-button kind with no temperature adjustment. If you wait a while, the water does get barely warm enough for a comfortable shower.

This is not a quiet campground, it has a well traveled highway on one side, and a city main street on the other side that semi trucks use during the day. Sometimes there are highschool football games at the stadium next to the campground. Late at night it does get quiet.

The sites are grass or gravel. There are electrical hookups at most sites, with water faucets spread throughout the campground. The sites are mostly shaded.

I enjoyed the George Maier Rural Heritage Center and Museum ($5 admission) and the Elkader Depot Museum (free) which are located right next to the campground.

The downside to this campground is the dump station. It is just a hole in a manhole cover. It's in a dirt/weedy area and smells terrible. It's located across the street from the campground.