Best Campgrounds near New Albin, IA

I spent three trips here for a total of two months in 2024. I started the season in April for two weeks, did two weeks in June, and finished my season from September until the end of October. I loved the space of my rv sites, the sounds of frogs and owls at night, the frequent wildlife sightings, and the crazy amount of turtles. There is plenty of flat hiking, much access to the water, open spaces to play and kite fly, woods to hike in, roads to bike or scooter on, and beautiful views across a Mississippi valley. Staff are fantastic. The store is stocked well. The grounds are well maintained; although this sometimes means morning noise. The facilities are clean, and I have never had to wait for a shower. I plan my rv dumping times and have never had to wait in line. Fire wood is easy to acquire. WiFi works great. T-Mobile service is full. There is quick and easy access to civilization if you want it. There is tons and tons of water as a buffer between you and the rest of the world. Eagles, geese, pelicans, barred owls, ducks, deer, rabbits, raccoon, possum, etc. are abundant. During the week the grounds are super quiet. Weekend partying happens, but quiet time quickly puts an end to the noise. I love these grounds and expect to make it a regular addition to the start and end of my camping seasons. Note, I was there for the Aurora and it was incredible.

Took my 5 year old son camping here in early April of 2024 and it was fun. We were at site #125 which has fantastic views of the river and surrounding area's, but the wind is stronger at this spot because it's open. The entire campground is situated on top of a bluff so this compounded our wind issue. I also need to note that the majority of these campgrounds don't have much privacy or lack it entirely. This site was very open and I would opt for a little more tree coverage in the future.

There's some really nice trails and cool rock formations, couple this with the playground and nice bathrooms it makes for an ideal campground for families with younger children. Just keep in mind that it's on a bluff so there are some steep drop-off points that children could take a pretty nasty fall from. Cellphone coverage wasn't a problem either.

It was a Colder night as we camped in 30 degree weather and freezing rain came into our campground. This along with the wind made our situation feel pretty cold and we left early in April. We would stay here again but probably opt for a slightly more warm month. Over-all it's a good campground for the area.

On a side note, I bet this place looks tremendous in the fall with the changing colors.

I had good Verizon signal here (70 down, 20 up) but zero T-mobile signal.

The campground is close to down, there are two museums within walking distance (just steps from the campground entrance). Across the street is a walking & biking trail that will take you straight to downtown, where you'll find a coffee shop, a few restaurants, and other shopping. It's less than a 5 minute bike ride to get there, and very scenic as it follows the river.

The facilities are newer and pretty nice. The showers are the single-button kind with no temperature adjustment. If you wait a while, the water does get barely warm enough for a comfortable shower.

This is not a quiet campground, it has a well traveled highway on one side, and a city main street on the other side that semi trucks use during the day. Sometimes there are highschool football games at the stadium next to the campground. Late at night it does get quiet.

The sites are grass or gravel. There are electrical hookups at most sites, with water faucets spread throughout the campground. The sites are mostly shaded.

I enjoyed the George Maier Rural Heritage Center and Museum ($5 admission) and the Elkader Depot Museum (free) which are located right next to the campground.

The downside to this campground is the dump station. It is just a hole in a manhole cover. It's in a dirt/weedy area and smells terrible. It's located across the street from the campground.