What a vision these owners had when they decided to build not just for camping, but a full…read moreexperience. The 50amp FHU sites offer beautiful views of the ponds and feature gravel drives. Due to the slope of the site leveling is a bit harder to accomplish but worth the effort. The owners continue to improve the campground. Be sure to look at all features of the site: water slide, fishing, mowed pastoral walking paths, a trailer you can rent, and so much more. The rates also make this a great spot for I-35 traveling.

We only had an evening at this beautiful spot but the owners were so welcoming and the landscape…read morewas so beautiful! Lots to do, as well! We need to come back for the massive water slide, golfing range, paddle boats!! So great.

Quiet place and the owners are very friendly. The pond has fish in it and if your vehicle breaks…read moreyou can work on it here and not get in trouble for working on it.

If you're in the area or driving through and want a peaceful stay with beautiful sunsets and super…read morefriendly hosts this is the place! We stopped in after we had some camper issues and the owner was super friendly, helpful and accommodating! The sites are super easy to get in and out of and there is a nice pond well fed with fish!!

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.

Shady Brooks campground really lives up to its name. I would not recommend it to anyone. We…read morereserved a spot and when we got to the campground and got to our site we would not fit in that site or any sites there. I went and ask for refund she proceeds to tell me that there will be a $50 fee to return my money and it should take 5-7 business days. Then I wake up to a text several days later stating that Shady Brooks will not be giving me a refund.. Also when I paid for a month she added sales tax . Who does that at a campground because everyone I've been to the tax is already included. They are just scamming left and right at that campground! This is what she sent me: Hi Andrew, this is Dena with Shadybrook Camping. I just wanted to let you know that you will not be getting a refund due to our very strict cancellation policies, and the fact that your camper fit just fine in your site. Or we could have put you in a different site. Our policies are on our website, if you want to look at them. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks. This woman never came out to the campground site so she has no idea how we wouldn't fit there or in any of them to park 44ft fifth wheel with a deck that opens more less park two vehicles, and a enclosed trailer!

The only reason I'm giving this review a one star is because you can't do a zero. They're…read moreadvertisement is very misleading the road in is a dirt road and at the entrance there is a steep grade to the office from there the road is washed out the entrance to our site (4) was completely washed out. We decided not to risk turning our fifth wheel over trying to get into the site. We proceed to leave and had to put our truck in 4 wheel drive to get up and out of the campground nearly turning our camper over. The campground in next to the interstate and the highway noise is terrible. The owners refuse to reimburse our payment. I Do Not recommend this campground!!!

10/7/23 We were…read moreassigned a site in the "G" pinwheel. Very spacious between sites, with tons of grass and trees. Concrete pads. Good hook ups. Very very nice, especially since it rained a couple days. Didn't have to deal with mud. Most of the park is beautifully landscaped. It must take a small army to keep it looking so good. There are three friendly, absolutely gorgeous horses near the park entrance. We asked the owner if they like apples and carrots. He kind of smiled and said he didn't know if they would, but that they like peppermint! We tried to go the apple & carrot route, but had no takers. Didn't try anything peppermint. There's a huge pond with fountains on the property. It's quite nice. One of our neighbors trotted off with his rod and reel one day. Don't know if he had any luck. The larger community building has three toilet stalls and three private showers. Two of the showers are small. The larger (for the mobility challenged??) has no hand rails but the larger toilet stall does. The sink area has an outlet on each side, but there's no place to hang your jacket while you wash your hands. Very inconvenient. There is a shuffleboard table, pool table and two video games, as well as a tv. The laundry room has 4 washers and 4 dryers. There's a nice big room with a sweet kitchen for private parties, as well as a lounge area. Someone used it for a Sweet 16 party during our stay. There are no fire rings or picnic tables at any of the sites, and there was no easy route to the community building from our area. We either had to haul all of our laundry gear using the streets, or take the truck. Cutting across someone's site would have been rude but much faster and easier. There is an overflow parking area for guests with more than one vehicle next to the "G" pinwheel. I wish some of the people who were in our pinwheel would have used it, as they parked their extra vehicles so they were partially in the driving lane. One pickup was parked nose-in to the site, but the back of the truck was so far into the driving lane it was hard to get past it. Bad form. The park is close to all the stores and restaurants in Altoona. It's a good location, and it really is a nice place at a decent price. I would definitely recommend it to anyone coming to this area.

We stay at Griff's regularly when visiting our daughter's family. An A+ in my book. Clean, nice…read moreamenities, best RV bathrooms and showers I've seen anywhere. Open year round. Fair prices. Propane for sale. A couple of reviewers have called the owner rude. Gruff may be closer to the truth, but extremely helpful.

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.

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.

My family and I stayed here while traveling across the country in our RV. The staff was super…read morepolite, super helpful and very attentive. Our site was great. It was a pull in. We had a fire pit which me and the family made s'mores. They had all the amenities and more they had a pool. They had a hot tub ,playground for the kids and he also had a game an it was walkable two of the restaurants in a short drive or Uber to downtown. . We all had a great experience at this site and I will happily go back again.

We stayed at the cabins here during a desperate trip to cross the country, and the staff was the…read moreabsolute best -- helpful, supportive, and compassionate! We left with renewed strength and peace and made it the rest of the way to our new home! I only wish we had gotten to try the pizza -- it looked amazing!!! I believe it was "Steve" who we owe extra thanks to (sorry if I got the name wrong) on our departure morning -- you made all the difference!