Best Cabin Camping near Du Bois, NE

My husband and I tent camped one night at this park. We arrived around 8 pm and even though the office was getting ready to close, the woman behind the counter was very kind and helpful. She helped us with finding our spot and with getting firewood. Our basic tent site was lakeside and had a fire pit and picnic table. The site was so well maintained it was hard to find small sticks for kindling.

The grounds have private bathrooms with toilets and showers. There are two nice playgrounds and a swimming pool. Most campers were enjoying fishing in the small lake. Kayaks were available to rent for a small fee. Kids enjoyed riding bikes around the flat roads.

This is a great spot off I-29 to set up camp and have a rest. It's also a good spot to take young kids fishing.

Stayed one night on Sept 4. Camped at site 35 in the non-equestrian campground; non-electric fee $15. Parked van on the grass at this site. Like nearly all of the sites in this campground, this site was close to the campground road. Overall, I felt that the campsites were all bunched together - offering no privacy and spacing between sites. The shower house was closed during our visit. Water was also turned off at the wayer pumps in the campground. There was one single vault toilet available for all of the campers; it was reasonably clean. Wayne, the campground host, was nice & helpful. There is a self-serve firewood station in the campground; cost is either $5 or $10, depending on the amount of wood you purchase. The campsites have a picnic table & metal fire ring. I wasn't too pleased with this campground, but I was very happy with the nearby hiking trails within the park. It's a pretty state park with hills & lush forest. The day use areas looked great. I recommend those traveling along I-29 to stop at this park - not necessarily for the camping, but for the hiking. Had some T-Mobile 4G service.

Waubonsie State Park near Hamburg, Iowa is under construction. That is the road was when we visited. The workers were not the most helpful either. That being said the park employees were very informative, if you could find one.

We visited enroute through the area and enjoyed the trails most of all. Though my map skills are questionable I had a more then usual difficult time navigating by the map supplied. The signage was close to non-existent. I fell back on the tried and true , always go left. Which worked well enough for the ridge line we hiked. Some awesome views.

I often have the problem of comparing places I’ve been. You can’t do this state to state I’ve learned because they all run, staff and take care of their natural resources in different ways. I do my best to base my opinion on face value and impressions of my visit to that park. Waubonsie SP is my first Iowa Park , I was not impressed. BUT it was in the style I like, sparsely used, I saw few campers or employees. Of course school was in and harvest going on and I know that makes a huge difference in certain states. Mostly just blue-hairs camping right now, soon to snowbird to the south :) I aspire to that life someday.

Other then the roadwork the park looked to be somewhat maintained. The cabins I saw need some updating but were functional. The campground was basic, grill, fire ring , picnic table, electric on designated sites. Needed some clean up and graveling on the pads. The facilities were not ancient and were maintained okay. The visitors center looked brand new but was closed so no souvenirs goodies.

I would not consider this a destination campground, but the view is worth an overnight enroute somewhere else.

The state park is well maintained but doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles! Sites are flat, mostly pull through. Bathrooms and showers are nice and clean. Pool was closed for construction when we stayed, but looked nice. They have really nice little cabins for rent is camping isn’t your strong suit! Not much in the area to visit if fishing isn’t your thing though! There is a drive through nature preserve fairly close but we didn’t go do it. Kayak rental is available but if fishing isn’t your thing this might not be the park for you. Lots of flat roads for biking though!

This newly acquired campground is truly a hidden gem. The new owners really care about making your stay pleasant.

There are two RV areas. The Sycamore Bluff Campground (North) and Shady Oak Campground (South).

We stayed in the Shady Oak Campground which was geared more towards families with children.

There is a skating rink, tennis courts, basketball court, mini golf, and small park for children. You have to buy an activity pass for everything which is $10 a day. If you’re camping you get one activity pass for free. Children 5 and under are free as well. Sundays are free as well.

They have heated shower rooms which are very clean.

The RV spots are pretty close together so backing in can be a challenge. The Sycamore Bluff Campground to the North of the campground has pull-through spots.

Firewood is $5 per bundle and ice is $5 per bag. You leave your money in a box in the red depot office and take what you pay for. This is also where you check in.

We stayed through Monday. Sunday was completely empty except for our family which made it slightly eerie at night.

Overall we had a great time and will be returning next year.