Best Tent Camping near Hampton, IA

Recent Tent Reviews in Hampton

187 Reviews of 21 Hampton Campgrounds

• 

  Lee D.

  Legend

  

  Oct. 8, 2024

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Surprisingly quiet campground on a summer weekend

  We tend to stay at campgrounds during the off or shoulder season for a quieter experience so it was with some apprehension that we reserved this campground for a summer weekend so that we could meet friends for Paddlefest. We were happy to discover that despite being a full campground, it was quiet at almost all hours of the day and night. It was, however, an entirely different story on the lake itself, where boats gathered all day to party!

  There is little separation between the sites but there are trees located throughout, some of which provide shade to the site. The camper pads were a mix of dirt and gravel and mostly level. We were lucky to snag Site 34 (reserved about three months in advance) – it was on the end, making it a much larger site than the interior sites (all end sites in our section were larger) and we had plenty of shade trees, a welcome relief on a very hot weekend. 

  The paved roads leading to the sites are very narrow and would appear to be one-way but are not designated as such, resulting in some confusion. The site numbers are only listed on one side, even though most of the sites appeared to be pull-through. 

  The restrooms and showers were clean and had soap and (dated) air dryers. 

  Overall, we had a very pleasant two-night stay even though we were prepared for a different experience.

• R

  Ryan S.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 28, 2024

  Dows Pool Park & Campground

  Shady, quiet campground with electric & water hookups and a dump station

  I only drove through here I did not camp. It was quiet and the sites were shaded. I saw water, electricity and a picnic table at every site. The pads are gravel and very level.

  You can easily bike into town.

  There is a dump station.

  I had 3 bars of Verizon 4G which provided 70 down and 12 up.

  On T-mobile I had 5 bars of 5G and 100 down and 7 up.

• R

  Ryan S.

  Guide

  

  Sep. 28, 2024

  Cedar View Park

  Beautiful park, gross bath house

  This is a lovely park. It is fairly quiet, you can hear some highway noise in the distance. The lake is lovely and clean. The spots are gravel, most sites will require some leveling but are not too bad. 

  Each site has a newer electric pedestal with 30 and 50 amp service, and each site has a water spigot, as well as a picnic table and fire ring.

  There are a few sites that back up directly to the lake. There is a swimming beach and a dock. There is a city park adjacent to the campground with a playground and picnic shelter.

  I had 3 bars on on T-mobile which got me 64 down and 18 up. On Verizon I had 3 bars which got me 65 down and 12 up.

  The shower house was pretty bad though. It was older, which doesn't bother me, but it was dirty. There are camp hosts on site but I guess their duties do not include ever cleaning the restroom. There was food trash in there all week, and if you look around you'll find feces, blood, and personal hygiene trash including used condoms.

  I would stay in this campground again because I have a self contained unit and do not need to use the on-site shower house.

• R

  Roger

  Guide

  

  Sep. 16, 2024

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Great place!

  Standard site without electric was only $10.00 a night which includes a nearby water spigot to fill your tank with. Put toilets and showers available. The friendly hosts made a point to come by to chat. Two fawns were born there, under one of the picnic tables and they were around all weekend. I’ll be back !

• R

  Roger

  Guide

  

  Sep. 14, 2024

  Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve

  Great site to camp - non electric sites are $10.00 -“and electric are $18.00

  Nice place to spend the weekend or a week! Came in late and a resident helped me find a great spot. When driving to my site two fawns were laying near the playground.

• J

  Janet K.

  Guide

  

  Aug. 15, 2024

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Nice but crowded campground

  Nice campground with grassy pull thru sites. But very close together. If full, you would have no privacy. Fortunately, it was 1/4 full, so no problem. Bathrooms clean, nice warm showers! Nice beach, lots to do. Would be a fun place if you don’t mind camping next to neighbors!

• M

  Maggie C.

  Legend

  

  Aug. 12, 2024

  Union Grove State Park Campground

  Loved it!

  Loved this campground! We just stayed for one night, but wish it had been two. Small and quiet. A few trails to hike and a horse camp that I didn’t have time to explore. Nice lending library as well. Bathroom/shower combos are nice (1 is ADA). Not far off the interstate. Some sites are off with level & weird (ie stairs/door open on an incline and away from the table), and our picnic table was sloped. So pick your site carefully. 19E was ok - table not level and high stairs required from TT but good for Starlink connection and close water spigot (elec only at these sites)

• 

  Niki S.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 15, 2024

  R Campground, Inc

  Very clean, friendly owners, great co-campers

  Randy was amazing and very attentive to my questions. Check in was super easy and the directions for check in were clearly spelled out. Everything was mapped out and the website was easy to use as well. The pond itself was pretty to look at and made for great photos, however it was loaded with geese which made it not user friendly. I would recommend this campground, and I will definitely go back to camp again!

• R

  Roger

  Guide

  

  Jun. 17, 2024

  Dakins Lake County Park

  Very Nice!

  Stayed a weekend here and was very enjoyable! This looks to be a relatively new campground as the trees are still very young and, therefore, not much shade. It was windy that weekend so plenty of air circulation made it nice. High didn’t hit 90 until Sunday afternoon so didn’t even need air conditioning.

• 

  Greg K.

  Guide

  

  May. 5, 2024

  Alden riverview campground

  15$! Alden Riverview Campground

  30/50/110 power. Drinking water and dump onsite but not on sites. Wifi! Hot showers, playground,boat launch,fire pits,grills,good camp host.town is right there 2 bars and restaurants. Gas station I think was 8 blocks up to the right. Been hard to find all this for 15 bucks a day!

• c

  corey

  Traveler

  

  May. 3, 2024

  Camp At The Woods

  Open year round

  Very accommodating super nice people helped us back in and set up in middle of winter after dark after we had drove 2 days from the east coast. Our spot was on an incline but the water worked when temp was below freezing the camp was nice with new park for kids new basketball court new pavilion wish we could have been there in the summertime I’m sure the pool is nice when uncovered. I saw laundry and bathrooms by the river.

• S

  Skip H.

  Ranger

  

  Mar. 30, 2024

  Rice Lake Wildlife Management Area

  Good spot, but not exactly private

  It's a nice spot off of the main road. It's pretty quiet, but there aren't many spots to camp. When you come in on the dirt road, it hooks to the right, and you'll come upon a dirt cul-de-sac. On the right, you'll see a grassy area set into the woods where you could camp. Other than that, your parking in the perimeter. There's enough room that virtually any size camper could navigate into this spot, but if there are other people, that will really complicate your life.

  There is a boat launch and paths down each side of the launch you could fish. On the way in, you'll see a deck to the left, providing a scenic overlook. There's also a spot there you could potentially park, but you'll be very exposed if there is any foot traffic.

• 

  Lisa T.

  Scout

  

  Nov. 10, 2023

  George Wyth State Park Campground

  Good local camping

  Easy in and out late fall camping.  I got a great tent spot next to the river.  This is a fine campground that I much prefer during the off season (it gets too busy during the warm season for my liking).  The connection to hiking trails throughout the park is fantastic.

• A

  Amy

  Scout

  

  Sep. 7, 2023

  Cedar Bend Park

  Peaceful place

  It was so clean and peaceful. Not overly crowded. The camp host was so friendly and helpful.

• v

  vickie

  Scout

  

  Sep. 3, 2023

  Cedar View Park

  Wonderful Find!

  Great find! We thought we would be dry camping because it was Labor Day weekend. We found this Park on the app and thought we would check it out. It’s first come first serve. I really never thought there would be any hookups because of what I had read, but they had electric and water! We found a spot right on the Lake! Very busy but wonderful view, location and was only $20.00!

• 

  Matthew S.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 17, 2023

  Waterloo - Lost Island Waterpark KOA

  Nice Park/Clean Bathrooms

  This is a quiet and nice park. Lots of pull through lots. I am missing a swimming pool but they do have a beach by a pond if that interests you. Bathrooms are cleaned daily but at times are quite nasty. Not their fault people are just nasty.

• 

  Jason H.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 10, 2023

  Interstate Co Park

  Empty but lovely.

  Here on a Wednesday (which is the only night the nearby restaurant is closed). It was empty. It's on a lovely river with swimming. Mostly people here for day use putting boats in.

  Showers have hot water.

  They don't take reservations. Would definitely stay here again if I'm in the area.

• P

  PJ

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 18, 2023

  Riverview Park Campground

  Clean open Campground

  There’s a bit of road noise, but there’s lot of room here on a Tuesday. The grounds are well kept. Was able to get a clear view to the north for excellent Starlink reception.

• 

  Becky M.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 3, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Great State Park

  This is our second time camping at the Clear Lake State Park. The park is clean, the shower house is nice. It’s hard to control the temperature in the showers, too hot for little kids to stand directly in the water. The playground was fun for the kids, nice beach access! Limited full hook up sites. I wish there were more full hook ups that you could reserve. Paved roads are great for bike riding. Great shaded spots. DNR cruises the park daily which is nice to see.

• C

  CROSSFIRE 5.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 23, 2023

  MacNider Campground

  Pretty good

  Was a quick stop. Surprised when we pulled up it was only $19 a night for only electric & $28 for full hook ups. We came in the end of June & it is not too busy. Still plenty of parking. There is a community pool right beside the camp.

• R

  Richard &.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 22, 2023

  Waterloo - Lost Island Waterpark KOA

  Great place to stay

  We stayed at started at the Lost Island water park KOA for just one night while passing through the area. We were in our class C while slowly making our way across the country. We had no problems getting a spot here. Sites are gravel for the RV, reasonably level, and very well maintained. Most sites are pull through. Hookups are in very good condition. Each site had a grassy area with a picnic table. Staff was very friendly and helpful. There was a playground, beach and fenced dog area. Cost was very good for the amenities provided.

  The campground had a store, gas station and propane available.

  We had 4 bar LTE with Verizon. Our hotspot was usable and performed very well. We enjoyed our brief stay at this campground. We will stay again when traveling this way.

• V

  Victoria

  Scout

  

  Jun. 12, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Nice place

  Overall nice place to stay. We stay each year with family so there are about 4 of our campers all there together.distance between sites can be wide or narrow depending on which site you’re on.

  Pros: Clean/well maintained, easy short path through the trees to get to the beach, sturdy picnic tables all around, long “driveway” for campsite

  Cons: pads are gravel and not very level, pads are very narrow, beyond the trees on one side of the campground is a major road so you’ll hear cars passing by, not a lot of restroom/bathhouses

• 

  Becky M.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 10, 2023

  Clear Lake State Park Campground

  Very clean park!

  We spent 4 days here and the park is a busy place! Very clean!!!!! Dump station was easy access! We were right by the shower houses. Check in and out was simple. We made our reservations online. The park had paved roads, great for bike riding, playground was a hit! The sunset was gorgeous in the evenings at the beach! We will be back!

• 

  Tammie C.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 6, 2023

  Shellrock River Co Preserve

  You can't beat free

  Secluded free camping with port a potty, fire rings and a shelter. My AT&T service worked enough for a podcast but not streaming.

• J

  Joel L.

  Guide

  

  May. 30, 2023

  Deerwood Park

  Great we spot

  Quiet, camp host was nice. Firewood available for purchase for $1. Nice lake very close to the campground.

• 

  Jeannie D.

  Guide

  

  May. 25, 2023

  Briggs Woods Park

  Pretty place

  Nice camp, decent sites, GREAT buddy sites! Cell service is null, and no wifi. We do love the hiking over here!

• 

  Jeannie D.

  Guide

  

  May. 25, 2023

  North Equestrian Campground — Brushy Creek State Recreation Area

  GREAT lake!

  I like beach camp, but I LOVE north equestrian camp. Wish the boxes accomodated my rig. It's easy in spring or fall, we can get by with 30 amps. If you need 50 amps, you're going to want to head to the Beach Camp.