Iowa Statewide — If you are planning to go camping in an Iowa State Park campsite this Memorial Day weekend, the three-month window to reserve a campsite for a Friday May 25th arrival opens this coming Sunday, February 25th.
Memorial Day weekend runs from Friday, May 25th, through Monday, May 28th.
Campers can make reservations for sites three months ahead of their first night stay, according to Todd Coffelt, chief of the DNR State Parks Bureau. He says now is a great time to start planning summer vacations and make a reservation at your favorite park.
Something new for the 2018 season, 75-percent of available campsites at each park can be reserved through the DNR’s online reservation site, with the remaining 25-percent available on a first-come first served basis at the park, according to Coffelt.
He says information on Iowa’s state parks is available at iowadnr.gov, including the link to make reservations. Or, you can log onto the reservation site directly at iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com to make a reservation.
Coffelt says that when visiting the reservation site, you should take note of closures or renovations taking place at each park. He says five campgrounds will be closed for the entire 2018 summer camping season for upgrades and renovations, including the campgrounds at Ledges State Park, Lacey Keosauqua Park, Geode State Park, Marble Beach State Recreation Area, and Maquoketa Caves State Park. He says all of those parks will be open for day-use visitors, however.
Closure information can be found online at iowadnr.gov/parkclosures and on individual park web pages, according to Coffelt.
