Nestled between Honey Creek and Buck Creek in Iowa, the high ridges of Prairie Ridge Park provide stunning views of the picturesque Rathbun Lake. The park is surrounded by nature and an enhanced prairie life community, with timbered hillsides and woodland draws. Located about five miles southwest of Moravia, Iowa, Prairie Ridge Park is a perfect destination for RV campers and outdoor lovers who love fantastic sunsets.
RV lovers are in for a fully immersive experience at Prairie Ridge Park because the facility has a wide array of opportunities to enjoy with activities such as swimming, boating, and fishing on the 11,000-acre Rathbun Lake. If you would rather stay on dry land, you can enjoy biking, hiking, picnicking, and wildlife viewing. During the off-season, you can also try some ice fishing, snowshoeing, and sledding.
This park features two separate campgrounds on or near the lake with a total of 54 large pet-friendly campsites. These are all equipped with campfire rings, grills, lantern hangers, and picnic tables that seat eight people. You will also find amenities such as shower houses with hot water, modern restrooms, RV dump stations, potable water spigots, and there is even a playground for the kids.
Prairie Ridge Park, located about five miles southwest of Moravia, is in the southern portion of Iowa, surrounded by US-34, IA-5, and IA-2. You will be just over an hour from Des Moines, which is the state capital. You are less than 10 miles from Honey Creek State Park, which is also on Rathbun Lake and has a ton of recreational opportunities.
If you are coming from the east, you may want to stop and visit Lake Wapello State Park in Drakesville, which is about a half-hour southeast of the park. This park is known to locals as the country club of parks because of its elegance and pristine environment.
Getting closer to Prairie Ridge Park, you should not have too many difficulties maneuvering your rig on the roads since they are wide and relatively flat here. There are local paved and gravel roads that run through Prairie Ridge Park connecting the campsites and trailheads, so you won’t have too much trouble moving around in the park, whether in your RV, trailer, or car.
Camp A in Prairie Ridge Park consists of 26 campsites that can accommodate both tents and RVs. The campsites have electric hookups for your RV, and everyone has access to potable water. The length limit for RVs and trailers at the campsites in Camp A is 75 feet. You’ll also find modern restrooms, picnic tables, fire pits, barbeque pits, and a playground. The campsites are accessible via paved and gravel driveways in the park.
Many of the sites are waterfront spots while the others are within view of the lake. You can only stay for a maximum of two weeks at a time here, so you will need to move to a different spot after the 14th day. All the campsites in Camp A are reservable, although some are offered on a first-come, first-served basis. You can bring your fur buddies with you too. They are welcome as long as you keep them restrained and supervised while you are here.
Camp B in Prairie Ridge Park consists of 28 pet-friendly campsites available for motorhomes and tents. The campsites are equipped with electrical hookups for RVs and have access to drinking water. These sites can accommodate motorhomes and trailers up to 90 feet in length. Some of the amenities include picnic tables, fire pits with grills, and you can find showers and modern restrooms as well as a boat ramp nearby. One of the campsites in Camp B is ADA accessible. All the sites are accessible via paved and gravel driveways in the park.
You can see the water from any of these campsites, and some of the spots are right on the bank of Rathbun Lake. Campers are only allowed to camp at the same camping loop in Camp B for a maximum of 14 nights within a 30-night period. After the 14th night, they will be required to move to a different camping loop, which can be in the same campground. All the campsites in Camp B are reservable, except five, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Prairie Ridge Park is an excellent place for you to enjoy picnics when you’re on an RV holiday. With every campsite equipped with picnic tables throughout the park, you can choose from any of them for your desired recreational activity. The open picnic shelters are located within the park, and some of them are at scenic points overlooking Rathbun Lake. You can pack all your friends and family into the motorhome for a fun day of picnicking or BBQing during the off-season when the park is not too busy.
Rathbun Lake offers several different experiences for RV campers at Prairie Ridge Park, who love paddling, regardless of whether they are beginners or experts. The lake is a great place to enjoy, appreciate, and respect the park’s waters. If you are on vacation with a group, then you also get to kayak with your family and friends or fellow RV campers on the lake for the ultimate holiday experience. Be sure to wear your life jackets while you are paddling on the lake.
Rathbun Lake in Prairie Ridge Park offers many hunting opportunities for you on your RV vacation. There is a variety of game here for you to hunt from large animals like deer and smaller game such as squirrels, rabbits, geese, ducks, turkeys, and pheasants. You will have to check with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources about the exact places you can hunt as well as to determine the dates for in-season hunting. All hunting activities are prohibited in the park between May and September.
When was the last time you went sledding? If you think sledding is just for kids, think again. With all the new types of sleds on the market now, you can do just about anything on the snow with just a little effort. In the past, sledders used those old-fashioned wooden sleds that typically led to painful crashes, but now you can go down any hill on a big piece of curved plastic or foam; these newer sleds are called flexible flyers. You can even try using an inner tube, raft, or kayak as your sled. Be creative and have fun but be safe out there!
Rathbun’s most extensive trail in Prairie Ridge, which is eight miles long, takes RV campers who love to hike and bike on trails into the wilds, and it links to fascinating destinations. As a result, you are in for a whole lot of fun and amazing experiences, whether you decide to hike or bike on the trail in Prairie Ridge Park. You will start at the parking lot in Prairie Ridge Park, and the trail meanders along the banks of the lake, even taking you out onto several of the peninsulas to enjoy the overlooks there. You’ll end up at the parking lot of Honey Creek State Park, where you can have someone pick you up, or if you want a longer ride, you can turn around and start the eight-mile trek back to Prairie Ridge.
Fishing is a popular and well-loved activity for RV campers at Prairie Ridge Park. Rathbun Lake, which sits on the western side of Prairie Ridge Park, is great for fishing for black crappie, catfish, largemouth bass, walleye, warmouth, white bass, and hybrid striped bass. So, if you’re an angler, make sure you pack your fishing gear in your motorhome, and you can set out on a fishing adventure at Prairie Ridge Park. Maybe you can catch enough fish to cook for dinner back at the campsite.
Get ready to enjoy boating on your RV vacation at Prairie Ridge Park because the 50-feet deep Rathbun Lake is very popular with sail boaters and power boaters. The park's boat ramp, in particular, has long been popular with a motorized craft. Sail boaters will also find plenty of room to maneuver on the nine-mile stretch of Rathbun Lake’s open water on the main body of the lake. Thanks to the lake’s size and the prevailing winds, Rathbun is one of the best sailing lakes in Iowa. It is recommended that all boaters wear a lifejacket while playing on or near the water.
Only 14 minutes west of Prairie Ridge Park on Highway S-70, you can find over 100 acres of OHV riding at its finest. This off-roader’s paradise has some of the best OHV trails in the state, according to the locals. In fact, people come from all over the country to ride here on the rocky and hilly paths along the banks of Rathbun Lake. You’ll see dirt bikes, ATVs, and side-by-sides all converging on this area because of the range of trail difficulty. The park even has a Tot Lot for kids to learn the basics of off-road maneuvering.
