Waterworks Park is a beautiful place to take a walk, ride your bike, have a picnic…read more I love spending time on this beautiful path in the summer, there is nothing quite like going over a wood walking bridge on your bike with the shadow from the sun riding below you! This spot is so beautiful my old band even made a music video here once.. https://vimeo.com/14161874 Perfect for a family outing, or just a beautiful place to get a work out in! Bring your suntan lotion and bug spray and have a beautiful day!

This is one of the Des Moines gems that doesn't get enough credit for all it does. It does a lot to…read morecontribute to the local community. You have access to a nice section of woods, a river and some wide open spaces. People have forgotten but they have a kind of a mini arboretum of trees in the front of the park or I should say the section nearest to Fleur drive. They were open to promoting live music events and have for many many years and they finally a build a kind of bandshell that really has wonderful acoustics and is towards the top of a hill. It's usually not very crowded so you could run walk walk your dog and really ride your bike and not feel the same bit of concern as you would have grayslake because the amount of people that are at grays, lake. Grays lake has a natural loop of 2 miles. You could get some much longer walks in within the waterworks Park. It also has several intersections of bike paths that could take you to Cummings or to the west side of Des Moines and some all the way over to the western suburbs and to the downtown. If you've never been a highly recommend you going.

Visiting Quarry Springs and Quarry Springs Outfitters for the first time, we were pleasantly…read moregreeted by Greg. He explained how we were to pick up our 2 kayaks for our adventure. Everything was awesome, we enjoyed our entire visit to Quarry Springs Colfax, Iowa. We would highly recommend Quarry Springs Outfitters for a total turnkey kayak adventure.

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.

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).

Scam store, DO NOT place an online order with them, they will immediately deduct the money from…read moreyour checking account and then you won't hear anything. I sent 4 emails looking for an answer on where my order was, no response, I called the shop, a guy answered and said he would investigate and call me back, that was over a week ago and no answer. Spend your money elsewhere where you will receive your order.

I'm new to the Iowa area, not new too fishing. Stopped by this shop to see what they offered in way…read moreof merchandise as well as knowledge about the fishing in the area. Was really happy with the selection the pricing and all the helpful info. I'll definitely going back regularly

What a gem in the middle of the city! Nestled along the river, this garden is easy to visit yet…read morefeels tucked away. The path winds through various areas of the garden and also offers a few seating options. It felt organic and not so pre-planned. The views of the water, bridge and city make this spot even more enjoyable. Parking is very plentiful.

We spent a few days in the Des Moines area recently and there are definitely a lot of beautiful…read morespaces in the area. One of my favorites was the Robert Ray Asian gardens. We spent about an hour here walking through the gardens and appreciating the quiet, calm, and beauty of the area. There were lots of people walking and hiking and multiple people that stopped to take photos in front of the bridge at the end of the park. We also saw people fishing as it is located right next to the Des Moines River. This is a gorgeous spot to get out and be in nature, listen to the water and feel the sun on your skin. You can tell it's truly loved and cared for by the community and there were lots of other little pups for our dog to meet while we were there. My only regret is that I didn't grab some food before we stopped here so that we could have enjoyed a nice little picnic. If you are in the area it is definitely worth the stop.

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.

After playing at this park my little man proclaimed it one of his favorites. There is a pretty…read morepond in the middle with a walking trail that goes around it. There are also lots of trees lining the pond and trail that help make it a fun trail to walk. There is a bridge that goes across the pond that we saw people fishing off of. There is also a lookout area over the pond that is very pretty and we saw a family doing family photos from the lookout. Beyond the lookout is a fountain in the water. Away from the pond is a neat kids area that is designed like a tree fort. There are stairs hidden inside the tree and lots of things for the kids to do around the tree. Next to the kids play area is a shelter for parties and get togethers.