Best Cabin Camping near Du Bois, NE

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.

Grew up camping and hiking here. Not many amenities but the bathrooms are clean and the trails are fantastic. The view is great from the side bluff train. Close to Nebraska city. Tent sites are not too close together. Can get pretty busy on weekends in the summer.

First off let me make it clear, I like this park. But for me this is not the greatest camping area. The sites just are to close for me as a tent camper. The could almost use some of the day use picnic area as primitive sites. The rest of this park is great. For one it is clean, and maintained. The hiking trails are not for bikes, and they have several different levels or skills levels. The look out was pretty cool as well. We will return, and do some more hiking. I am not sure the campsites were fall, but it could be because the applejacks festival going on across the river in Nebraska City.

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.

It appears not many people camp in Iowa in February. We had the campground to ourselves. We missed the crazy cold and snow by a day but it was 20 degree with the wind when I hiked the prairie. Lovely little state park, clean and the trail system was pretty neat. Wasn't perfectly flat and had some overlooks. Very much enjoyed!

Loved the hiking trails and all the green space. A little tight trying to back into our space, but very nice overall.

Waubonsie’s camping area has tent and rv, power and no power sites. Modern restrooms and showers are available. Trails are beautiful and quiet, with several scenic overlooks. Bikes are not allowed on trails. This was a perfect place to take my 12-year-old daughter hiking, and we will be back!

This is my second review, because second time is a charm. Even though the campsites are closer together than I am use to. We actually took 2 sites, one for us and one for my oldest sons site. This worked out and gave a little more space needed. This also gave us time to really explore those trails I was drooling over. We took one of the more scenic trails and took us over the top of some of those beautiful Loess Hills. I still believe it us a great hiking park, and is only a hour away from Omaha for us.

This is a great weekend spot not much to do around the park. The campsites are nice but close with not much space in between. There are 2 campgrounds, the one north of the highway is a horse campground but required. There are nice trails in this area. The campground on the south is more of a tent site. There are vault toliets, no showers. A lot of great trails o this side. All campsites include a picnic table and fire ring.

This park was a great place to head to and unplug for a weekend. We camped in the area without hookups, so we pretty much had that area to ourselves. The area with hookups was somewhat crowded. The bathrooms and shower were clean. Water is easily accessible. The park is small, and we didn't find much to do other than a few hikes. 

There are signs in the bathrooms warning of the raccoons. These signs are not exaggerating. We had a raccoon at our campsite trying to steal our food while we were there, like the raccoon was less than 10 feet from humans during mid-day.

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.

The campsite was very nice. Not too expensive. The showers and bathrooms were nice and had decent room. If you are wanting a site here it would be best to reserve one there were not a lot to choose from when we got there just about every spot was reserved. But overall was a great place to camp for a family.