Best Equestrian Camping near Janesville, IA

Backbone State Park is unlike any other place in Iowa, having geological features uncommon in Iowa.

There are two campgrounds. I have camped in both:

Modern Campground: This is a large, modern campground with all of the standard amenities found in a modern campground… electric hookups, flush toilets, water. I have camped here twice, both times in my travel trailer. Overall, it is a nice campground with decent space in between campers, however, I tend to avoid it during the busier summer and fall colors seasons.

Primitive Campground: This is my favorite at Backbone for camping, especially in the autumn after the leaves have fallen off of the trees. As this campground is non-electric, there are not many people camping after it turns colder. I have spent many nights there alone in the primitive campground, watching RVs pull in and then leave after realizing that it has no hookups.

Nearby trout fishing: Backbone is home to one of the more popular trout streams in Iowa. The fishing is easy as most of the fish are stocked (April-October). Still, it is an enjoyable fishing trip as the stream itself is mostly rocks and gravel, with several deep holes. The water is cold and clear.

Other activities: Hiking is very popular in Backbone. I have also seen rock climbing and rappelling. There are some nice spots away from the trout stream for wading and a little swimming. Backbone State Park also has a small lake with a swimming area and boat rentals during the summer. Several nice cabins are available for those who do not want to camp.

We stayed here two nights. That was plenty, although it's not really the park's fault. The lake was super gross, with excessive floating moss (probably a weather issue) and EXCESSIVE goose poop everywhere. The beach was basically unusable, with goose bombs everywhere. It was better when we kayaked, but still gross.

So why the five stars? 1. The bathrooms were fantastic. 2. The camp site was really nice and plenty of room. 3. The hiking was superb. Felt like we were not in Iowa. 4. The driving through the park was also really great and I will go back this fall to look at leaves. 5. There is a cave you can explore on your own. We did. It's awesome. It's muddy. It's super cool. 6. There are some decent bouldering spots. 7. Cheap, huge bundles of firewood at park entrance. 8. Really friendly at the camp store. 9. Close to Strawberry Point. Go to town to Clayton's Pharmacy and get an old fashioned soda. Fantastic. 10. Close to Edgewood and the Edgewood Locker. Go visit and stock up on meat on the way home.

I have visited a lot of Iowa parks and campgrounds. Backbone is one on my favorites. Backbone is the oldest state park in Iowa. You can take your canoe out on the lake or hit some of the hiking trails. There are cabins for rent if you don't want to sleep in a tent.

Click on the following link to download the trail maps: www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/parks/trailmaps/trails_backbone.pdf

This is a great place to stay but make sure you get your reservations in early if you plan on staying on the weekend. If you want it to be quiet and prefer less crowds but you still want to enjoy the park, I highly suggest taking some time off of work during the week and avoiding the weekend.

This is a special place, the facilities, the showers, the campsites, the trails, and the lake are top quality.

There are two campgrounds at this park (the first state park in Iowa): a primitive one and a “modern” one. The primitive one (Six Pine) only has a pit toilet and each site has a fire grate and a picnic table. The modern campground (South Lake) has 30 amp, 50 amp, and tent sites. The electric sites are very close together (too close for our liking) so we opted for a tent site. We were in a loop with about six sites, and while the site size was generous and spaced a decent distance apart, there was no delineation between sites and no specific place to park your vehicle (and you cannot park on the road). These sites were also decidedly bumpy and not level; it took us about 15 minutes of maneuvering our van around to find a reasonably level spot. 

The restrooms were six separate rooms, each complete with toilet, sink, and shower; they were clean. 

We drove around the park and saw the balanced rock (meh) and I walked the short distance to the mouth of the cave. There was good signage to find the cave but once there, no information about the cave and its safety (or not) was available so I opted not to explore its dark and wet interior! There are seven trails in the park; the East Lake trail was a treat to hike. It hugs the lake for about two miles and while you can veer off onto the Bluebird Trail, I enjoyed hiking out and back for a different view. You can also hike from the South Lake campground to the beach– about a mile but the trail does start and stop, and you have to walk on the road for a bit. You can rent kayaks, canoes, and paddleboats but we did not take advantage of this. We also did not swim so I cannot speak to the quality of the lake (other reviewers took issue with this). There is also a CCC museum, but it was not open while we were there. 

We stayed one night which was sufficient for us. It might have been nice to stay longer if we decided to rent kayaks or hike different trails.