Best Tent Camping near Emmetsburg, IA

I stumbled across this Park traveling through and looking for a place to spend the night. I drove in and saw the beautiful lake and the campground so I talked to the camp host, told him I just needed a primitive spots I didn't need electricity or water is it all good just grab a tent site, they are $6 a night and 30 amp electric with water is 15 tonight. And if you rent for 7 days you only pay for 6 and it's a beautiful quiet I'm sure there's fish in the lake you can swim in it's a wonderful place I'm so happy I stumbled across this Jewel

I found this to be a great little spot to stay bike touring through Iowa. It is right in a lake, has water, and a nice vault toilet. Unlike the other reviewer I was literally the only one there. That’s always a bit odd but in this case it didn’t bother me at all. I highly recommend for tents. RVs not so much.

This campground has RV sites along the edge with all the tents on a hill by the lake. Every time we go camping here we make a new friend, get some great camping recipes. There is a beach near the camping area and another one for the park. The tent area is nice and big for several tents, but could use a few more trees for shade.

Really nice spot almost overlooking the lake (Through the trees), had fire ring, picnic tables and room for quite a lot of tents! For me and my family it was perfect!

Camp sites for tents are super tiny and irregular shaped. Lots of sloping on sites. Generally tight quarters to other campers and plenty of road noise until about 10 PM. A few good options for fishing, boating and hiking near by.

I can't say enough about Kennedy Memorial County park in Fort Dodge Iowa. Its beautiful well taken care of has a nice playground and access to a beautiful golf course! And FREE WIFI! All for $18.00 a night.

Stopped for the night , so I could see the Grotto in the morning. Very clean restrooms/showers. Only one other camper here. Shaded spots, great Wi-Fi, good cell service. Next to train tracks but only one train came by and it wasn’t loud. Definitely recommend if you’re in the area. You pay at the gift shop across the street. $20 for RV and $10 for tent.

Gorgeous little park right on a series of small lakes. Camping is in grassy and forested area. You dive on grass and park next to a table and power outlet. Many of these spots are not level and seem better suited to tents than larger RVs but some spots could work for vans, class C or small class A RVs. I also saw one cabin for rent. This is all near the water and has bathrooms and a water faucet. I also noticed pretty good AT&T cell coverage here. This area has historically been bad for cell coverage so maybe that is improving.

Ratings are really subjective. What are you after? 

~A secluded spot in nature? 0 stars. 

~A small campground inside a small town with flushing toilets and showers (albeit not new, super clean, or extremely nice), a lake with docks and boat ramp, large playground (with the cool old structures AND new ones), a baseball diamond, football field, city pool, creek with fish, and a tennis/basketball court? 5 stars. Yes, ALL of those things are right next to the campground.

I grew up in Lake Park, and I've stayed in this campground as an adult with kids (simply to visit family, certainly not to "get away" and enjoy nature). Lake Park is a small, rural town, and the current local passtime appears to be driving around town in ATVs and side-by-sides. It is noisy and extremely annoying. Every single person that drives by will stare at you; welcome to a small town.

There are a couple tent spots (one of which we utilized) that have some shade, a picnic table, and a fire ring. There's also a small RV area where people live in their RV's (complete with decks) for the summer. 

If you stay here, perhaps to visit the lakes area without the crowds or at a lower cost, perhaps to fish in Silver Lake, or... well I don't know why else you would stay here... you should definitely try the breakfast or taco pizza at Stans Corner -- the local gas station/convenience store. You could also walk to the 2-block downtown on Market Street and try out one of a couple restaurants or a few bars. If you want to swim in the lake (I really don't think it's good for swimming anymore, but if you want to try your luck) you can go to the boat ramp by the bridge by the city park, the dock at the end of Trappers Bay, or to the public access area (dock and boat ramp) on the west side of the lake, accessed via 110th Ave (go west on Hwy 9, and turn left onto 110th st., it's a mile or two in on the right side of the road.

Regardless of the passtimes of driving around and staring, the people of Lake Park are generally very friendly, so you should definitely walk around and meet some people.

Fishing from the Island is awesome here! Even if your catching nothing theres a great view!

The grounds are beautiful. We went on a weekday so we were the only ones around. We had site C14. Bathrooms were decent. Playground is kind of small and old. However we had a great time and will probably be back next year when sibley farm is open again. The electric hook ups are really far from the pad so bring an extension. Frisbee golf course within walking distance. Bugs were bad I guess, maybe a tad worse than elsewhere we have camped but not bad enough to keep us from sitting outside in the evening.

New paved roads, boat landing to river and frisbee golf connected. No water hook ups at each site. Has one in central location so luckily I had just enough hose to fill up the camper. Close to state park with trails and bison so had a great weekend!

Don't know yet. I'll find out tomorrow but it was beautiful clean I think I'll love it peaceful

This is a great campground in Mankato, MN.  The sites are huge and offer water and electric.  The shower house/bathrooms were decent - a little outdated, but not too bad.  There was also a portable toilet near our site.  We wish there was sewer, but we understand that being so close to the river this may not be possible.  We will definitely stay here again if we are in the area.

Right time of year it is nice. Along the river are nice sites but mosquitos can be a problem. Park is subject to flooding and can be closed. Sometimes a long time. Wide open grass center of Park is wide open for frisbee kids and and such, nice. Restrooms and showers nice. Watch kids by river sites! Watch for music concerts. Lots of music get together in park, Mankato and N. Mankato outside. Lots of bars with excellent music and dining inside. This area loves music, blues, rock and country. I not trying to be negative on park as right conditions can be 4 1/2.

It’s only 12 dollar to camp a night for electricity. They have two different areas for camping. There is a few pond to kayak and fish also there’s a beach area to swim. Not sure how many spot but there are quite a few. No WiFi but cell service is ok.