Ledges State Park

We have stayed for multiple visits at this park while visiting our children in college in Ames. Recently during the course of building a new house we stayed for 14 days at a time from April through August. You can only stay for a max of 14 days then you have to relocate. We switched between Ledges and COE Prairie Flower at Saylorville Lake.
The good:
Numerous reservable sites, numerous first come first served sites, some of the nicest are non-reservable
Mostly level, but some require leveling blocks
Fairly spacious sites
Nice areas for walking and hiking
Rangers are friendly
Camp host is friendly
Dump is easy in and out
Water at entrance
Bad:
Because it's pretty, there are cars just driving through quite frequently
Some sites flood if it rains much
Bathrooms are horrible, desperately need updating
Bugs can be bad, particularly little biting gnats and mosquitoes
Watch out for poison ivy or poison oak
Rules are not enforced, regarding dogs
This is a popular campground and as usual when some place is popular, you run into people
that visit frequently and are rude in their behavior towards other campers.
Ugly:
Bathrooms need updating but that isn't the worse, the cleaning is irregular, not done well and even a thorough cleaning doesn't help that there are bad shower heads and water runs for seconds only. If you use your own bathrooms it makes the stay easier here. Many times there was no toilet paper or toilets plugged up and stayed this way for days. So if you have to use the facilities here, it may not be pleasant.

No more self registration envelopes- all sites are registered online at http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com or by telephone at 1-877-427-2757.

Free access to the website is available at the entrance kiosk, but access is limited to just the reservation website. The campground now has same day reservations.

A small concession stand is available Friday and Saturday 4-7 with snacks and T-Shirts, etc.

From webpage:

Concessions - Ted's Firewood Sales
Open mid-April through late October, Fridays, Saturdays and holidays, 3:00 to 7:00 PM at the campground. Will deliver anytime if buying 5 or more bundles.

However, we found firewood available in a self serve shed near the entrance on Tuesday, April 9th.

Great spot when traveling during the cold months heading for sun and sand. Ledges SP operated by DNR, shorter gravel sites generally level w/30 amp electric. water nearby when seasonal. Trees, grass, some walking trails.

Stayed two nights (Tuesday -Thursday). Park was less than half full in middle of week. Did not have reservation and was easy to find a site. Nearly all sites reserved for the weekend. Found restrooms well maintained and clean. Did not use showers so cannot evaluate them.

They were working on installation of a new playground and removing a very large dead tree when we were there, so quite a bit of noise during the day, but very quiet at night.

Quiet little campground. Our site was full hook ups for $19 a night Great price. The bathhouse was dated. We didn’t use the showers so we can’t comment on those
The playground was under construction but you can take the kids down to the canyon to play in the stream.
Saw deer, rabbits, a raccoon and a lot of chipmunks, kids loved it!
There is a box at the entrance of the campground to register and pay but first you have to figure out which sites are available. That process was a little stressful since we were pulling a 31 foot travel trailer around the campground trying to figure out where we could park, luckily a friendly staff member came and helped us out.
Other than the choosing a site issue, we enjoyed our stay here!

The entrance, exit, and roads in the park and campsite are well maintained and easy to navigate. Our campsite was level and a good size. There was a mix of fifth wheels, travel trailers and tents at the campground on the days we visited. We were in the east loop where the sites are well-shaded. The sites in the west campground loop are nice and open, but less shaded. Hiking in the park is great. The only negative is that the concrete around the dump station is cracked and not solid, such that water collects, and that should be repaired.

This popular state park opened in the 1920’s and is well known for scenic Canyon Drive. Vehicles ford Peas Creek five times, and many kids wait nearby to get splashed. Both kids and adults enjoy creek walking here.

The campground had a makeover a few years ago when a number of pull through campsites with full hookups were created ($26 per night). Most campsites are back in sites with 20-30-50 amp service ($20 per night). Twelve hike in campsites for tents are $14 per night.

Note: the campground is changing in 2024 to 100% reservable campsites with same day reservations possible at reserveamerica.

This park was so beautiful and serene. I was able to spot and capture wildlife. I really enjoyed landscape of the park. There are nice park benches in areas with great views. Nice place to hike, run or take nice photos!

Was very surprised to find this park in the sea of rolling corn fields. Really cool sandstone and hiking trails, would recommend bringing water shoes and taking a walk down the sandy bottom stream.

Ledges State Park is the perfect place to spend a fall afternoon! Enjoy the changing leaves and a hike through some of central Iowa's most picturesque locations.