Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lake Red Rock

Camping doesn't get much better than this in Iowa. The North Overlook site is part of a much larger group of COE campgrounds on Lake Red Rock. It is heavily shaded and offers direct access to a large beach on the lake complete with shower houses and concessions. Red Rock is the largest lake in the state and can accomodate any size water craft. The campground is located directly on the Volksweg trail which offers excellent opportunities for any level of hiker or bicyclist. The town of Pella is close by and is a worthy destination in itself. Shower houses are clean as is the campground in general. Campsites are well distanced from each other and offer a good degree of privacy. The only drawback, for some, is the fact that sewer and water hookups are not available. All sites have electric. I would highly recommend this, and all the COE campgrounds on Lake Red Rock.

I stayed at Elk Rock State Park with my son and his Boy Scout troop. The weather was perfect that night and we were able to have a nice fire. The next day we broke down our tents pretty quickly because of the rain.

We obviously stayed in the group campsite, but the campground is big with lots of trees and good facilities. It even has an equestrian part of the campground for you horse lovers.

Lake Red Rock is really close so it is a great place to stay the night and then pull your boat down to the lake for some fun on the water. Iowa doesn't have any mountains but it makes up for it with a lot of green scenery and some wonderful activities like horseback riding and boating for the family.

This is a very good state park and campground.

This campground has many sites to choose from - RV with hookups as well as some non-electric tent sites. There are quite a few activities in Marshalltown, and it is within the Marshalltown city limits.

The downside is proximity. It is right next to the highway. When I was there in a tent, the hog trucks would drive by all night (loud and smelly). The RV sites are closest to the road, so maybe it is not so bad in an RV, but it is not particularly enjoyable in a tent.

Pros:

+ Marshalltown has quite a few places to eat

+ Nice bike trails (and a great bicycle store downtown)

+ It is near the Iowa River

+ Nice park in general with activities like a dog park

+ Camp host on-site

+ Decent sized campsites

+ Playground for the kids

Cons:

+ It can get busy on a summer weekend

+ Noisy - right by the highway

+ Mosquitos are really bad here

The campground itself is very nice. There is a lot of space between campsites, which is awesome!  Our site had a great view of the lake, as well.   The campgrounds are a drive away from the beach and most boat ramps.  The lake was great for kayaking, but the visit to Whitebreast beach knocked the campground scored down, as I typically look for the overall experience and not just sites/facilities in my rating.  Whitebreast beach had sand at the top, leading me to believe it would be a typical sandy beach-not at all!  As you made your way further down and into the water, there was muddy, wet clay and the beach floor was slimy and muddy. I even saw a young boy lose his shoes in the wet clay! I would return to the campground and kayak the lake, but I wouldn't recommend the beach!  I'm fairly certain my grandson and I both ended up with some kind of bug bites after being there-we're both still itching!!  Yuck! There is another beach at Lake Red Rock and perhaps it is nicer/cleaner, but I would stay away from Whitebreast if you don't like your feet sliming in clay and mud!