For people who like to camp for the entire Memorial Day weekend, the three-month window to reserve a state park campsite for a Friday arrival opens Feb. 25.
Memorial Day weekend starts Friday, May 25 through Monday, May 28.
“Campers can make reservations for sites three months ahead of their first night stay,” said Todd Coffelt, chief of the DNR State Parks Bureau. “Now is a great time to start planning summer vacations and make a reservation at your favorite park.”
New for the 2018 season, 75 percent of available campsites at each park can be reserved through the online reservations site; the remaining 25 percent are available first-come first-serve at the park.
Information on Iowa’s state parks is available at www.iowadnr.gov including the link to reservations. Campers also can log on directly to http://iowastateparks.reserveamerica.com to make a reservation.
When visiting the reservation site, campers should take note of closures or renovations taking place at each park. Five campgrounds will be closed for the entire 2018 summer camping season for upgrades and renovations including the campgrounds at Ledges State Park, Lacey-Keosauqua State Park, Geode State Park, Marble Beach State Recreation Area and Maquoketa Caves State Park. Those parks will still be open for day-use visitors.
Closure information can be found www.iowadnr.gov/parkclosures and on individual park web pages.