Camper submitted image from Walnut Woods State Park Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Walnut Woods State Park Campground - 2

Camper submitted image from Walnut Woods State Park Campground - 3

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Camper submitted image from Walnut Woods State Park Campground - 4

Animals

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Facilities

Established Camping

Walnut Woods State Park Campground

14 Reviews

About

State Park

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Location

Walnut Woods State Park Campground is located in Iowa

Directions

From Iowa Hwy.5 take exit 102 and follow signs to Walnut Woods. From Interstate 35 take exit 68(IA Hwy 5) then exit 102 and follow signs to Walnut Woods.

Address

8951 SW 52nd Avenue
West Des Moines, IA 50265

Coordinates

41.5380005 N
93.7470004 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site

Stay Connected

WiFi
Available
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Fair
T-Mobile
Poor

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group

Features

For Campers

ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Reservable
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sewer Hookups
Water Hookups
Big Rig Friendly

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

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Contact

General Info

Benjamin L.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 16, 2023

Nice park, convenient to Des Moines

We stayed 2 nights, the park was nice and well maintained with walking trails. It is wooded so there is a lot of shade. The pad was a little small but fit our camper fine.

Site20

Month of VisitOctober

Jason F.

Legend

Reviewed Jun. 14, 2022

Comfortable Camping Convenient To Des Moines

Walnut Woods is conveniently located 25 minutes outside of downtown Des Moines. Sites are paved and mostly level, although we did have to throw a couple of blocks under one side of our TT tires. Most sites feature 20/30/50 electric, a fire ring and a picnic table. Some also have water and sewer hookups. Sites are relatively small and close together, so get comfortable looking into your neighbors’ site/camper depending on how your site is oriented. The road around the campground is paved, but very narrow. We had to ask our neighbor across the street to temporarily move their tow vehicle so that we’d have adequate room to back into our site.

There is a bathroom, trash dumpsters, and a dump station with both potable and tank cleanout water spigots. There are trail heads near the campground that follow along the raccoon river for almost 2 miles. It was very muddy when we camped here, so we had to turn around about 1.5 miles into our hike and backtrack due to an impassible area.

3 bars of T-Mobile and 2 bars of AT&T were more than sufficient for internet browsing and streaming.

Site10

Month of VisitJuly

(11) View All

Stephanie S.

Guide

Reviewed May. 8, 2022

Small camper small but simple campground

We spent two nights here. All sites have a concrete pad, but not al concrete pads are created equal. Ours was smallest which didn’t allow for a lot of room to avoid muddy areas of grass even with our tiny camper. The campground is very small, but clean and well taken care of. The bathrooms were modern and clean. Some sites have full hookups, ours had only electrical. Potable water was close by though. If we were to go back, we would try to get a site with a bigger concrete pad. Site 14 wasn’t big enough. There was a trail nearby, but it was too muddy. Overall the price was worth the nice clean two nights stay.

Site14

Month of VisitJune

(7) View All

John M.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 31, 2021

Small camp

It is a very small camp but all site have a concert slab. Dump station can use some work, have watched may rig almost wipe oit the side of their unit

Site16

Month of VisitSeptember

Tom D.

Traveler

Reviewed Nov. 26, 2020

Nice Site Great Park

Awesome site for campers. Very nice pass with table and fire pit. Utilities were top notch!

Jenni W.

Scout

Reviewed Oct. 4, 2020

Clean; Wooded and Peaceful; Poor WiFi

My family and I are new to the RV World. We are currently renting a Class A Motorhome(33ft; double slide) and traveling to the 48 contiguous states. Our trip originated in Columbus, OH(our home), and we made our way to Des Moines for our fourth-night stay. We arrived after dark, and it was difficult to locate our site. It was also a tight, back-in spot, which added to the complexity; however, once we found the site, the hook-ups were in good shape and easy to use. If you are looking for a reasonably-priced site in the woods, this is an excellent place for you with basic amenities!

Month of VisitNovember

Steve H.

Traveler

Reviewed Mar. 4, 2020

Summer/ Fall bugout

Beautiful river access and camping in the trees. However the mosquitos get crazy here!

Lai La L.

Guide

Reviewed Dec. 16, 2018

Sites Available in December

Full service flat sites!!

jennifer M.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 31, 2018

Nice area overall

The campground is a nice area. Campsites are not very secluded. They have some nice hiking trails through the woods and along the river. I was hoping the trails would be longer but they are still nice. Dogs are welcome, but they must be on a leash. If I remember correctly they had a nice outdoor bird viewing building. They also have some nice picnic areas through out the park as well.

Laura B.

Guide

Reviewed Jul. 3, 2018

Great little campground

Always full. Floods with lots of rain but still great. No showers.

Month of VisitAugust

(4) View All

Matt S.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 20, 2017

Walnut Woods campground is small but the park is beautiful

This is a beautiful State Park on the southwest side of the Des Moines metro. It is hidden from most of suburbia but very close to shopping, movies, restaurants, and the Des Moines night life.

It is also a perfect place to escape all of those things and enjoy the huge walnut trees, green grass, and trails.

The campground is clean but it is very small with very few amenities. Most of the campers had small RVs or camper trailers, but there were a few tents. This would be rated higher if it had larger facilities.

All in all, this is a nice park to get away from the suburbs or enjoy them. It's up to you.

(18) View All

Derrick W.

Guide

Reviewed Mar. 15, 2017

Nice campground

This is a nice little campground. Its sits on the Raccoon River and has good catfishing. Nice trail that is aproximately 1.5 miles long that goes along the river. Its very clean and well kept. There is a pkayground that is a little ways from the campground. There is a modern bathroom also.

Sara S.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 25, 2016

good place for a day trip

We just did a day trip here with families who have a bunch of kids. Great park for kids and they loved floating down the river. We did a fun short hike as well. We checked out the camping situation for our next visit to Des Moines and decided a park a bit further away was worth a more secluded camping experience. Sites were not secluded and not very exciting plus they seemed very set up for an RV experience not so much tent camping. The bathrooms look pretty nice though. Definitely a nice place to spend a few hours, but the campground leaves something to be desired for me.

Daniel B.

Legend

Reviewed Jul. 25, 2016

huge park, nice, clean, and great location for so many activities

the land they have is substantial. There's a boat camp, a bird watching area, a playground, plany of park space with picnic tables and BBQ pits, hiking and biking trails, and even a lodge that I assume can be rented for events. There are roughly 25 campsites, and I recommend a reservation ahead of time. I camped on a Monday in late July and there were only 4 sites not reserved when I arrived. There are electrical and full hook up options. If you just car camp and don't need electric, unfortunately there is no lower price for tent-only camping. Translation: tent campers pay electric hook up prices. Enjoy charging your phone? If you have a dog, walking the grounds would be a good time. There's a lot to check out here and with the bike trails, bringing a bike to check out the area and surrounding lakes could be fun.

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