We got in too late to truly enjoy the camping, but we did have a lovely hike in the morning before…read morewe left. The parts of the park we saw were clean and the trails were well maintained. Hopefully we can come back in the future- I feel like there is a lot left to explore!

What a hidden gem of a campground. Beautiful spot. Nice level campsites. I can't wait to come back.read more

I would say location is nice, because it puts you in proximity to a lot of things. Campground…read moreamenities for the price, is not reasonable at least when I came a few weeks ago. I understand that the pool would not been filled yet, however, still for the price I was a little letdown. The person in the check-in office was nice, respectful, courteous, and prompt. I also did not like that. They charged five dollars a day for a firing that you have to take to your campsite yourself. Being in the middle of a city, it was still pretty quiet for the most part. However, some other long-term campers put large items near the trash cans, which made it look a little gross. The shower house and restrooms were not clean, barely operational. However, they did have constant hot water, which was nice. I gave it a three stars simply because of the location and the person working at the check-in office. The signage could be better and the upkeep and maintenance definitely needs to be improved.

This place is run down. Not maintained. Many sites are rutted and not level. Lots of weeds…read more The picnic tables are all warped and unusable---they are redoing some but even the redone tables are only 'half' redone, which makes no sense. I will not stay here again.

We used the campground as our base of operations. Easy drive to Pella and to Des Moines. A nice…read morequiet campground and very restful. They have a very nice bathhouse and I would not hesitate to stay again. Even the 3 or so miles of gravel through the fields on either side was nice.

Great RV campsites that over looks the Des Moines River and has a pond w/fountain that is stocked…read moreyearly. New shower house and laundry facilities. If you love to listen to frogs and critter sounds in the night you'll enjoy it here. And YES, we now have Wifi. Well maintained and a very accommodating management team. Quiet with beautiful views of Iowa countryside side yet only minutes from town. Wooded trails, dog friendly and an upcoming dog park. I am a long term HAPPY CAMPER with two happy dogs.

Variety of camping options at Acorn Valley. There's RV spots and a lot for tent camping, you can be…read morein the shade, tucked in the trees, or out in the open. $14 for one night but if you have some pass you can use that and not have to pay. With the variety there are some spots much closer to bathrooms than others. Some spots you'll have a little trek to your site and if you do drive in closer the rangers will ask you to move your car. Nice playground, big shower (singular.. one shower per bathhouse). Bathrooms were pretty nice for a campsite. Drinking fountains were closed. Bugs were pretty pesky in the woods, to be expected with camping. There was a little path to a fishing area - we swam and it was no beach but it was good enough with some shoes that work in water. Decent option for Saylorville lake.

Got into a bind while traveling on August 17th. We called this place in a pinch about 6:30 and…read moreasked if they had anything open. The woman on the phone said she had 4-5 electric sites open, but we had to leave by 3pm the next day. She kept repeating this over and over like I was 4 years old, and I replied that was fine. In my experience this is a normal campground check out time. We got there about 25 minutes later and parked about 10 ft. from the booth where we could see 2 employees inside. There was a sign in the window with the number to call due to Covid, so we called. Now the woman says since we didn't make reservations, we cant stay. At this point we have no WiFi on the phone to make a reservation. I'm 10 ft away with cash and a mask on. at this point she immediately starts talking to me like I'm a child again, and repeats that we didn't make reservations so we cant stay. Ended up turning around and driving the kids 5 hours back home. If you want rude staff and a bunch of b.s., this place seems perfect. Personally, I'd just skip this place.

Do not stay if you expect to treated with even an ounce of kindness (or aren't rich, because that…read moreseemed to a problem too). The woman running it was one of the rudest people I have met in my entire life. For an incredibly small misunderstanding (and during a storm), she berated my family to the point that when we left I had actual tears. Genuinely, this was one of the most condescending, rude, judgmental, disrespectful, and to be honest just plain mean, women I have ever met. When we left we went to a hotel 20 minutes away instead, and without us saying anything about our experience with the fairgrounds/that woman, he told us about how he sees people come in all the time who are treated badly by her. We ended up speaking to more people who did actually end up camping, Also, the last time we stayed there (summer 2024), every single bathroom/portapotty was locked after 9. So that was incredibly frustrating considering we we not warned about that AT ALL (and in the morning there was feces all over the inside of a stall, unfortunate I never got a picture because I was so disgusted I immediately walked out).

We came here for a sports event from about 1500 miles away. We didn't make reservations and pretty…read moremuch winged it the whole way here. We were concerned about the location after stopping at some not so great places on the way here. We checked some of the local places but of course they were all booked. When we arrived we had to drive through the fairgrounds to get to the camp site. We didn't know there were two entrances. But as soon as we drove in, we were really surprised. The campground itself is in the middle of several little hills. There's tons of sites. We stayed for 5 days in a full hook up site. $30.00 a night. Where I'm from, this is ridiculously cheap. We found a site with quite a bit of trees. It was great. Fireflies all around our trailer every night. The only drawback was not having a fire ring. Everything else was really great.

We stayed here on an RV trip across the country. It was a great site. A load of trails and…read morefriendly people everywhere. Also, as you're in the middle of des moines you can get delivery from the town. The tree coverage is very nice and keeps the place cool during the day and the prices are super reasonable. We really enjoyed our stay here and I would suggest it for anyone looking for an RV campsite in or around Des Moines.

It's a wonderful park that has lots of accessible areas and point of picnic, parking areas…read more They have river access, there's a shelter available for rent, end the camping area that accommodates some r v's. I enjoy the park for the birding opportunities that provides. It has an accessible bird viewing area with easy access for wheelchairs. I've seen red headed woodpeckers there , downey , woodpeckers , flycatchers , wobblers , finches , lots of variety. I also enjoy hiking the trail that's next to the bird area.For a wonderful walk into a burr oak forest with many of the trees looking like they're a several hundred plus years old. It's quiet and cool.Because the trail shaded. The other thing of note is that cut the trail wide enough that you can reasonably avoid ticks. I wish they would create a loop on that trail that would end up , so you would know that you've walked a mile or two. Maybe some volunteers could create it

For the size of the Des Moines Metro area, the quality of the rides and attractions and having a…read morewaterpark to boot I feel as though we are fortunate to have an amusement park. Prices can be high for those patrons unfortunate enough to live not so close [to justify a season pass but for those that get the season passes (especially the food and parking upgrades) it makes it very worth the cost. My son is special needs and because of his condition he is able to go on most of the rides with the EZ Pass. Since we only live about 30 minutes from park; if he is having a bad day we can just pack up and go home and come back another day. He loves the park and going there with him, seeing his laugh, smile and saying again, daddy, makes it all the worth while The blessings it gives to him and the joy on his face is priceless. The park staff may not all know us by name but they know his face and they're always so helpful and accommodating of his special needs. This will be our third season with the passes and we will continue to enjoy our time over at Adventureland this year and many more.

The rides are fun but the food is terrible. The food is falsely advertised, and really is just…read moreterrible. WAY too expensive and honestly a total rip off. Do not recommend.

Cherry Glen Campground is highly recommended. It's very clean and the area we reserved was very…read morespacious. Our site number was 55. It was on the curve of the road and we had lots of grass on both sides. The area was pretty level but did need to bring out the leveling blocks. Cute and well kept playground for the kids. There are some campsites where you can have a lake view. Overall this was our first visit here and we enjoyed it. Most likely will come back.

We love camping at this family-friendly campground right on Saylorville Lake. The people are…read morefriendly, the facilities are clean, and the camp sites are large. It's a peaceful retreat right out of the city, and has access to hiking and bike trails and boat access nearby. TIP: there's a playground right behind site 66 that's not listed on the map, so if you're looking for a quiet trip, choose a site farther away.

This is a lovely campground with beautiful mature trees and roomy spaces. There is a short walk to…read morerestrooms and showers which are very nice. Some spots are right on the river (look at site map) so are difficult to get especially on weekends. Used our sr. cards and got a great rate. Negatives: sites don't have septic and you have to book thru recreation.gov which is not the easiest site to navigate. All in all, well worth it! Camp host Frank is wonderful!

This is a great big recreation area that is broken up into three parts. When you first pull in you…read morecome to a stop sign and if you turn left you go into the camping area. If you go right you go into the picnic and playground area. If you go straight it takes you down to the boat ramps. I have never been to the campground portion of the rec area so I will leave that part to be reviewed by other people. The boat ramp area is very nice. They have two different sets of boat ramps. They have an upper set of boat ramps which are very long and very steep. They have a lower set of boat ramps which are your standard length and grade. The parking is down by the lower ramps and there is a pretty large parking area. The picnic area is very nice here. They have six shelters and two play areas for kids. Shelter 6 is arguably the best shelter area as it has the nicest playground close to it, a horseshoe area, and it also has an amazing view of the lake. By shelter 1 there is an entrance to the bike trail heading north with plenty of parking. There is also an entrance to the bike trail heading south near the entrance to the campground area. Overall this recreation area is a great place for the family offering lots of different options.