Council Bluff Recreation Area

It's a peaceful place with good site spacing. I'm not a fan of the gravel where your tent goes. That's a lot is wear, but otherwise it's well set up. Water was off for maintenance and the women's restroom. We worked around it.

After years without needed repairs, the campground remains without water. Campers are urged not to bring in wood, yet none is available on site. The sites are minimally maintained, and the condition of the wooden picnic tables has deteriorated.

Water was turned off, with only notice being signs on the spigots, so had to get water from the beach concession stand. Bathrooms were also covered wall to wall in flies and toilets were in bad condition.

Semi-private camp sites, pretty, not well maintained.

We were very disappointed – the campsite was completely deserted. We were surprised that they were even selling pitches there. There was no sign confirming our booking, and there was no water. There was absolutely no internet or mobile signal. It’s a real shame; we had to leave without even stopping.

Great campsite with easy access to the lake trail

Beautiful place but the only mishap is that there is no one to speak with for issues. We reserved this place a week in advanced but no reserve tag was added to our site. Someone stopped by asking us about it and I let them know we have reserved and paid in advance. They were going to look and get back with me. This was never done and we ended up leaving early due to an injury occurring to one our family members while there.

Clean and well maintained

I was sad to see that this site does not provide the discount for having an America The Beautiful pass, charges for parking at some locations within the park even for campers and pass holders. Despite this, there is no potable water at the campsites. There was significant problems with raccoons, which is understandable as the trash dumpsters are not secure. The lids are very easy to flip up, and the raccoons were getting in to the dumpsters throughout the night.
I think if you are going to make this a place that doesn’t accept the discounts for purchased American The Beautiful passes, these issues should be addressed. It is especially concerning as while there have been no huge bear problems with bears, there are bears in the area, the population is increasing, and it is difficult to believe that continuing with dumpsters that are not wildlife safe will lead to future problems.

The campsite itself was wonderful. It was spacious and had amenities including a picnic table, a fire pit, a very long clothesline, and a flat area to pitch a tent. The pit toilets were clean enough and they were a very short walk from the site. The campsites were so shady and there was lots of space between neighbors.

Be aware that there is no cell service at the campsite so download any maps or directions needed ahead of time. We were disappointed to learn that there was no running water in the camping area while we were there and this turned out to be our biggest struggle during our stay. The website stated that the water would be off November-April and we camped at the end of May so we went in expecting that amenity. Also, there are no showers in the camping area. According to a quick online search, there is a coin operated one near the swimming area though we didn't end up actually looking for it or using it.

Overall, we would stay at this site again but would go in better prepared with water and directions pre-downloaded. It was an enjoyable weekend!

Lots of ticks!! Nice amenities for the camp site and good views all around.