Pikes Peak State Park

The hiking through Pike's Peak State Park was very pretty and not too difficult. The trees have vines hanging all through them making for some beautiful scenery. The outlooks by the parking lot over the Mississippi River are great and make for great pictures.

Pikes Peak offers camping facilities for RVs and tents, electrical sites, warm showers. The overlooks are easy to get there by car or hiking and overlook a beautiful section of the Mississippi. Family friendly with short trails. Better for novice hikers. Though there are some longer hikes that range 6 miles roundtrip. After Bridal Veil, if you continue on up, the path will split, going to the right is an unmarked trail that if you follow long enough will take you to the Mississippi. It's about 1.5 miles from the waterfall and very very steep at points and the trail dies out towards the end. Recommended for more experienced hikers. Also includes a gigantic rock that people have carved their names into.

This is a beautiful state park and campground especially in the fall when I was there. Hiking trails are fantastic. 30 amp electric. Water was off for the season, as it was late October. I was lucky to get in without a reservation. I highly recommend making a reservation as it is a popular spot.

My site 41 was electric only but level enough and well maintained, as were all the sites. There has been a lot of work done here including paving of the roads and new signage. The staff I met were very friendly, “Iowa nice.” A bit noisy on the weekend but to be expected and not detrimental. The trails were well maintained and it’s a short drive to Effigy Mounds NM. Would stay again if I’m up this way.

Very clean and well kept park. About half the sites were empty so not very busy during mid summer week. The views from the hiking trails well worth your efforts.

There are two dump stations with easy access to both coming or leaving the campground. Easy access to Effigy Mounds National Monument and the well maintained hiking trails there.

The campground was very clean as was the bathhouse. The showers were hot with good pressure. Most of the sites are gravel and ours (#55) was fairly steep. We never saw the hosts but we enjoyed the hikes to the overlook of the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. We saw several bald eagles while hiking.

Date of stay: July 2014

As I drove from the west to the east across northern Iowa I was beginning to wonder if there was anything more to the state than corn and soybean fields. The answer is yes! The northeast corner of the state has hills and is fairly nice (for Iowa). Pikes Peak State Park was a pleasant surprise.

Located on bluffs above the mighty Mississippi River, Pikes Peak offers electric only sites (with water and dump station in the park), but not a tremendous amount of privacy between sites. Hiking is available in the park, with some awesome views of the Mississippi River.

Sites are nestled amongst the trees, offering shade, but you are pretty close to your neighbors.

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin is not that far away, across the river. Therefore one must make a run to buy some cheese, right?

Effigy Mounds National Monument is a nice trip not too far up the road and is definitely worth the time.

I was there to pick up my friend after she road across Iowa with RAGBRAI 2014, otherwise would not have stayed 4 nights. Not exactly a booming part of Iowa, then again, that can be nice...

If it weren't for the hiking trails, this campground would be a solid three stars. As noted in the other review, the sites are very, very close together (like RV park close) and while there's lots of shade, there's no privacy. Luckily, with the exception of the typically busy Friday and Saturday, this place was mostly pretty empty and quiet, leading to a feeling of seclusion. The campground had electric sites, a dump and water fill station, and a soda vending machine (??). The showers were push button (each push good for about 10-15 seconds of very high pressured water), but the water was hot, each stall door locked, and there was a little dry seating area inside. Not the best but not the worst. Worth noting, sites 8-14 are on the side of a hill and range from slightly sloped to comically sloped, so I would avoid those if possible.

The real reason to visit this park is the miles and miles and miles of hiking trails down through hollows and up over ridges to beautiful Mississippi river overlooks and slightly underwhelming waterfalls. I hiked every day I was here anywhere from just 1 mile to 8 miles and never once had to do the same hike twice. I would come here again any time for the hiking trails--I was genuinely impressed and think they are much more the star of the park than the "pikes peak" river viewing platform (which is nice if you visit in the evening, after the crowds are gone).

Passing through Iowa we needed a place to stay for a couple of nights.

Each site has electricity, picnic table and fire pit. Sites are pretty close together. Sites are pretty level side to side but will need some leveling front to back. There is a dump and fresh water in the campground.

Lots of trees in this campground. Would not recommend anything much larger than a 30+ foot trailer.

The host was great. Helped us pick a site and suggested areas to explore. The day use area is really nice with sweeping views of the Mississippi.

There a couple of small tourist like towns on a few miles away. Did not see any major grocery stores.

This park sits atop the bluff named Pikes Peak. The picnic grounds are well groomed and the sights from the overlook are superior. You stand above the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers.

Many trails lead to other overlooks and a substantial group of Indian mounds. Trails on steep slopes near the primary overlook are all constructed of wood steps and walkways.

The campground is inexpensive but poorly laid out with sites almost on top of each other. Most sites have electricity hookups but are not particularly level. Restrooms are clean and include showers. They have a sanitation dump available to campers at no extra charge.

Straight down the bluff is a mainline railway and you can hear the rumbles and whistles all night.