Big Woods Lake Campground

The sites are spacious, and well-maintained. It is easy access to get in, and the roads are nice and wide. Trash and firewood are located at the entrance. There is a great bike/walking/running path that goes around the lake, 1.7 mi. The path branches off and you can go all the way to downtown Cedar Falls. Easy access on and off the highway. Even though it is located near a train track, we never heard a train come through. You can hear the highway noise when you are outside of the camper, but we did not hear anything while we were in the camper. The one downside, as was mentioned in a previous review, is that since the campground is new, the trees are very small so there is effectively no shade.

A lovely little county park campground with decent lush grass spacing between most sites. Sites 38-56 are 'buddy' style sites where door are designed to face each other, and there is gravel between sites rather than grass.

Much of the camping here is first-come, first-served, including some of the best sites in the park abutting the lake. New this year, the camp host/county will be enforcing a 14 day max stay limit after which your camper must be out of the park for at least 2 days before returning.

Most of the sites are full-hook-up with 30/50, water, and sewer. There is a 'tent camping' area that is also available for use by RVs that provides no hook-ups but costs less.

The park offers bathrooms and showers, has a playground, and is adjacent to a paved walking path that loops the lake and has branches that take you to Black Hawk County park or the town of Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls is very cute.

The campground is decently quiet - some highway noise that dies down at night but picks up in the morning, a train that runs through once or twice per day, and lots of birds.

We had great Starlink service here, as there is very little tree cover (none) in the camping area. Verizon was 2 bars of 4G without enhancement, but usable data service most of the time.

This is a fairly new campground that has a very nice set of amenities. Full hookups with solid electricity even with all the AC running. Our experience during the week was that the campground was full starting on Friday and about 75% capacity during the week. Most sites are non-reservable. One thing to keep in mind, if all of the full hookup sites are taken is there is an area in the back that is overflow/tent and has electric but no sewer. It was not very crowded back there during our stay. But a few RVs did stay back there.

There are two kinds of sites in the full hookup areas. There are single back-in sites along the perimeter of the camp and then in the center are double pull-through sites. The double sites are arranged so that fire rings and picnic tables of two sites face each other. This is a great design if you are camping with friends. Those sites are not limited to groups, but you will get to know your neighbors.

One negative about the campground is that there is effectively no shade. Trees have been planted but they are still small. The location is great if you enjoy bicycling. Paved trails lead all over the metropolitan area and it is a very quick ride into downtown Cedar Falls. Just beware, if the river is flooding, many trails may be underwater. We had two days in which all the trails leading from the campground were underwater. But levels dropped quickly. While there is no swimming in the lake, it is good for fishing and paddling. There is a nice trail around the lake and mowed paths through the restored prairie, which was in full bloom during our stay. It really is a nice outdoor experience at Big Woods Lake Campground.

When we first arrived. I was concerned the place was sketch. But As we drove people warmly smiled and waved and kids rode bikes. We set up in a spot that was close enough to hear road noise but surrounded by trees. It was spacious enough for a group. We were greeted with a friendly and informative host. Noticed rangers all carry fire arms, that were friendly but from the quietness from the park, it was obvious they enforce quiet time. We walked by them late and they said hi. We walked the trails at night and were pleasantly surprised by the asphalt biking trails and natural well manicured walking trails into the prairie grasses. On the night trails, the prairie grasses glittered with lightning bugs and the moon lit up the pale flowers. The night forest was reminiscent of apple throwing trees from wizard of oz. It was cool and as we walked the landscape kept changing sparking our curiosity of what was around the bend. The trail ran around much of the lake and the next day we kayaked early on the mirror like water. The time was perfect as it not too hot and not too cold. There were many dragon flys and several fisherman out on banks of the lake. The lake was large enough to kayak for a couple of hours without growing bored. After we noticed the showers were very clean with four large family restrooms had warm water and although you need to press the button for water it gives you plenty of time to wash. The soap was stocked and toilet recently cleaned. We had a great experience. We had cell service with us cellular and good Wifi. I would definitely come back and friends and family.