Best Tent Camping near Whittemore, IA

Nice clean park, if passing through Iowa it's a nice overnight. A little loud if tent camping. Area not large enough to separate hard shell campers and tent campers. Plenty of fly's and mosquitoes, plenty of shade.

Beautiful views, wonderful trails, cramped campground, poor tent camping conditions.

We have a smaller camper and got lucky to fit into a smaller spot that backed up to the woods. We both grew up around here and have always kayaked,fished,hiked, tent camped in the park. Love the scenic trails, there’s so many. Good for pictures. Also they rebuilt the boat ramp and it’s really nice now. Nice river to kayak, not as scenic as some but fun even though the rivers low. There’s 2 cabins you can rent which I did a couple times years ago, they are clean with kitchen. Overall nice park.

This park is a CCC built park. Lots of twists and turns for an RV to get to their spot. We have a longer TT, and it was tight and nerve wracking to navigate. We had reserved a spot that was supposed to be long enough for our trailer, but was not. They were luckily not full but the spot we found was on a slope and uneven. I thought about driving 4 hours back home rather than continue to try to get the RV level. Someone across the way took pitty and helped us. I think the best RV spots are up the hill by the bath house.

On Lake Okoboji but heavily wooded no view, acorns dropped on our roof every 10 minutes, I was afraid it would bust the skylight. Marshy area by the tent sites tons of mosquitoes. If you can get a spit at Emerson down the road, do that. Bath house and playground ok. No one answered the phone, no one at the ranger station. Rode our bikes down the road to get the bike trail.

A hidden gem in Northwest Iowa. It is Memerial Day Weekend and on Friday night we had one other tent camper on Friday. None on Saturday. 

The bathrooms are the old hole going down into a pit. They are very rustic. 

There are plenty of trails in the park. The big creek that runs through the kiddos can play in. It is not deep but it’s water. There are some other small little creeks too.

Around the camping area, the kids rode their bikes. We did ride around the roads as a family. 

The camp site are dirt. 

There are permanent fire rings and grills at each site. Only place to get firewood was at Hy-Vee. Our site had electricity with 50, 30,& 20 amps. 

There is only one water spot in the campground. We drank the water and didn’t die. 

There is a golf course next to the park that is fun. 

My only real complaint would be there is a lot of people just driving through.

Campground Renovation: The campground will be closed from April 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019.

Marble Beach`s campground is the largest in the Iowa Great Lakes Region. The campground is well shaded and features paved roads, boat ramps, modern restroom and shower facilities, as well as a sanitary dump station. The campground includes non-electric sites and sites with electrical hookups.

Spirit Lake is the largest natural lake in Iowa and provides some of the best fishing in the state. Anglers will find challenging sport pursuing a variety of game fish including walleye, northern pike, muskellunges, largemouth and smallmouth bass, white bass, perch, bluegills, crappies, catfish, and bullheads.

Emmerson Bay is the Best for Tubing on tbe Iowa Great lakes so access for your boat here too is also amazing, However theres not a place here to park it. But this place is awesome for icefishing as well!

Sites can accommodate tents or up to 50' RVs. Lots of grass, bike/walking paths and dogs on leashes welcome. 14 Sites now, with plans for 10+ Sites built this summer. On site host, so typically quiet and friendly. One price, $25/night.

It was serene and beautiful. The sunset over the water was absolutely amazing. Breathtaking scenery. There is a shower and toilets. And it costs $20 for a tent sight, $25 for a power hookup sight. We'll worth the stop, I almost didn't want to leave. I would stay here again!

Fort Defiance is a forresty natural state park in Iowa. There is Electrical Hook ups a picnic Table and a charcoal Grill already at the camp site. The valley has a small river or a big creek, idk you tell me the difference, what you can cross over a few times on the trails. Depending on the time of day, generally in the morning you can cruise through at day break and find deer on the roads to watch out!

Nice state park campground in West Okoboji Iowa. Close enough to the action of Lake Okoboji yet has a fairly remote feel. After doing some looking around the area, I believe that this is probably the nicest campground in the area. Sites are fairly close but not super tight. This is a good place to stay for a few days if you want to explore all that Okoboji has to offer. It was full the entire time that we were here and it does fill up quickly so book your trip well in advance.

Clear Lake is a popular place to spend time in North Central Iowa. McIntosh Woods State Park is right on the lake front. The campground is not on the lake, but it has some nice shade with open space.

It also has Yurts to rent as well. There is a large station for cleaning fish and a huge picnic area with wide open space and a nice playground. There is a beach for swimming but there is no lifeguard on duty. There is also a boat ramp and a few docks for launching.

This is a great campground if you like to boat or fish. Before you get in the water make sure you check with the locals to make sure there is no harmful algae. This is a great place to spend the weekend.

General: 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.

We stayed at the Grotto of the Redemption RV park for two nights. We were in our class C while slowly making our way across the country. We had no problems getting a spot here. There are two areas. One is very close to a train line, which runs infrequently. Sites are grass, level, and reasonably well maintained. All sites are pull through. Only electrical hookups are available at the sites. This is in good condition. There is fresh water and a dump station available. Each site has a nice grassy area and there are plenty of large trees. Staff was very friendly and helpful. There was a park nearby with a playground. 

The RV park is near the Grotto. The Grotto is a fascinating achievement worth a look if you are in the area.

We had 2 bar LTE with Verizon. Our hotspot was usable and performed very well. Campground wifi was not available.

We enjoyed our brief stay at this campground. We will stay again when traveling this way.

The Grotto is interesting and inspiring. Admission is free. Two adjacent camping areas are partially shaded and will accommodate rigs of all sizes. I counted (8) 50 amp and (16) 30 amp sites. Rest rooms, showers, fresh water and a dump station are provided. The cost is $20 per night. Sites are offered on a first come first served basis. Thirty amp sites are on lush grass and include a view of a the grotto, a pond and surrounding residences. The 50 amp area offers more privacy, gravel pull through parking and more convenient shower and rest room access but a lightly used rail line runs by.