This is one of the greatest areas right at the tip of Saylorville Lake, offering a visitor's…read morecenter, playgrounds, walking and hiking trails, and easy access to the Neal Smith trail. Usually, we park the car over at the visitor center, and walk to wherever we're planning to visit throughout the lake and park area. Our dogs are small and get tired fast, so it's nice to have a centralized area with a lot to do, when they need a break. The visitor center provides access to beverage machines, maps, guides, and rules for the park areas. Off the back of the visitor center is a balcony that overlooks the lake, providing a pretty awesome view through the trees out into the water. Just a short walk northeast from the center is a butterfly garden, which actually lives up to its purpose, and just behind the garden is a heavily wooded area that leads to the beach. There are a ton of benches to sit on along the Neal Smith trail, which leads to more campgrounds, boating, and recreational sites. To the opposite direction is the actual dam, which despite its sometimes foul smell, is a sight to see. You're likely to see a few people fishing off of the dam, or just walking around the many secluded trails to view all parts of the park. Definitely recommend starting your next trip to Saylorville off on this side of the lake.

This is a beautiful camping, fishing, and hiking spot off of Saylorville lake…read more There are plenty of benches and picnic areas to enjoy the scenery and take in the great outdoors!!! There is also great fishing right off of the Dam spillway! With lookout areas if you don't feel like fishing. Beautiful grown trees and winding paths all right outside of Des Moines!!

This is one of the best kept secret areas of Saylorville Lake. When you first pull in there is…read moreparking for easy access to the bike trail. After passing that you come into the park and can either go left or straight. If you go left it takes you to the shelter and play area and if you go straight it takes you to the boat ramp and beach areas. The boat ramp is a two vehicle ramp so you can have two boats going in and coming out at a time. There is a huge double parking lot attached. The second part of the parking lot is also used for beach parking. The beach is really nice and has a couple picnic tables with shade over looking it. The shelter and play area is really nice. The play area is new and big and kiddos can play on it for a while. Right next to the play area is the shelter area. The shelter area is huge and in the shape of an L. It has fire places on both ends of the shelter. The play area is to the north of the shelter and on the south side of the shelter is a sand volleyball court and a baseball field. If you were going to have a family reunion or big party this would definitely be a good shelter to rent.

Great quiet and clean place for the kiddos!! There's a bike trail, restrooms and has a short walk…read moreto the waterside.

Great campground. The bison / elk wildlife preserve is awesome. Located on the north side of…read moreSaylorville lake.

What an awesome campground! Has both electric and non-electric sites. Grounds are clean and well…read moremaintained. Pit toilets and shower houses are available. Large playground for the kids. Golf course and equestrian center nearby. Miles of hiking/walking trails. Loads of trees. Wildlife everywhere to enjoy. A bison and elk herd to watch. Plenty of outdoor activities to keep everyone entertained. Cost is low for camping sites, $20/day for electrical, $15/day for non- electrical. Firewood available for purchase near registration booth. Campground host is very friendly and helpful. Sites available in tree lined area and also overlooking Saylorville Lake. An excellent place for a getaway that is near both Ankeny and Des Moines (about 15 minute drive).

Amazing place for three years! Till we had to move Everyone including the staff is so nice and…read morehelpful! Also it's affordable! Best dance and cheer center I have ever been to!

From the owner: The UAS philosophy is to make young athletes proud of themselves and give them a sense of…read moreself-esteem, respect and discipline all while having fun!

Honestly a great little place to enjoy some winter sports in Central Iowa!…read more Obviously there is no mountains here so the slopes are as to be expected. The lodge area isn't anything fancy but it was actually larger than I expected. They also offer rentals for an additional fee to your lift ticket - skis, boards, boots, helmets, poles, etc. I am extremely impressed with the staff. I had only been snowboarding once about ten years ago and my husband never had. We were extremely nervous if we were going to pick it up and debated on paying for a private lesson. I would not advise paying for a lesson...Seven Oaks has many instructors perched on the learning/bunny hill. They offer group lessons on the hour but if you can find a free instructor and ask, they will give you their own sort of private lesson. That is what we did. An awesome board instructor spent about 15-20 minutes with us one-on-one, explained the basics and did some hands on instructing. After that, we both picked it up very quickly and could make it over to the more legit, but beginner hill. As I mentioned the lodge was more than I was anticipating. They have a concession stand, bar with pizza by the slice, and coffee shop. Lots of ample seating and even a large TV in the coffee shop area, we caught some of the Iowa State game while we were eating lunch. We would go back. It is a great option for the flat plains of Iowa.k

The good: Kayaking/canoeing was about $40 per person, which is a great price for entertainment…read morethese days. The river itself was stunning, we had gorgeous weather, and they had a small concession stand with necessities like bug spray available for purchase. Unfortunately, I still wouldn't recommend this experience when there are other options around Iowa for a similar price. We were told when reserving that if the river was too low, we would have the option to reschedule, which I think is a great policy. However, our reservation was on the last day of the season, so realistically rescheduling wasn't an option for us. My biggest issue wasn't even the low river level as the kayaks were doing great in the water- it was that the representative checking us in allowed us to take out a single canoe for our group knowing we would be dealing with less than a foot of water in some areas. This was our first time canoeing and kayaking, so we were relying on the staff's expertise. I really would have appreciated someone recommending that we switch from the canoe to a more maneuverable kayak given the conditions that day. Instead, we ended up having to get out and push the canoe for a large portion of the trip. It was exhausting, and for some customers, it may not even be physically possible. As a first-time floater who brought out-of-state friends specifically for this activity, I wasn't expecting the river conditions to be perfect. We were prepared to make the best of it. What I did expect was some guidance from the company about how to have the best experience possible given the conditions that day. I'd recommend choosing Seven Oaks to be more proactive about advising inexperienced customers, matching the right equipment to the river conditions, and allowing some flexibility to switch boats once you arrive.

High prices, average marina experience. Nice people there. Will be nicer once the construction is…read morecomplete.

This park was created when the Corps of Engineers dammed up the Des Moines River and created a…read moreflood control system. It's a man-made lake fed by a large river, so you need to be careful boating, especially after hard rains or storms. With the above in mind, it is an awesome place to rent a pontoon boat, go swimming, fishing or camping. The campground is really well maintained and has concrete pads with nice fire pits. Latitude 41 is a nice bar / grill atmosphere, and has almost anything you would want. If you want to take your kids fishing, I suggest driving all the way to the back of the marina on the SW side and fishing off of the docks. You will almost always find croppy and other small lake fish that are easy to catch with minnows or worms with a bobber. There are so many recreation opportunities here - our favorite is biking and the nature center.

Love this place! Full of genuinely caring people! I couldn't be happier here, and I highly…read moreencourage you check it out - open gym, recreationally, competitively, or birthday parties - whatever you try is going to be great for your kiddos!

We love this gym. They are helpful, friendly and they made my daughter feel comfortable for her…read morefirst gymnastics experience. I can't recommend them enough. From the first trial class to our second session this summer, they have been prompt in their email responses and thorough in their guidance and information. 10/10 highly recommend.

Really fun walking trail for kids. Very enjoyable for families. Easy to get to from Des Moines…read moremetro area.

Wow wow wow! What a wonderful addition to Jester Park!…read more The recreation center came after the Nature Center and it completely fits the park with the activities it offers. We came out here for Snowshoeing. $10 to rent per person. They even have children sizes! Other activities to do are: Cross country skiing, bouldering wall, indoor archery and air rifle practice. The hours accommodate the winter months and the spring and summer hours are as follows: March 16 - 20 | Monday - Friday | 10 a.m. - 4 p.m ... Summer ORWC hours (Memorial Day -Labor Day) Thursday & Friday |10 a.m. -4:30 p.m. Saturday | 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday | Noon - 4 p.m. Staff is friendly and professional. Very engaging and personal. Clean facility with restrooms and drinking fountain. Free coffee and tea with a donation box to give. I can't wait to come back!!!!!

Is Carr's Pool still open? I do not think so. Man....what a rush of memories! Was open long, long…read moreago and was state of the art at the time. Later on Ames High had a nice swimming pool....but it was not Carrs. Do a search on Google as Facebook has a memory page for Carrs Pool, and the historical society has photos of it, too. My little sister decided it was a good idea to ride her plastic caterpillar down the hill at Carrs Pool. She survived....but without 'breaks'.

Awesome Campground in a beautiful area of Des Moines. This looked like a relatively wealthy suburb…read morewith nice houses all around. Walkable access to the lake. About 15-20 minutes away from the City Center of Des Moines but the Farmers Market on Saturday's is an absolutely MUST stop. We really enjoyed our stay, just wish it was longer. Pro's: 1) Beautiful location right on the lake. 2) Long concrete pads that had no problem fitting our 43' TH. 3) Small jungle gym for our kids to play on. 4) Walking distance to the lake beach. 5) Easy to navigate roads 6) Awesome and easily accessible fishing areas around. Con's: 1) Electric only, although they had water throughout the park and a dump station up and the front. 2) Trash dumpsters were VERY far away. Had to truck our trash out to the dumpster. 3) Ants ... Ants, and more ants. Keep anything food related away from the outside of the rig and keep your fingers crossed they don't find the a path to the inside. 4) Power went out in the middle of the night when it was ranging near 100 degree's on the high for the day. It turned back on within minutes, but just a heads up on the power grid of the campground. 5) Pad is concrete (Awesome) but is far from level. Not sure I saw a level site in the entire CG. Even with the con's, its hard to beat $22/night. We'd stay here again in a heart beat. 3-4 days seems to be ideal.

This campground was packed on weekends and dead during the week (which we love!). Our family of 7…read morestayed for 2 weeks. Our site was electric only. There's a dump station and some places to fill water tanks. The playground looks pretty new and our kids enjoyed it. It was a basic, no frills campground that felt like a state park stripped down. The extremely frustrating thing is getting reservations. Every weekend is booked, but the weeks are wide open....yet we were not able to extend our stay to midweek because there is a 14 day limit.