Campgrounds and RV parks near Sloan, IA

Blue Lake is the main water draw. Visitors can boat in the waters of Blue Lake or swim at the sandy beach area, with no restrictions on motor size and a double boat ramp available for easy lake access. Anglers can fish for panfish, bass, channel catfish and northern pike at Blue Lake. At Lewis and Clark State Park, families can also view a full-size reproduction of Lewis and Clark's keelboat, constructed by local volunteers and park staff. Stone State Park delivers the region's best hiking and mountain biking. Visitors can hike or bike more than 15 miles of trails, and mountain bikers can traverse six miles of challenging dirt trails, while equestrians can explore six miles of multi-use trails. The nearby Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, managed by the Woodbury County Conservation Board, covers the natural history of the park.

The primary camping window in this part of Iowa runs spring through fall. The Lewis and Clark campground accepts reservations April through October and is closed November through March. The Stone State Park campground is 100 percent reservable and accepts reservations April 1 through October 31 until 10:00 pm CST the day of arrival. Onawa / Blue Lake KOA Holiday is open April 15 through October 15 weather permitting, with the pool available from Memorial Weekend through Labor Day Weekend. Summer is peak season for lake use and family travel, and holiday weekends fill first. All holiday weekends at the Onawa KOA require a three-day minimum stay. Shoulder months of April, May, September, and October bring cooler nights, thinner crowds, and easier same-week availability. Winter closures apply to nearly all campgrounds in the area, though the Stone State Park trail system stays open for cold-weather use. Cross country skiing and snowmobiling are popular trail activities in the winter. RV travelers planning off-season trips should call ahead, and note that Lewis and Clark State Park has been closed for hazard tree removal, with all amenities including the Visitor Center, lodge, and campground closed during the project.

Terrain around Sloan is easy for RV drivers, with the Onawa-area parks located just off I-29 and reachable even for big rigs. Iowa here is largely flat with no steep grades. Stone State Park is the exception: its Loess Hills setting is hillier and more rugged, with tighter campground roads better suited to shorter rigs. Hookup levels vary by campground. The Lewis and Clark campground has modern bathrooms and showers, with 12 full-hookup sites and 65 electric-only sites. Stone State Park has 30 single-family campsites along the Big Sioux River in the Loess Hills, with three cabins and a youth group campsite, and nine of the campsites have electric hookups while others are tent-only or standard. Cell service is uneven. Coverage is generally reliable at the Onawa-area lake sites but limited at Stone State Park, so download any maps before you arrive. Expect quiet evenings, mosquitoes near the lakes in midsummer, and shaded cottonwood sites along the lake at Lewis and Clark.