For those who want to experience Falls City, but still want the creature comforts of home, consider glamping for your trip. Camping has always been a favorite form of travel for many, but Falls City, NE glamping is a new and unique way to do it. The Dyrt makes it easy to find glamping for your Falls City adventure.
Big Lake State Park is the perfect destination for a vacation or family gathering in northwest Missouri. The 407-acre state park offers everything visitors need to create a memorable vacation with a campground, camper cabins, day-use area and access to Big Lake.
$7 - $25 / night
As a site on the Lewis and Clark Historic Trail, Waubonsie State Park in southwest Iowa is known for its exceptional vistas of Iowa’s unique Loess Hills and the Nebraska plains. Its extensive trail system offers something for the avid mountain biker, equestrians looking for a relaxing ride, or anyone eager to hike amongst the tranquil surroundings of the park’s ridgetop prairies and shaded woodland valleys. With nearly 2,000 acres of recreational opportunity and quiet beauty, Waubonsie State Park is an Iowa gem waiting to be explored.
Stay overnight in one of eight cabins at Waubonsie, some featuring fireplaces and year-round accommodations. The park also contains a modern campground with non-electric and electric campsites, modern showers, restrooms, and a sanitary dump station. The more primitive equestrian campground contains non-electric sites with hitching rails, pens, and pit vault toilets. Cabin and campsite reservations can be made through the online reservation system for Waubonsie State Park.
Opened in the spring of 2018, Duck Creek Recreation Area is the District’s fifth public recreation area featuring a 62-acre lake approximately 5 miles northwest of Peru, Nebraska, in Nemaha County. The park encompasses about 200 acres.
Camping: (no reservations; all first-come, first-served) Tent camping (no fee)
RV camping 28 pads w/electrical hookups @ $16/night, cash or check only (all pads have 50 amp service)-first come, first served
"Reserving" campsites is prohibited Only RVs/campers allowed on campsites; must be attended (see rules for more information) No dump station or water hookups Drinking water (hydrants)
$27 / night
Traveler
We stayed here so that we would be within walking distance of Brownville. It took a while to figure out how to make a reservation (you call the River Inn Resort). When I made the reservation, I was told there is no electricity, which is fine since we have solar. However, we were not told there are no tables, or fire rings... there pretty much isn't anything other than land. The land that is there is pretty rough as well. There were very large burs of some sort throughout the grassy areas, which made it difficult for our dog to go anywhere during our trip. There were also an unbelievable amount of gnats, but that is probably due to the proximity to the river. The people at the River Inn Resort, where you check in, were friendly and helpful. However, we would not stay here again.
Legend
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.
TravelerThis 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.
GuideI work close to this park and watched as the town was making progress in restoring it to a nice campsite. With some covered picnic benches, leveled and mowed campsites, etc….
Unfortunately, the river has flooded it out as of June 28, 2024 and it will likely be unusable for at least the remainder of this season. There also are a number of large pieces of industrial equipment that are staged in part of the park that will likely not be moved until fall.
It’s a shame as the remediation from the 2019 flooding was just recently completed.
TravelerCampground clean and staff was super nice. Great for just an overnight stay.
LegendIt 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!
LegendThis 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.
GuideThe 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.
Traveler
Both back in and pull through sites available with electric, dump site, and fresh water fill station. Hosts are very friendly and drive around with firewood right on the back. Easy to reserve online and nice, level, shaded gravel sites, and primitive sites right by the lake. Bring your bug spray in the summer.
RangerSo, decent state park (when it’s not flooded), on a small (not that big) oxbow lake, which about 3/4 of is privately owned… so there are boats.
Guide
30 & 50 amp hookups and water for a great price.
ScoutNot ready for business since flood 2 years ago. We turned around and left. THE PHONE NUMBER HERE IS INCORRECT. It is the phone number for Indian Cave State Park some 15 miles south. That site is nice.
ScoutThe owner is very helpful. This camp is easy in and out, close to St Joseph, some concrete pads, some gravel. We will stay here again next year
TravelerLoved the hiking trails and all the green space. A little tight trying to back into our space, but very nice overall.
GuideThis is a park that was previously a State Recreation Area that was given over to the Village of Brownville prior to the flooding in 2011. A majority of the silt and debris has been cleared, and the boat ramp for the Missouri River at the north end is accessible. To the best of my knowledge the Steamboat Trace path bike path is still closed from flooding.
Primitive camping only. River Inn resort just to the south has Electric sites, but they too are in the process of cleaning up, but appear to have sites open.
GuideIt looks like the grounds were well traveled in it hay day, but today it lies desolate and not maintained. Definitely an experience for those who enjoy getting out of their comfort zone!
GuideGrew 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.
ScoutThis is a nice place for an overnight stop. WiFi is good can stream! Good antenna reception owner is nice. Lots of full timers. Site 8 is nice would not want to spend a week though.
GuideFishing is great right off the bank. NRD permit required. Lots of sites but majority are on top of the hill away from the water.
LegendThis 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.
LegendFirst 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.
LegendLet me start by saying that I think Brownville is a nice little town. That being said. The 2019 floods took a toll on this park. I am not sure if this place is in operation. The dredge boat was closed 1:45 on a saturday, thanks covid 19. The sidewalk and ramp was damaged severely, and the park needs a lot of maintenance and repairs. The boat needs a lot of maintenance and clean up. But beyond that there is a lot potential and this place could be pretty good.
ScoutMany people come here daily during the pandemic to get exercise, to fish and enjoy the outdoors. There is room to keep up social distancing.
GuideWe love Duck Creek! It has everything you would need in a campground! Excellent playgrounds for kids, swimming and beach area, bathrooms, and depending where you park, a beautiful view of the lake and the miles of Peru bottoms around it!
LegendWaubonsie 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.
TravelerThe 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!
LegendThis park is a beautiful lake. We saw white pelicans and blue herons on this visit but it is not uncommon to see hawks, owls, and eagles in the area. This is a new park dedicated this year by the Nemaha NRD: sort of a multi-county natural resource agency found exclusively in Nebraska.
The picnic tables, vault toilets, paved walking trails, playground equipment are all new and well laid out. Gravel slabs with electrical hookup are only $12 a night but that is deceiving because you need to purchase a $5 day pass or $15 annual pass to come to the park. Yet even the some of the primitive sites have slabs for a pop-up and did not appear to cost anything beyond your vehicle pass.
The lake is too small for any boat with more than a trolling motor (there is a boat ramp) and should be outstanding for a kayak or canoe. Fishing should be great here. Paved trail and wide gravel slabs with raised fire pits should make this a great rustic getaway for handicapped campers. There is even a paved path to the end of a jetty of fishing in the lake.
This park is close to the Steamboat Trace Hiking/Biking Trail which is a 26-mile trail following the bluffs and coming within spitting distance of the Missouri River. Peru Nebraska is close, home of one of the oldest colleges this side of the Mississippi. Peru is also close for limited supplies such as Ice and band-aids. Auburn and Nebraska City are both about 10 miles away, Neb City has a Walmart.
I think this park is best for a quiet weekend getaway. I recommend you contact the NRD for an annual pass and take advantage of the other parks they operate. You could hike or Bike the Trace and tent camp for free!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Falls City, NE?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Falls City, NE is Big Lake State Park Campground with a 4.1-star rating from 9 reviews.
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TheDyrt.com has all 6 glamping camping locations near Falls City, NE, with real photos and reviews from campers.
