About Prairie Flower Recreation Area
Number of accommodations: 153
Seasonal information
2026 Season availability
Campground Amenities
Most popular amenities
Playground
RV Utilities and Hookups
- Dump station on site
Water and Hygiene
- Potable Water
On Site Services
- Playground
Water Access
- Beach Access
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Rates, Sites & Availability
153 Sites Available
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Site Details
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153 Sites Available
No available sites
All sites are booked for your selected dates. Try showing all sites to see booked options, create an alert to be notified when something opens up, or adjust your dates.
Reviews (618)
What Guests Are Saying
Prairie Flower Recreation Area is a well-maintained campground featuring spacious, clean sites with large concrete pads and excellent facilities, including spotless restrooms and friendly staff. Many visitors appreciate the quiet atmosphere and proximity to recreational activities in nearby Ames, Ankeny, and Des Moines. Some suggestions for improvement include adding more paved sites and addressing overgrown grass and weeds, but overall, guests express a strong desire to return for future visits.
What Guests Are Saying
Prairie Flower Recreation Area is a well-maintained campground featuring spacious, clean sites with large concrete pads and excellent facilities, including spotless restrooms and friendly staff. Many visitors appreciate the quiet atmosphere and proximity to recreational activities in nearby Ames, Ankeny, and Des Moines. Some suggestions for improvement include adding more paved sites and addressing overgrown grass and weeds, but overall, guests express a strong desire to return for future visits.
Review Summary
Steven C
VerifiedJuly 26, 2024 • Stayed at: C106, Loop: CONE
Love the concrete pads and view of the lake. Conveniently located to explore the other public areas as well as easy access to Ankeny & Polk City. Very unfortunate to have lost a lot of shade trees in the last 2 years due to the Emerald Ash Bore but such is the case in many campgrounds.
Brad H
VerifiedJuly 24, 2024 • Stayed at: A01, Loop: ASTE
Nice open sites with a good shade tree.
Chris H
VerifiedJuly 22, 2024 • Stayed at: B41, Loop: BLAZ
Saylorville is a beautiful lake and worth a trip there. Lots of bike trails. But do not rent site B41. You’re in a valley surrounded by trees and bushes. They need to cut all of that back
Jeff G
VerifiedJuly 21, 2024 • Stayed at: C111, Loop: CONE
We love Prairie Flower! This site has a partial view of the lake, and is mostly sunning. Your picnic side is on the lake side, and it gets afternoon sun. Not much shade to help, but the sunset can be beautiful!
Pam B
VerifiedJuly 21, 2024 • Stayed at: A29, Loop: ASTE
When we arrived, the people in the site next to us had their tents and dogs setup on our site. Instead of setting up on the grass next to their drive they were setup behind the electric post on our site. DNR was nice but said where they should be set up isn't really good for tents. So instead of causing problems, we stayed in our already small site made even smaller. And the people didnt even spend time at their site because they were across the road at a different site and our kids had to use our much smaller site to play.
Paul N
VerifiedJuly 18, 2024 • Stayed at: D126, Loop: DOGB
I had a very nice site, D123 at Prairie Flower Campground this week. I appreciate the paved site and it was fairly shady. The surrounding area was clean and the grass was recently mowed. It was convenient to have water access very close to my site. A big thanks to the Core Engineers for putting in more water lines and access points last year! The sites are well spaced and each one is equipped with a fire ring and picnic table. The D Loop is quiet and the sites are spaced apart nicely which gives you the feel openness and a feel of not having neighbors right on top of you. The Corps also put in additional dump stations which are really nice and easy to get through without having to wait in long lines. I would highly recommend Prairie Flower campground for your next camping stay.
Doug C
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: B56, Loop: BLAZ
Clean, safe, lots of space. Have camped here for years and have always had a great experience.
Tracey G
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: B56, Loop: BLAZ
Really clean restrooms and park. Love that they have all of the dump stations open now.
DeAnn W
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: B44, Loop: BLAZ
We love Prairie Flower Campground and all of the volunteer staff! Thank you for all you do.
Gary J
VerifiedJuly 17, 2024 • Stayed at: D120, Loop: DOGB
Campsites are a good size, many are paved. Unpaved spots are pretty level. Bathrooms and showers are always very clean and well maintained.
Location Prairie Flower Recreation Area
Address:
Saylorville Lake Administration Office, 5600 Nw 78 Th Avenue
Johnston, IA, 50131-1941
United States
From I-35, take exit 90 to Ankeny/Oralabor Road and go west for 4.8 miles. The road turns into Highway 415, continue and follow signs to the campground.
Prairie Flower Recreation Area is accessible via Iowa State Highway 415, which is approximately 5 miles to the east. Interstate 80 is about 20 miles to the north.
Latitude & Longitude: 41.7483 / -93.6875
Elevation: 286 feet
Policies & Rules
Arrival & departure
Check in time
2PM
Check out time
12PM
General
- Click here for more information
- Click here for a virtual tour of the Saylorville Lake area.
- Quiet Hours: From 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Campgrounds are restricted to registered campers during these hours. Visitors must leave by 10:00 p.m. Gates remain open 24/7.
Nearby Campgrounds
Last updated: June 3, 2026
