Prairie Flower Recreation Area

Quite and clean, concrete pad and picnic area help keep the camper clean

We like to stay in the Dog Bane loop of Prairie Flower Campground. It is a quieter loop and the sites are roomy and set up very well for privacy.
Staff has ALWAYS been pleasant to work with! Little bit more drive into Des Moines but worth the stay and extra driving.

Camped in Dogbane loop. It was quiet and relaxing. The site was paved and well shaded. Area was well maintained and facilities are clean.

The campsites were very spacious.

Campsite was excellent with some shade and view of lake. As always the campgrounds are well maintained and bathroom and shower house are spotless. We always enjoy our stay at Prairie Flowers Campground.

Our 10 day stay was pleasant experience- Iowa weather was mild and sunny with a couple days of rain but we’re able to drive into Des Moines and Ankeny for shopping and various restaurants!! We were also able to visit our Son and grandchildren in Grimes various times!!

Prairie Flower is my favorite camping ground close to home. The 30-minute drive is well worth beautiful campground. But that is not the best part.
The workers at the booth, those attending the shower houses, the grounds people, and the camp hosts are all very friendly and willing to answer questions and give guidance about camping at any time.
Wide spaces between camp sites, both gravel and concrete pads are well maintained and signage along the camp roads to any site is easy to follow.
Not to mention many sites have a view of Saylorville Lake.

The campground is beautiful and quite large, and the host was very nice, but a very big problem I had was that most parts of the campground were closed and only 2 pods I think were open. The big problem was that the pod I chose happened to be right along a major road and the traffic noise disturbed me all night and especially starting around 5 am when the morning commute started. Cars were driving very fast about 50 feet from my tent site (honeysuckle pod I believe), and I couldn't sleep at all once the morning commute started.
I wish the campground map alerted people that there was a major road right next to that campground AND I wish they had opened the other pods which were much farther from any road, and left this pod closed until it was absolutely needed. I would stay again at this campground but definitely I would select a different pod, all of which are farther from that busy road than honeysuckle pod.

This is a beautiful campground and we come here at least once a year. So much to do!
This year was different in that I suffered a medical emergency. The rangers and the volunteer staff could not have been more helpful and caring to my wife during this time. We will always be grateful for this.

Beautiful campground - we enjoyed the sunsets, the bike trails and just the beautiful views of the lake. The High Trestle Trail is a great trail - we started in Slater and rode to the Trestle bridge. The path was fairly leveled and all concrete.