Prairie Flower Campground

This is one of four CoE campgrounds around Saylorville Lake and likely the most popular, probably due to having direct beach access. There are two campgrounds at Prairie Flower: North, which has primitive (non-electric) sites, and South, which has more developed sites, all with electric. In the south campground, there are four loops: Aster, Blazingstar, Coneflower, and Dogbane. We stayed in the Coneflower loop, which has a trail leading directly to the beach (a short walk or drive) and there are six sites that have a lake view. The sites are very large, all with concrete pads, with a decent amount of spacing between them. The bathrooms were exceptionally clean and they were cleaned twice daily. There is something for everyone here and a great campground for families: hiking trails, a sandy beach with a swimming area, and a nice playground, separated into two age-appropriate sections. Note that you must reserve these sites in advance, and it is easier to do so on the app versus the web (some people including me have seen messages saying these sites are not reservable, which is incorrect). The price ($22/$11 with senior pass) is very reasonable. This was our first camping outing in over four months since the pandemic hit and it was a great re-entry to camping and practically in our backyard!

Note as you come into the area, Prairie Flower’s street address is Johnston, IA but the campground is located on the other side of Saylorville Lake outside Polk City. We followed the CV-19 checkin instructions at the gate by calling the stated phone number. We were told to proceed to our site after stopping at the dump station for potable water. We later noted that there were water spigots periodically located in the loops, however pulling a large rig over to use those spigots blocked traffic. Prairie Flower was a big CG with about 150 sites organized in separate areas that were electric only. We proceeded to site 46, which was an easy back in due to the angle and wide pad. The site was spacious with no sites near our utilities side as there was a trail entrance next to our site. Downside was that the patio area faces West and received the sun during heat of the day. The restrooms/shower houses were open and we saw children in the playgrounds. The E-O loops to the right of the gate were group sites in a circle that could handle 4 to 10 rigs. The A loop had gravel sites that were fairly level. B loop had level cement pads. The C loop had the best lake views and had cement pads as well. D loop was gravel and had more trees. We enjoyed walking the dogs on the trail head adjacent to our site that led to other trails. We did not receive a trail map so took a picture of the map posted at the trail head on our cell phone. The trails were mowed and most parts were an easy hike with a few spots that went up/down hill and slightly narrow. We had decent Verizon and AT&T service plus plenty of OTA channels. Trees were sparse enough in most areas that you could put out satellite. We had a squirrel get up into our truck and damage our fan belt system causing us stay three extra days for repairs. Since our site was reserved, we moved to an emergency spot near the camp hosts, which we thank the campground for accommodating us over Father’s Day weekend.
 Tip: Drive the 50 minutes to Winterset to visit John Wayne’s birthplace, which was well worth the $15 entry fee. Then checkout the covered bridges of Madison County.

This is how a campground should be. We pulled into our back in site which was level. It was gravel, surrounded by trees, burn pit with cooking grate and a metal picnic table. We were next to a busy road that was noisy but while sleeping at night the air conditioning drowned out the noise. Our site was 30 amp, $20 per night. We reserved the site online. The shower areas were clean and very private and included restrooms. There is a dump station and fresh potable water near the entrance. Everyone was courteous, workers and fellow campers. We really liked this campground and would recommend it.

The pros of this stay included it was inexpensive considering I have a pass that cuts the price in half. It's nicely treed although, that can be an issue for the larger rigs - I trimmed a few of them.
The cons include some of the spaces are pretty close together. I got one of the last sites available for the weekend and it backed up next to a main road which, one would think, would have encouraged the folks next to me to follow the leash rule but didn't. There was considerable road noise.
The sites have 30 amp only and no water. I did not check the bathrooms or any other facilities. I did see a dump station near the entrance.

This is another campground we have been to many times due to the location near our children. We have been camping here for over 12 years. We have camped in the H, D and C loops as these are the ones we prefer.

The sites are spacious, which seems to be the norm for COE campgrounds. Sites are electric only but there are spigots around and fresh water is available at the dump station also. We have never had an issue with the electricity even during very hot Iowa summers. Some sites do require a bit of leveling but not severe. This campground is popular and books up quickly. We have experienced some times where the bugs were bad, and others times where they were tolerable. Again, this is Iowa. The frustrating part due to popularity, is the wait time to dump as there are only two dump stations for the whole campground. The dump is easy to access though.

The campground has access to a local bike trail and biking through the campground is popular.

The shower houses are kept extremely clean and monitored during the day and cleaned daily.
Dog poop bags are stationed around the different loops so there is no reason to not pick up after your pet.
Prairie Flower is close to Ankeny and Des Moines with all the various activities the cities offer.