Playground

Timberline RV Campground

158 RV Sites, 10 Cabins, 7 Tent Sites

Timberline RV Campground in Waukee, Iowa, offers 158 RV sites, 10 cabins, and seven tent sites a mile and a half from I-80, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted to 70 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Full hookup and water-and-electric categories join a pool, jumping pillow, and pond, open all year. One hundred fifty-eight sites run in full hookup and water-and-electric categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 70 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Accessible sites are available. Ten cabins and seven tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, firewood, and recycling handle the practical side. If the office is closed when you arrive, call 515-987-1714 ahead and they will make arrangements. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a jumping pillow, recreation center, arcade, billiards, ping pong, sports courts, and volleyball filling the grounds. A pond supports fishing, with a playground, dog park, and community fire pit besides. Pets are welcome. The owners describe it as country camping with city convenience, and the geography backs that up — shaded sites in genuine Dallas County countryside, a mile and a half from the interstate and minutes from West Des Moines. Summer is the peak, with the interstate position bringing steady through-traffic year-round. Reserve ahead for summer weekends.

from $39/night

Sam Robinson Memorial Park

18 RV Sites

Sam Robinson Memorial Park in Sibley, Iowa, offers 18 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 70 feet, in a city-maintained park with full-hookup and water-and-electric categories. A municipal swimming pool, golf course, and pond sit within walking distance of the sites. Eighteen back-in sites run in full-hookup and water-and-electric categories carrying 30 and 50-amp, sized to 70 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and site WiFi. The 70-foot capacity is generous for a municipal park. A dump station, restrooms, showers, and a clubhouse handle the practical side. Municipal operation means well-maintained infrastructure at affordable rates — the trade most travelers are happy to make. Pets are welcome. The density of recreation within walking distance is unusual for a small-town Iowa park. The Sibley Golf Course, the municipal swimming pool, and Robinson Pond are all a short walk from the campground sites, with a playground on the grounds. Guests get a full slate of options without moving the rig. Sibley is the Osceola County seat and the northernmost incorporated city in Iowa, sitting within a few miles of the Minnesota border in the flat, agriculturally productive landscape of the Iowa tall grass prairie country. The park serves the Iowa season, with summer bringing the heaviest use of the pool, golf course, and campground together. With 18 sites in a community park, reserve ahead for summer weekends and any local event dates.

from $25/night

Wilder Park

52 RV Sites, 6 Tent Sites

Wilder Park in Allison, Iowa, offers 51 RV sites and six tent sites across 88 acres, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 50 feet. Full-hookup and water-and-electric categories in both back-in and pull-through join two fishing ponds, a disc golf course, mini-golf, and a storm shelter. Fifty-one sites run in 30/50-amp water-and-electric back-in, water-electric-and-sewer back-in, and water-electric-and-sewer pull-through categories, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and site WiFi. Six tent sites round out the accommodations. A dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side, and a storm shelter sits on the grounds — a genuine safety feature in Iowa. The recreational range is unusually broad for a park this size. Two fishing ponds support angling and paddle boats, with a boat ramp for canoeing and kayaking. A disc golf course, mini-golf, ball field, sports courts, volleyball, basketball, pickleball, walking trails, hiking, biking, a playground, dog park, library, and community fire pit fill the 88 acres, with planned activities through the season. Off-roading is nearby. Pets are welcome. Allison sits on Iowa Highway 3 in Butler County, and the park works as both a genuine destination and a practical overnight for travelers crossing the state. The J&C Grocery, Allison Variety Store, and municipal swimming pool are in town, with Waverly 25 minutes away, Cedar Falls 35, Mason City 60, and five golf courses in the area. Summer is peak. Reserve ahead for warm-weather weekends.

from $16/night

Split Rock Park Campground

7 RV Sites, 20 Tent Sites

Split Rock Park Campground in Garretson, South Dakota, offers seven RV sites with 30-amp electric service and 20 tent sites on the banks of Split Rock Creek, sized for rigs to 40 feet with fire pits and picnic tables. A boat ramp and playground sit beside a natural waterfall where the creek cuts through pink Sioux quartzite. Seven back-in sites carry 30-amp electric only, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables — there are no water or sewer hookups, so arrive self-contained. Twenty tent sites cover simpler camping. Restrooms and portable toilets serve the grounds. This is a community park rather than a commercial campground, and the infrastructure reflects that honestly. Pets are welcome. The geology is the reason to come. Split Rock Creek cuts through exposed pink Sioux quartzite to form a natural waterfall and narrow gorge — a landscape of ancient bedrock and clear spring-fed water that contrasts sharply with the flat agricultural plains surrounding Garretson. A boat ramp gives paddlers direct launch access, with fishing, canoeing, and kayaking from the creek, and a playground for families. The combination of geological uniqueness, creek fishing, and paddling launch infrastructure gives this small park genuine regional draw well beyond its size. Garretson sits on the northwestern edge of town in eastern South Dakota, within easy reach of Sioux Falls. The campground serves the short northern plains season, with summer paddling and fishing carrying the demand and fall bringing quieter conditions along the creek. With seven RV sites, reserve ahead for summer weekends.

from $20/night

Ted's RV Park

26 RV Sites

At 308 Vine Street in Decatur City, Iowa—half a mile from Interstate 35 at Exit 12 in Decatur County in the rolling prairie countryside of southern Iowa where the open grass and row-crop agricultural landscape of the state's southern tier, the Wayne County line's deer and turkey hunting country, and the quiet rural community character of Decatur City create the specific southern Iowa rural setting that I-35 corridor travelers pass through without stopping when they haven't discovered Ted's RV Park—Ted's RV Park provides 26 full hookup sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, a playground, covered picnic area, renovated bathrooms, laundry, and free WiFi in the clean, reliable, year-round operation that a family-built campground opened in 2020 maintains with the owner-attention that chain-managed interstate campgrounds rarely replicate. Built from new infrastructure, the park's electrical, water, and sewer systems have none of the maintenance history that causes the power surges and pressure problems that older campground infrastructure generates. Twenty-six full hookup sites—9 back-in and 17 pull-through positions—with 20, 30, and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer connections serve the full range of RV configurations from modest travel trailers to large diesel pushers on sites designed from initial construction for easy pull-in access and adequate turning radius. Each site includes a fire ring and picnic table, with firewood available for purchase. A covered picnic area provides the outdoor communal gathering space that Iowa's summer afternoon thunderstorms make valuable when the weather interrupts open-air campfire time. A playground serves the youngest guests with the age-appropriate equipment that a family campground maintains as baseline infrastructure. Renovated bathrooms and an on-site laundry room with coin-operated equipment handle the shared hygiene and extended-stay practical requirements. Free high-speed WiFi covers the property for streaming, work, and navigation. Decatur County's southern Iowa landscape reflects the glacially modified prairie topography that the Wisconsin glaciation's ice sheet shaped into the gently rolling hills, wetland pockets, and intermittent stream drainages that the state's southern tier preserves in its agricultural character. The Des Moines River's upstream tributary network in the surrounding county provides the fishing access—channel catfish, largemouth bass, and bluegill in the slower backwaters—that rural Iowa's farm pond and stream fishing culture is built around. The Colyn Wildlife Area and nearby public hunting ground in Decatur County provide the deer and turkey hunting access that makes southern Iowa one of the most actively hunted whitetail landscapes in the Midwest during the November rut. The campground's half-mile distance from I-35 Exit 12 serves both the one-night transit traveler on the Des Moines–to–Kansas City corridor and the extended guest who discovers Decatur City's quiet value as a base for southern Iowa's outdoor recreation. The Missouri border lies 10 miles south, and the Lake Rathbun reservoir area in neighboring Appanoose County provides the most significant recreational water body in southern Iowa within easy driving distance—bass fishing, waterfowl hunting, and the Honey Creek Resort State Park's full-service lodge and recreation complex make Rathbun a practical day trip from the Decatur City base. Ted's RV Park is open year-round, one of the relatively few Iowa campgrounds that maintains winter operations for the small but consistent population of traveling workers, snowbird transitional stops, and hunting camp guests who need south-central Iowa accommodation from October through March. Summer camping, fall hunting season, and the spring turkey season create the three demand peaks. Reserve your pull-through site, check the firewood supply at arrival, and let Decatur County's prairie quiet earn the rest that I-35's 75-miles-per-hour constant motion specifically doesn't provide.

from $38/night

Double Nickel Campground

24 RV Sites

Double Nickel Campground in Waco, Nebraska, occupies the practical middle of the state along the I-80 corridor — a well-maintained family campground in York County that serves both road-trippers crossing the Great Plains and local families from Lincoln and Omaha who want a weekend outdoor reset without the logistical overhead of a long drive. Open from mid-April through late October, the park packs a genuine amenity lineup into a compact and personably managed property that delivers more than its highway-campground billing suggests. Spacious pull-through RV sites accommodate big rigs with ease alongside grassy tent sites and a deluxe cabin for guests who want solid walls without sacrificing the campground experience. A swimming pool, basketball court, mini-golf course, playground, and game room create an on-site activity calendar that keeps families busy between road travel legs, and themed weekend events through the season add programming that gives return visitors something new to anticipate. Owners Jeff and Amanda are available around the clock — a practical detail that regularly comes up when guests describe what makes Double Nickel feel different from a chain stopover. Pets are welcome throughout the campground. The Nebraska plains landscape that surrounds Waco is quieter and more spacious than the word "rest stop" typically implies — open sky in all directions, prairie light that shifts in quality through the day, and the deep quiet of agricultural Nebraska after the interstate fades from earshot at the campground's edge. Waco sits in the Platte River agricultural corridor where Nebraska's farming identity is most concentrated, and the countryside around the park has the particular flat-horizon spaciousness that Great Plains travel cultivates an appreciation for. Sandy Meadows Golf Course provides an on-theme recreational outlet within easy reach of camp for guests inclined toward fairways between travel days. Smith Creek Recreation Area offers fishing and outdoor access within the broader county park system. Lee's Legendary Marble Museum in Waco — a genuine one-of-a-kind attraction featuring one of the largest collections of antique and artisan marbles in the world — rewards a curious hour that most I-80 travelers would never think to plan but few leave disappointed by. Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city with its thriving arts district, Haymarket neighborhood, and the University of Nebraska campus, is roughly 30 miles east on I-80 and provides a full urban day-trip option for guests staying multiple nights. Double Nickel Campground runs its full season from April 15 through October 21, with summer peak weeks and the themed weekend events drawing the heaviest demand. The pool and full amenity calendar operate through the warm-weather season, and the campground's position on the I-80 corridor keeps it accessible for both planned multi-night stays and last-minute overnight stops for traveling families who discover it while crossing Nebraska. Book ahead for holiday weekends and event-themed weeks when site availability moves quickly at this well-loved York County family campground.

from $50/night

Hidden Meadows RV Park & Campground

35 RV Sites, 7 Tent Sites

Hidden Meadows RV Park and Campground sits along the middle fork of the Zumbro River in Pine Island, Minnesota, about 15 minutes from Rochester and the Mayo Clinic—a location that makes it unusually practical as both a destination camping park and a home base for families with medical appointments at one of the world's most visited healthcare facilities. The hidden meadows rv park balances that practical function with genuine recreation, set among the wooded creek valleys of southeastern Minnesota's driftless landscape. Full hookup sites with 30 and 50-amp service accommodate all rig sizes, and the park offers back-in, pull-through, and long-term site options for guests whose stays extend from weekends into months. A camp store stocked with groceries, ice cream, and firewood, 24/7 showers and laundry, a fenced dog park, playground, and basketball hoop provide the daily-use amenities. The recreation hall steps it up with pool tables, ping pong, and an arcade, and outdoor games throughout the property—Giant Jenga, Giant 4 Across, bean bag toss, volleyball, and horseshoes—keep guests active without requiring a drive anywhere. Walking trails along the Zumbro River and access to the nearby Douglas State Trail round out the natural recreation options, and the park hosts organized activities and events through Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day weekends. The Zumbro River valley around Pine Island is part of the Minnesota Driftless—a landscape of steep wooded bluffs, cold trout streams, and farmland that escaped the flattening effect of the last glaciation and retained the varied terrain that defines southeastern Minnesota's character. Pine Island sits in Goodhue County between Rochester and the Twin Cities, close enough to both to serve as a practical base and far enough into the countryside to feel genuinely rural. The river trail through the campground is the heart of the property, and the sound of the Zumbro moving past wooded banks sets the tone for an experience more focused on natural setting than programmed entertainment. Rochester is a 15-minute drive and provides not only Mayo Clinic access but also the full amenity set of a mid-sized Minnesota city—the Rochester Art Center, the Plummer Building's historic interiors, a walkable downtown with excellent restaurants, and the Quarry Hill Nature Center for additional trail and natural history access. The Douglas State Trail follows an abandoned railroad corridor through the countryside connecting Pine Island to Rochester, providing a flat, paved multi-use trail that is ideal for cycling and walking. Whitewater State Park, about 40 minutes south, protects some of the most dramatic bluff-and-valley terrain in Minnesota and supports trout fishing in Trout Run Creek. Hidden Meadows RV Park operates through the Minnesota camping season with peak activity from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Long-term site availability makes it a reliable option for Mayo Clinic patients and families whose medical situations call for extended stays in the Rochester area—a need that the Rochester camping market serves less consistently than might be expected given the city's national medical draw. Weekend campers benefit from the organized activities and river access, while long-term guests appreciate the practical amenities and the natural setting of the Zumbro corridor.

from $26/night

Hidden Bluffs Resort

Hidden Bluffs Resort near Spring Grove, Minnesota, offers a peaceful family camping experience in the scenic Driftless Area. This distinctive region of southeastern Minnesota is known for its limestone bluffs, wooded valleys, spring-fed trout streams, and rolling terrain—creating a landscape unlike anywhere else in the Upper Midwest. Accommodation options include: - Full-hookup RV sites - Comfortable cabin rentals - Traditional tent camping areas - Clean restrooms and showers - Laundry facilities - General store and on-site firewood - Wi-Fi connectivity Guests can enjoy plenty of recreation without leaving the property. More than four miles of groomed hiking trails wind through hardwood forests and limestone bluff terrain, while a spring-fed trout stream provides convenient on-site fishing access. Resort amenities include: - Outdoor swimming pool - Mini-golf course - Children’s playground - Four miles of groomed hiking trails - Spring-fed trout stream - Scenic wooded surroundings - Family-friendly recreation areas The surrounding Bluff Country offers additional opportunities for hiking, cycling, fishing, cave exploration, and sightseeing. Nearby attractions include: - Niagara Cave near Harmony - Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park - Root River State Trail - Lanesboro’s arts, shopping, and dining - Scenic towns along the Root River - Mississippi River day trips and excursions Hidden Bluffs Resort is open during Minnesota’s warm-weather camping season. Summer is ideal for family recreation, while fall brings spectacular foliage to the hardwood-covered bluffs and valleys. Advance reservations are recommended for summer holiday weekends and the popular fall color season.

Jellystone Park™ Monticello

188 RV Sites, 8 Cabins, 9 Tent Sites

Jellystone Park Monticello in Iowa offers 188 RV sites, eight cabins, and nine tent sites on the Maquoketa River, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, ADA-accessible sites, and rigs accepted up to 120 feet. Premium riverside, full hookup, and electric-only categories join a splash pad, disc golf course, and beach in Jones County. One hundred eighty-eight sites span 20/30-amp electric back-in, 20/30/50-amp electric back-in, 30/50-amp full hookup back-in, 30/50-amp full hookup pull-through, and premium riverside categories, sized to 120 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The 120-foot capacity is exceptional, and the electric-only tier gives self-contained rigs a lower rate. Accessible sites are available. Eight cabins and nine tent sites round out the lodging. A general store, boutique shop, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. Day use runs $10 per person, with WIBIT passes $20 Sunday through Friday. A splash pad, outdoor pool, and inflatable water toys anchor the summer, with the river and lake supporting boat rentals, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and a beach. A disc golf course, jumping pillow, basketball, gem mining, golf cart rentals, a playground, on-site dining, and a bar fill the rest, with live music and planned activities through the season. Pets are welcome. Monticello sits between Dubuque and Cedar Rapids, near Maquoketa Caves State Park. Summer is decisively the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $31/night