Best Campgrounds near Sumner, IA

Was very thankful to find a place to overnight in mid-November. Not a lot of free parking options in this part of Iowa. No water, electric, or dump station, so very much like a parking lot overnight from that perspective. However, the park is situated on the valley bottom of the Yellow River Forest with beautiful tall trees, and there are fire rings. Fee was $12. First come first served basis from November through March.

This is a lovely park. It is fairly quiet, you can hear some highway noise in the distance. The lake is lovely and clean. The spots are gravel, most sites will require some leveling but are not too bad. 

Each site has a newer electric pedestal with 30 and 50 amp service, and each site has a water spigot, as well as a picnic table and fire ring.

There are a few sites that back up directly to the lake. There is a swimming beach and a dock. There is a city park adjacent to the campground with a playground and picnic shelter.

I had 3 bars on on T-mobile which got me 64 down and 18 up. On Verizon I had 3 bars which got me 65 down and 12 up.

The shower house was pretty bad though. It was older, which doesn't bother me, but it was dirty. There are camp hosts on site but I guess their duties do not include ever cleaning the restroom. There was food trash in there all week, and if you look around you'll find feces, blood, and personal hygiene trash including used condoms.

I would stay in this campground again because I have a self contained unit and do not need to use the on-site shower house.

I enjoyed my 5 night stay at Oelwein City Park Campground. It's located on the south end of town, there is only one business within walking distance. It's a great restaurant (Oelwein Family Restaurant) and it's about a 15 minute walk.

There is one shower house, and several vault toilets throughout the park. The shower house is old and a little run down but was very clean. I had no problems using it.

The city park is adjacent to the campground and has picnic shelters, a playground, and a dog park.

There are electric and water hookups at most sites, and there is a dump station. The park was pretty full on the weekend as you would expect, but very quiet during the week.

I had great Verizon and T-mobile service here.

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.

 Please do not ignore the negative reviews written by people on other sites regarding the owners. My husband and I drove almost 2 hours to check out the campground. We are looking for a permanent site for our RV next year. When we arrived we called the phone number listed on the closed gate. The owner, Joyce came out and said we would need an appointment to drive thru and she did not have time to show us around. The owner was very rude. We had been on their website and it did not state appointments were needed. Yes, I guess we could have called ahead, but as seasoned campers its never been a problem to check out a campground ahead of time.. Just beware owner unfriendly:( NO WE WONT BE RETURNING, WE WOULD NEVER STAY HERE

Randy was amazing and very attentive to my questions. Check in was super easy and the directions for check in were clearly spelled out. Everything was mapped out and the website was easy to use as well. The pond itself was pretty to look at and made for great photos, however it was loaded with geese which made it not user friendly. I would recommend this campground, and I will definitely go back to camp again!

Came to learn more about Tenkara fly fishing. Had a ball. Visited the 3 lookouts including Iowa only Fire tower. Bird life is colorful. Lots of places to hike. Scenery is lush. I had no phone service. Campsites are well mown, have a picnic table and fire ring. Pit toilets. Easy access to water. Drink water and firewood are at the host A frame. There is no dump site. Everyone was very friendly. Helpful. Nights were quiet. Very relaxing.

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 a short hike away from beautiful trails that overlook the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. The boardwalk trails also lead to a small falls and more. Site 51, where we stayed, is near trailhead but on a slight slope. Showers, water, dump station available here, no playground

This is a beautiful scenic view right next to the river and there are picnic tables fire rings and a trash can and porta potty with a water spigot for fresh water

Bailey's Ford has everything you need for a night or a week. It's clean and beautiful. Trout stream, trails, river access, showers and a playground. I recommend!