Best Tent Camping near Paullina, IA

Was it expecting how nice this campground was compared to more primitive ones in the area. Beautiful site! Has tent camping, full rv hook ups, and a nice playground for the kids.

They have 62 RV spots and seven tent camping sites the RV spots have a really nice level concrete pad half of them have electric and water and the other half also have a sewer hook up charge was $20 a night beautiful old trees new management that is really keeping everything clean Showers and restrooms Fills up on weekends

 

The campsite seems to be more for RVs. Tent camping is just a field with a few picnic tables in it and has a bit of a walk from the parking lot with your equipment. The shower house was nice and clean. There is a barn there to use as a picnic shelter which is very pretty. The overall campground is pleasant and in beautiful country.

Had a grassy & shady tent site. There were vault/pit toilets close and regular restrooms with showers a little walk away (showers needed to be cleaned). Water spigot was close by too. Wish we had more time to explore the park itself because there was lots of hiking/waking trails. Overall no complaints

Decent size spots with lakefront views at just about all of them. There is a swimming hole with a little beach and walking/bike trail. They have tent sites that you have to walk to but they are right on the water away from all of the RV sites. The town of Rock Valley is small but very quaint. I'd reccomend the coffee shop Rooted. Will definitely be coming back here.

Small park, peaceful, river access for canoe/kayak. No designated camp sites but plenty of space for tent or camper.

There are 8 spots at this campground for RVs to tents.

This is a small little kmown spot in the small town of Alton Iowa. It is $10 and there are a couple spots that have electric hook ups, a water pump hydrant, And a dumpsite. The camping fee is $10 per spot self-pay.

Very cheap , 15$ a night for rv with electric and water, 5$ for tents. Huge swimming area with slides for kids, and river with a lot of fish!!! Brand New shower houses .

Found a site with no problem but clearly this is an RV focused campground. I did find a nice grassy area for my tent but my neighbors aren’t far. The river is nice and the walking trails are ok.

Camp sites for tents are super tiny and irregular shaped. Lots of sloping on sites. Generally tight quarters to other campers and plenty of road noise until about 10 PM. A few good options for fishing, boating and hiking near by.

$11 for one night in a tent. Was a halfway point to my destination and a last minute thing. Has some cool trails, and the area is nice enough. Bathroom/showers are a mess, but it’s a state park so I didn’t expect much.

Out in the farm fields in the middle of nowhere is this tiny little park and campground. When I first pulled up I didn’t see the campground, just the park. The park is actually divided in two parts with a wooded area in between. On the left is the park with bathrooms, meeting building and playground and on the right is the campground. The campground is really just a place for rvs to pull up and have some power and water. There are only about a dozen of these pull thru’s and no designated tent area. There are some trees that are well spaced for hammocks but you would be right next to someone’s RV. You have to walk to the other side of the woods to access the bathrooms. It was mown and maintained, but nothing special. Thankfully the place was empty so I could hang my hammock between two sites to relax and no one was around to care that I put my tent up in the grass instead of in a pull thru.

Stone State Park, Sioux City, Iowa

End of a not to long day driving across Iowa......corn, lotsa corn! We stopped at Dolliver Memorial State Park for a hike about midday, it looked a bit better taken care of then Stone SP.

This is basically a small primitive campground with electric added to some sites. Not horrible for an overnight....

First impression.....I considered getting back on the road. The people that I saw in the meager campground looked somewhat homeless. No offense and they do need to stay somewhere however they could also keep their areas decluttered and detrashed. There was a family staying on the far side of the ditch that seemed to be camping.

There was constant vehicle traffic around the small loop my site was on, they seemed to have no purpose other then to stare. The campground shower house was used by whomever felt like using it which also added to the traffic.

After Maquoketa Cave SP this is a disappointment. The trails were overgrown and the map was not easy to orient. I only explored so far so I may have missed the cool stuff that signifies this park. There was sketchy coverage for your phone so I couldn’t pull up Alltrails, make sure to download before You drive in.

Planned to stay for the weekend to test out new tent but storms came through & we left after one night. Basic campground in shady area under trees. We did not get an electric hookup. Ground was mostly dirt not grass on our site & mostly dry. Large trees provided shade which helped as very hot & humid. We were next to a ravine but with plenty of bug spray did not get many bites. Hiked the Bear & Buffalo trails. Campground very quiet though a few people came & went. Washrooms are very basic & chose not to use shower. The Park Ranger did check on us & advise on weather conditions. Picnic table & fire pit were fine. Got only 1 bar signal on both Verizon & AT&T. No WiFi. Overall basic, woody/shaded. Good for short stay.

Ratings are really subjective. What are you after? 

~A secluded spot in nature? 0 stars. 

~A small campground inside a small town with flushing toilets and showers (albeit not new, super clean, or extremely nice), a lake with docks and boat ramp, large playground (with the cool old structures AND new ones), a baseball diamond, football field, city pool, creek with fish, and a tennis/basketball court? 5 stars. Yes, ALL of those things are right next to the campground.

I grew up in Lake Park, and I've stayed in this campground as an adult with kids (simply to visit family, certainly not to "get away" and enjoy nature). Lake Park is a small, rural town, and the current local passtime appears to be driving around town in ATVs and side-by-sides. It is noisy and extremely annoying. Every single person that drives by will stare at you; welcome to a small town.

There are a couple tent spots (one of which we utilized) that have some shade, a picnic table, and a fire ring. There's also a small RV area where people live in their RV's (complete with decks) for the summer. 

If you stay here, perhaps to visit the lakes area without the crowds or at a lower cost, perhaps to fish in Silver Lake, or... well I don't know why else you would stay here... you should definitely try the breakfast or taco pizza at Stans Corner -- the local gas station/convenience store. You could also walk to the 2-block downtown on Market Street and try out one of a couple restaurants or a few bars. If you want to swim in the lake (I really don't think it's good for swimming anymore, but if you want to try your luck) you can go to the boat ramp by the bridge by the city park, the dock at the end of Trappers Bay, or to the public access area (dock and boat ramp) on the west side of the lake, accessed via 110th Ave (go west on Hwy 9, and turn left onto 110th st., it's a mile or two in on the right side of the road.

Regardless of the passtimes of driving around and staring, the people of Lake Park are generally very friendly, so you should definitely walk around and meet some people.

Very modern campground with part time resident hosts.  Rangers are also available. 4 modern cabins and 48 sites with water, electric , cable tv. internet, and separate dump station. Snack bar and a nice sand beach on the premises.   A very  nice playground for the kids.  Small lake where boating is permitted but no gas motors.  Also nice for canoeing, kayaking or  fishing. Nice paths for hiking or biking. Only half mile to town where you can get anything you need

Very nice level campsites

The campground is hard to get a spot at and is far away from the lake. The lake and grounds are well maintained. The showers are decent but take quarters to use them. Decent campground but not my favorite to go to in the area.

Very small campground. Only 6 sites,  Pit toilets,  2 ponds. Water and electric hookups.  Nice open shelter under a large tree. Fishing and open country,

Primitive camping was awesome

Lots of campers here now most of them are long-term you can call the office to reserve a site 712-541-8556 cell or 712-737-8931 office