Cabin camping near Mason City is a great way to escape into nature, yet still have all the comforts of home. Finding a place to cabin camp in Iowa is easier than ever. When you're looking for a quiet location in nature, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect cabin rental.
$16 - $22 / night
This park has something for everyone. The trails take visitors around wet lowlands, oak savanna, and grasslands. Albert Lea Lake and park marshes draw hundreds of waterfowl during migration. Oak savanna and prairie landscape, including wetlands, dominate most of the park. One of the more unique aspects of the park is the 116-acre Big Island, covered with maple/basswood forest. Another is the glacial esker located in the northeast section of the park.
$14 - $22 / night
Traveler
Sites are approximately 2 miles from parking and the hike it relatively easy with minimal elevation change. You have a choice between a grassy walk or walking mainly on tar and gravel as part of the Blazing Star Trail. They are also accessible by boat.
There are 4 backpacking sites and they are well-spaced so you each have privacy. #3 and #4 are close enough that you could be in a group together but #1 and #2 are pretty isolated. Each site has a fire pit, picnic table, wood cabinet/fish cleaning table, at least 1 flat spot for a tent, and a nearby porta potty.
Views of the lake are amazing with a variety of birds making appearances. Harvesting season may bring some farm sounds but otherwise, aside from the occasional train, you'll mainly hear the sounds of nature around you.
If you can make the walk carrying everything, including water, on your back, definitely check out one of these sites.
Traveler
We stayed in White Fox Site 97 from September 13-15. No one was nearby until late in the evening on the 14th, so it felt very private and quiet. Although I know that is because the people in the campground were quiet... thank you! Tons of trails; paved, gravel, or grass; you can explore the entire park. We had a bit of rain and then it got hot again so it was super muggy. Of course that is the weather, not the park. The ranger was friendly and helpful. Great worry free trip, just like camping should be!
Guide
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 !
GuideNice 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.
LegendRoomy gravel sites. A mix of electric and non-electric sites. Commercial fire rings. Electrical needs refreshing. We had an issue with the 30A breaker not resetting on site 46E; eventually relocated to 47E. Park employee Noah was very accommodating and pleasant to deal with. He came out to the site to discuss options with us and eventually made some site reservation changes to resolve the situation. Close to town, nice historic district.
Guide
Beautiful large sites along the river so you can fish as well as has a pond that you can swim in with three beach entry areas. Large bath house with restrooms and showers and a little free library inside. Very long parking pads- big rig friendly and very roomy sites. Nice walking trails on the east and south side of the park. Very creative natural play park for children to play on. Full hook up sites with a very reasonable nightly rate. It appeared that some of the campsites were seasonal but couldn’t confirm that.
ScoutWe were here mid week and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Beautiful old growth forest with lots of shade. For July the bugs weren’t bad. After traveling across South Dakota and dealing with 100 plus temperatures with no shade this was a welcome change. The rangers and hosts were welcoming and helpful. The bathrooms and showers are ultra modern and clean. We are planing on stopping back here on our way home.
GuideWe visited in early April so the sites were quite exposed, I can imagine they would be more private in the summer. Water and showers were not open yet as it was too cold but the vault toilets were well maintained.
ScoutOk cell coverage for Verizon, no issues web surfing. Site 7E was larger with a good size and distance from others. Not the fault of the campground, bugs were in full force. Tons of tree coverage and very humid making it a great place for the little buggers. Would probably visit October/November when cold gets rid of them and the tree coverage. Hard to see the amazing views in the summer. Again, no fault of campground, just a consideration. Also, no real potty spots for pups. Either weeds/woods or muddy spots attempting to be grass/weeds. Best was around the showers/restrooms. Those were by far the shining gem of this campground. Fantastic bathing facilities. We’re self contained, so didn’t need it but my spouse did go use the restroom there instead of waiting. We peeked in the showers and they were really nice looking.
GuideWe arrived after dark last night so we weren't able to see the gorgeous view until the sun rose! Luckily we woke up early and went for a walk right as the sun was coming up. It was quite cold, a little over 20°, but that meant the lake was frozen solid so we got to walk around on it! Tons of fun. Unfortunately the bathhouse, water spigots, and dump station were closed. That is not a super big deal since we have a camper. And it was publicized on their website about the dump stations being closed. The sites were spacious, the one we were in was non electric and a back-in site. But for $24 a night it was pretty nice! Especially would be worth it if more of the amenities had been open, but with how cold it is, it's very understandable that they would have them closed. There was still an outhouse with a vault toilet that was open. Unsure if there is a working sink because we did not use it. We had to call to make a same day reservation which was a tad bit annoying but the man on the phone was very helpful and nice so not bad at all.
TravelerWe stayed at the Big Island Campground in the beginning of August. The sites seemed pretty large to us. My kids loved skipping rocks at the little shore at the entrance to the big island. You cannot swim in the lake but there are canoes and kayaks to rent. We really enjoyed our time here. Rangers were super nice and helpful. We hiked about 5 miles, saw a few deer and other animals. Bathrooms were very nice and clean. All of us that remembered to reapply bug spray didn't have any bites.
TravelerGreat spot for nature seekers. Great bike trails. Well spaced, quiet sites. Electric hookup for RV and easy dump station. Showers were what you can expect but good pressure and hot water. No where to swim in the lake.
Guide
People are nice small campground. Not much for kids to do but if your staying overnight it’s fine for travelers.
LegendThere are two campgrounds in this state park. We snagged the last open site on the island. There are a mix of families, older folks and even a youth group. Our site is fully shaded as are most others. There is a central shower house and a couple vault toilets in the two loops. The trail heads out around the edge of the island. It’s a little over 1 mile long. There are a bunch of small trails leading to some spots to sit along the water. We headed down each offshoot and enjoyed our visit. A paved trail leads back and ends up right across from our campsite. The weather is cool so we stayed an extra day. The place cleared out on Sunday night. We are the only ones in this loop. We would stay here again but not in the middle sites. We feel too much in view of everyone which causes some distraction for the dog.
LegendGeneral: A mixture of tent (non-electric) and electric sites, mostly arranged in several rows.
Site Quality: Mixed. Not all sites are level, and most do not have delineated parking pads (there is a small pavement indent to show where to access the site). A fire pit and picnic table complete the site. Most of the sites are too close together for our liking, however, when we were there (a Monday at the end of August, the day before school started), we were only one of three sites occupied so for our stay it didn’t matter.
Bathhouse: Basic but clean. My biggest complaint is there were no hooks or shelves for toiletries by the sinks. The showers looked nice but we did not use them.
Activities: Horseback riding (there are trails for this), hiking, fishing. Although we did see several trailheads, I did not have a map so didn’t explore them. There is an observation tower, but it is a two-mile walk/drive from the campground (on paved roads; I didn’t try to find hiking trails to get there).
Misc: A shout-out to the great host, Pam, who greeted us as we arrived. The observation tower, entrance gates, and picnic shelter were all constructed by the CCC and were beautiful. It almost seemed like the campground was an afterthought as it is outside the entrance gates and nowhere near the tower. The layout of the campground would be challenging if all sites were occupied.
Scout40 site Totally renovated 2 years ago nestled along the little Cedar river above the dam. New Shower house/bathrooms. Natural themed kids play area including a huge tree house. City water and sewer with 50 and 30 amp to each site. Man made swimming pond with a lighted waterfall. Volleyball and walking trails with primitive camping across the road. Cabin with air conditioning and fully furnished further up the river on 200 acres of county land. Fishing above and below the dam. Picnic table and fire ring at every site.
GuideWe tent camped at Myre-Big Island State Park in Minnesota from September 30 to October 3, 2022. The weather was warmer than usual at this time of year, and the fall color development was a couple weeks behind normal. It was cool but beautiful during the daytime (light jacket/sweater weather). The temperature dropped at night but didn’t require anything more than our sleeping bags to keep us warm. The earlier sunset meant meal cooking and cleanup needed to be a bit earlier, but it also meant longer time for beautiful campfires in the evenings.
The trails were in great shape and beautiful with past-peak grasses and developing colors in the trees. Most of the wildflowers were done for the year, but some were still in bloom. Deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and lots of birds were active near the trails and campgrounds.
We have camped here previously, in early summer. Then the bugs were abundant and aggressive on the Big Island trails. During this fall trip, there were very few.
GuideTook the further spot out away from everyone that you can in a pull in. Couple big piles of wild animal poo but decent and for the most part quiet. Definitely alot less traffic than stating on the island campground. Plus this one closes for winter soon so tried it out.
Traveler
Wilder Park is a beautiful city park. Very much a gem, quiet and peaceful . 50 + sites with about half of them full hook up. Costs for a full hook up in 2022 was under $25 a night. The park has two fishing areas, a dog park,pickle ball, volleyball mini golf, basketball and two playgrounds. A beautiful walking and bike path connects the parks to the neighboring cities. A free dump is also available. We highly recommend this park. 1
TravelerI've always considered myself blessed to have this state park so close to home. This is a beautiful, well kept state park. Now days if you plan to camp on the weekends you basically have to make a reservation here as it is usually pretty busy but even than if you can get a spot most of the sites are pretty private, you'll hear the other campers but especially in big island there's a good amount of growth between camp sites. I've camped here many times throughout my life because it's close to home and is super convenient for a quick overnight or weekend trip, it's only a few miles from home but once I'm out there and camp is set up it's an escape and it wouldn't matter if it was a few miles or a few hundred miles, it's spending time in nature. There's really nice hiking trails here and access to the lake for fishing. Both white fox and big island have new bathrooms that are very nice and updated.
GuideI've been using this as a night over stop before going on to the Black Hills or on my way back home. The first time I stayed the night over there it was a nightmare just because of this family or group of people showed up late and didn't comprehend quiet hours. So needless to say I had little to no sleep.
The other times I've stayed there it was quiet and not too many people around. Kind of buggy but that's expected with the water and all the shade.
TravelerThe facilities and space are beautifully kept. If you are looking for a swimming destination it might not be in my top ten, but they have tons of availability of watercraft! Most impressive part to me is their accessibility! They have a trek chair/track chair? Which for anyone wanting to hike with mobility issues it offers a lot of access.
TravelerDecent, clean campground. We were staying just one night on the way to our final destination. This was right off the expressway, so perfect for that. We didn’t use any of the facilities m, so can’t comment on those.
GuideWe spent four nights tent camping at the White Fox Campground of Myre-Big Island State Park in June 2022. This park is a combination woodland/prairie/wetland setting. The White Fox Campground is on the fringes of a woodland. Our campsite was grassy and open with trees and shrubs curving along the back of the site. The site had the usual fire ring with grill and a large picnic table.
There are some nice trails for hiking through woodlands and prairie and alongside wetlands. We saw a lot of wildlife: several deer, red squirrels, chipmunks, a raccoon, a woodchuck, lots of different birds, and several different types of butterflies. In the mornings the birdsong was pretty amazing, loud and long lasting.
There are two freeways and a rail line near the park, but the noise from them was only bothersome on one morning of our stay.
There is a second campground on the Big Island portion of the park. Big Island is wooded and has some beautiful trails that we enjoyed.
ScoutBeautiful campground. Well maintained. Nice facilities. You can’t beat this place for the price. Nice hiking trails too.
GuideWe stayed on the mainland campground White Fox in site #78, bordered on 3 sides by trees and shrubs for privacy. The bathroom/ shower facilities were very recently done. This park is unique as you can drive across a causeway and get on the Big Island which has more trails and another campground. We were here in May and the bugs were awful (I get it, they're part of being out in nature). At one point I just had to yell "RUN" at my partner as I fled with our dog because the may flies were swarming so thickly that it was all you could hear and see. Great park with lots of history, check it out and enjoy.
ScoutFor $12/night on a 30AMP hookup, I really can't complain. This is my first of many stops in the new RV, needed a place to camp out before getting it serviced the next day. Enjoyable scenery, especially at sunset
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular cabin campsite near Mason City, IA?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular cabin campground near Mason City, IA is Pilot Knob State Park — Pilot Knob State Preserve with a 4.3-star rating from 12 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 12 cabin camping locations near Mason City, IA, with real photos and reviews from campers.
