Dallas County Fairgrounds

Seems to be a popular campground on weekends. Loud, very loud, parties until 2 in the morning are tolerated and must be a common occurrence, so be prepared.

Lovely campground hostess, Victoria.

The sites are very close together. As is explained on their website, not all sites are full hook up.

I was told by staff that you have to schedule a year in advance for July1-15 because that is when the actual county fair is in operation.

They have stock car racing on Friday nights. The track is about 40 yards from the campground.

This was a great place to camp for a night! We decided to stay an extra day to just rest and recoup. Our kids had a great time jumping on the inflated trampoline and playing in the sand with other kids. Staff campers were kind, but you had to seek them out to get questions answered upon arrival. Be prepared to pay cash with exact change. Also be aware that Google maps marks turn into the entrance about 1/8 mile after the actual entrance. Just look to the west side of the road for a huge white ‘Camping’ sign.

We needed a place to pull off the I-80 for the night and this did the trick. We have a 42 ft fifth wheel and it was easy getting in/out. We’ve stayed in fairgrounds before and this was one of the better ones. Well maintained and while another reviewer said they got a weird vibe from a lot of long termers, we didn’t get that vibe. It was a pretty active fair ground (kids at practice, horses out and about, etc) so I think they were all busy working.

We have had the best luck camping at fairgrounds. We're not looking for playgrounds, pools, or other resort amenities - so this kind of place is perfect for us! We did just the electric and water site for $15. There is a dump on site as well and sites w/ sewer hook-ups too for a tad more.
We regularly saw staff driving around, taking care of the restrooms, maintaining the campground, etc. When I thought our power was out I called on a Sunday late afternoon and reached someone who was going to come over immediately to deal with. Turns out it was a problem w/ our rig, not their box - but it was good to know they were that available and responsive. I can't say the grounds are pristine or beautiful - but they're clean enough, sites were level, and were kept well with gravel or bark. The bathrooms are as described before, several individual stalls w/ toilet, sink, and shower (as of Aug 2017 - it looked like they were adding 4 more on the back side). These were some of the best we've had at a campground since they had high and centered shower heads, great water pressure, temperature that you could control yourself, a bench, a clean shower curtain, multiple hooks, a shelf, and the entire bathroom was very clean each time we used it.
The real plus to this campground is its location! First, it's just 30 minutes from downtown Des Moines. But anything you could need is less than 10 miles away in nearby towns and little Adel was pretty great for a small town: several restaurants, bars, and shops. The absolute WIN for us was the bike path just 1/2 a mile from the campground. This path links you up to bike paths that run through the entire state (over 500 miles of bike trails!!). For a beautiful ride through corn fields on a gorgeous tree covered path, I highly recommend you take the bike trail to Redfield.
Also, at the park just south of the camgpround is a kayak/canoe put-in!

Looking for a place to camp over night while driving across the country on I-80, we found Dallas County Fairgrounds on several of our usually camping websites. It was legit - the info listed on their website, someone answered the phone to confirm they were open. They listed $15 for water, sewer, electric which you pay at a self pay station (bring exact change). We arrived late at night and left early in the morning. All sites are pretty flat. There are four unisex bathroom stalls that have showers (private individual rooms with locks) that are free to use during your stay. I did not use them. There was a ton of people camping for late season, but looking closely, there were no trucks, just trailers so perhaps this was a permanent residence. Campground Host area had quite a few trailers in their area (almost as many that were camping outside the host area). I probably would not stay here again, weird vibe; but it worked for one night. However, I did not find any online info about Island Park that is also in Adel, IA.