Prairie Flower Recreation Area

Terrible camp hosts

Camp hosts were rude and uncooperative I had to change dates and the end date of reservation got changed somehow.
Told me I had to leave right now knowing full well I had to call someone to pull it out of there. Obviously wasn’t gonna happen with my Prius. And to top it off no one pulled into that spot that night. I had a friend staying in the next spot over. makes me think they were lying. Won’t go back there that is for sure and I paid 8 days between 2 spots

The biting bugs were awful. I don't think they would be so bad if that stuff growing not being mowed would be mowed as it should be

It would be quite nice if they had some people come and give talks about animals, plants and so forth at the park

The hosts at this campsite are too aggressive, on your tail everything we stop to fill with water wanting to know what site we're in. Why does it matter if we have a reservation?

I had reserved campsites 2 and 3 in the Aster Loop for my husband and myself, one son and family with a pop-up, and another son and family in a tent on our site. We had planned a family picnic with my husband's siblings and cousins, about 30 total. The little parking lot was perfect for the travelers to the picnic. The sites were clean and #2 was shady. We grilled, the playground was nearby for the children, and except for a couple of yellow jacket stings, all had a great time. Prairie Flower is our favorite camping area at Saylorville Lake and we have camped in all the loops except for group camping to the north.

This was our first trip to the Des Moines area. Prairie Flower campground was a great base to visit several bike trails, tour the capital and the Saturday morning farmers market in Des Moines. Plenty of access to shopping, etc. The campground and several others on Saylorville Lake were upgraded in 2023 including 6 new dump stations at Prairie Flower. It was full on the weekends but quiet during the week. We were at site C96 which had a large level concrete pad, with a nice mix of sun and shade and a small view of the lake. The beach was a short walk as was the shower house which was very clean. We would definitely return if in the area!

Prairie Flower is our favorite Saylorville Lake campground

Camp ground is exceptionally maintained, quiet and offers a lot of trails and activities. Will most definitely stay again!

We love to go camping. The cement pads to level the camper are so easy. Way better than gravel pads. We love to bike and walk around and see what other people have for campers.
We can’t wait for the 2025 camp season.

First, let me say Prairie Flower has always been our favorite place to camp. It is very sad to see how it has become so overgrown with weeds, especially around the entrance road and so close to campsites. The weeds are 4-6 feet tall and very close to the road edge. I nearly missed colliding with a biker pulling out from B entrance due to the tall weeds and the fact it is very difficult to see them. We're hoping they will cut all those weeds down before next year. The weeds also made it difficult for my husband's allergies.
We appreciate the change of the check-out time to 12:00.