Best RV Parks & Resorts near New Vienna, IA

This is an amazing park on the Wisconsin/Iowa border, overlooking where the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers join. I usually try to get in at least 1 trip a year, if lucky enough 2-3. Amazing park with great views, camping, hiking, canoeing/kayaking. Very clean restrooms and showers, tent and trailer camping. If you are lucky enough to get a site on the ridge you won't be disappointed.

Very nice county Rv park, best to call for reservations but not heavily used during the week

Gravel parking spots, fairly level, most without shade unless you get on the "back loop" where you can find 4 with good shade. All manner of amenities (electric only, water & electric, and a few with full hookups). Bathrooms are clean and well stocked. 4 private showers available...clean. Weekends are typically busier than weekdays.

There are about 30 electric site big enough for RVs, and about 35 non electric site. All are very nice sites with fairly level gravel pads. There are lots of trees for shade making the sites really beautiful if not spacious. We had a tight fit with our travel trailer on site 33e, but once we squeezed in it was excellent. Two bathrooms one with showers, and well kept. The best thing about this park are the wonderful hiking trails. Some are ADA accessible near the camp store, but most are a good climb with lots of ups and downs. Town of McGregor has a few cute restaurants and bars, but enjoy the park and the amazing views of the Mississippi and the Wisconsin rivers. Several big rig RVs were there, but call ahead if you’ve got a big RV to make sure you’ll fit.

There are some fantastic cycling routes near the river, with stops in all the little towns along the way. A wonderful place to spend a weekend, with apple orchards nearby.

Not a level site to be had. Significant slope at all RV/camper sites. Bathrooms leave a lot to be desired: maintenance and updating.

Well, we were definitely the only tent in an otherwise completely rv/camp trailer section of the park. Sites are level and small, but completely sand and gravel -- so was a bit tricky getting our pegs in. There is really no privacy here and you can see all your neighbors, and be seen by them. That being said, everyone was respectful of quiet hours and very friendly. Also our site had FULL sun, so def something to plan for. A lot of others had more midday tree coverage it seemed. Did not look at the walk-in tent sites as they were all booked, but I imagine being down in the trees would afford more seclusion.

No Tmobile service for the most part, but that was fine for me. The main draw here were the caves and trails and they absolutely exceeded expectations! Even my little chihuahua seemed to enjoy her first spelunking experience.

Well run campground with full hookups available for$35/ night. Bathrooms are clean and lots of warm water for showers. Great place for a night or two. Near the highway but road noise is minimal.

No such thing as a level camping spot at this campground. Bathrooms have three toilets and one shower stall. Bathroom is outdated. Needs serious repainting and improving. Campground hosts were friendly and on top of things! There was an event at the golf course...very snotty ladies parked their vehicles on our campsite and refused to move. Campground hosts were notified and they alerted DNR who in turn forced them to remove vehicles off our paid and reserved campsite. No playground equipment for children to enjoy. No dump station for RVs.

We are staying here specifically to visit the monument. It is crowded with older people like us,in the electric sites, and their older dogs. Level sites. Showers. Concession stand at the picnic area. There are stunning views of the Mississippi River Valley too. Many trails will lead you by ancient Native burial mounds, including an Effigy of a bear (probably a bear.) Heard an owl close by last night. We're not fans of side by side camping sites, but we are at Effigy Mounds or hiking this park most of the time.

There is a variety of things to do here. You can rent cabins, shelters, tent and RV camp, hike the trails especially the “Backbone”, explore the cave, fish trout streams, visit fish hatchery, swim at the beach, canoe, kayak or just have a picnic. Beautiful park! My sons have even repelled the bluffs.

Easy level sites, and helpful neighbors. Hiking was phenomenal at Pikes Peak! We will never forget those views! Loved this stop over!

This campground was large. The lake reminded me of a puzzle I did with my grandma as a kid. It was fall, and it was just gorgeous. There was a wedding the weekend we were there, but we were lucky to explore the tower the day prior. The nearby communities offer ameneties, which were needed as I sprained a knee hiking the backbone trail my third go. Absolutely adored the weekend we spent here. Wonderful neighbors, great spacious, level sites. I want to say we had electric only, and service was definitely spotty in most areas of camp. We used Verizon, and could not hulu.

Did not stay only rode through and walked around on scouting trip looking for a nice place to camp, just not what I was looking for.

Municipal campground next to a playground with what looked like one long time resident, bathrooms had chains and padlocks on the door due to vandalism (as per the sign).

Around a dozen tent pads with tables and BBQ pits and same amount of RV spots

Nice boat ramp across the street with Pearl River access.

Had pics but phone died, sorry

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.

Nice Campground. Quiet, with level sites spaced decently with nice shade. Bathrooms were OK and showers not great. From the Campground you can walk to all the hiking trails and explore the caves. The park and caves are so fun!

Loved this campground but it does have some drawbacks. Set up a lot for rv camping with site layout and connections. Some sites have the fire ring very close to the parking area and some spots have limited shade (compared to the majority of the campground that is in the trees). The bathrooms and showers are in good condition. The Mississippi River overlooks are a short walk away. There were lots of birds and spiders around the campground. There are a good number of hiking trails in the park.

This campground is tucked into a little area next to a Walmart, Culvers, and Mini golf course. It sits between east Dubuque and Galena. When we stayed they had a dirt bike rally. They have a lot of property you can't see from the road, and honestly we had driven by this place many times but just never stayed. 

The staff in the store was great and very helpful. They have a ton of sites (125) that range from tent all the way to full hookup. If you get along the outsides you have a lot more privacy and better chance they will be level. If you aren't worried about sharing a conversation with your neighbor then you can pick anything. We were up the street from a "girls" weekend where they had turned the bed of a pickup into their own pool since the properties pool was closed due to the pandemic. 

Lots to do here with the ability to play mini golf on a very nice course, walk through the trees and property, and get ice-cream from culvers. I imagine this place is a great place for group sites. 

They also had some cabins to stay in but we chose not to stay there. Instead we found a partially shaded area at site 109.

We stayed in walk-in site C, which the furthest site from the parking lot. Arrive before dark!! The wheelbarrows provided are a lifesaver, the trail to the site is manageable until the last 50 feet, which is steep and rocky.

It is a smaller site and mostly slanted so we had to use our backpacking tent (90"x70") on the small patch that's sort of level, as our car camping tent (10'x14') was entirely too huge.

The views are stunning. There was a pair of bald eagles in a nest down by the river - bring binoculars!

HUGE caveat - this site sits on a ridge above a county highway and freight train tracks. There are also train tracks on the other side of the river. When trains are blowing their horns miles away, the sound carries. When they go past the site, it's incredibly loud! I was amazed at the racket - we live in Chicago on a busy street, a block from the L and the Metra tracks. 

Bring ear plugs, trains rolled through until just after midnight and started up around 5am (that I noticed anyway).

While Site C is incredibly difficult to reserve (best dates I could find were a Mon-Wed in October which I booked in APRIL), it's worth the views and the privacy.

Site D is the first of the four walk-ins, huge, level, has a wide view, and  a bend in it's trail so isn't exposed. A great choice if C is booked.

Site A is next, least amount of privacy, medium sized, looked level. Sites B was occupied our entire time there so wasn't able to check it out, but it's a bit more private.

Pit toilet by the walk-in sites was as nice as pit toilet gets, it even has a urinal. Water is conveniently located near the parking.

Shower house with flush toilets was really nice, 2-3 shower stalls and 4 toilets. No pay, just have to push the button over and over since the water only stays on for 10 seconds.

The electric and non-electric sites are well spaced and on the larger side. A nice campground overall.

For supplies and firewood, I recommend the Okey Market. It's convenient and has everything you need, huge beer cave too. If you want some local flavor, stop into the Silver Spigot Saloon, cheap beer, tasty fries, and they have a dog-friendly patio.

Mud Lake is a wonderful county park near Dubuque. Beautiful views of the Mississippi River. We stayed one night on our way to Minnesota. The sites are mostly sunny. The park streets are gravel with gravel sites. The park is quiet except for the occasional train from the nearby tracks. Great value for $21. Electric and water hookups. Marina and boathouse next door.

Stayed in campsite #35 which has no shade. It was a gravel site which shares a pull-through with site 36. There was more than enough parking for my TT and truck and grass on either side. The site included: picnic table and fire ring. Utilities were located in the rear. 20A/50A electric and water. Site was level. Neighbors were nearby.

AT&T had 2 bars of LTE and Verizon 2 bars of LTE service. AT&T Speedtest: 47 Mbps down, 1.3 Mbps up. Verizon data VERY SLOW. No WiFi.

Would stay here again. We camped at Mud Lake Park in a Travel Trailer.