Camping in Humboldt, Iowa

[Steve W]

My wife and I and our 24RB will be at the factory in the latter part of May for a day of repairs on our BF. We understand there are several county campgrounds close by that offer hookups. Does anyone have any suggestions or comments on where to stay while at Humboldt? We are from California and I am afraid we have never been in the part of the country.

[Mel Wilbur]

Steve, keep in mind that the factory has limited electric and water hookups and a dump station for service work customers. Depending on your service work you can usually have your coach available each night. Along with the Webster County Fairgrounds in Fort Dodge, the site of our 2009 national rally, I am sure you will be receiving suggestions from those familiar with the area.

[CANDE]

There are electrical hookups at the factory on the southside of the building. There are electrical cords laying out. The dump site is located at the Northend of the building. HyVee Grocery store located on Hwy 3 which is a good place for breakfast and serves a delicious pork tenderloin sandwich for lunch. Recommend having a fresh pork tenderloin made.

Ed and Carol Freye
CANDE

[golferdhm]

Joe Sheldon Park on the west side of town has electrical and water hookups, but no dump site. Gotch Park, south of town, has electrical and water and a dump site (which users of Sheldon Park can use). They do cost, but the cost is very low. I don't remember how much.

[Roger H]

Steve, I strongly recommend that you wear blindfolds while you're here. It's going to be really, REALLY tough to head back to Chico after staying in Iowa in May. It's gorgeous here! We lived in Kelseyville for about eight years and made it down to the valley every once in a while.

The factory is free, but I second Joe Sheldon park if the coach is moveable at the end of the work day. It's close to the factory, nice, scenic and fairly quiet. I've stayed there a number of times over the years visiting family in Humboldt.

Oh, and make sure you bring your golf clubs if you play. The 9 hole course in Humboldt is very nice. Green fees are less than $40 and include cart rental.

Roger

[whemme]

Steve,

In addition to the free RV hookups available right at the Born Free factory and the Joe Sheldon Park located on the west edge of Humboldt, the Humboldt County Fairgrounds located just 1.3 miles SE of the factory has a RV campground offering electric and water hookups with a sewer dump also available at a per night charge I believe of $15. The campground address is:

Humboldt County Fairgrounds
311 6th Avenue North
Humboldt, Iowa 50548

This campground is located a couple of blocks south of Highway 3 across from the HvYee store that Ed and Carol speak about in their post above.

To arrange camping there, you will need to contact the fair board secretary Carmella Friesth:
Email: friesth@trvnet.net
Phone: 712 332-5453 or 712-332-2632
Cell Phone: 712-368-0030

[shilohdad]

We have stayed at 3 parks in the Humboldt area, two of which have been mentioned.

Joe Sheldon Park is the closest. The part of the park that has shade is very close to the main road, which can have a fair amount of truck traffic. This is also where the bath house is. Further up the hill is another camping area which minimizes road noise, but there is no shade and no bath house up there. The price is right, though - $10.

Frank Gotch Park is a little further from the factory, south of town. It is nice and quiet - most of the time. During harvest time (late summer and early fall), there is some kind of crop processing facility near it that is quite noisy. Also, being right on the river, the bugs can be pretty fearsome. However, the area is rather pretty. And, again, the price is right - $10.

Another very pretty park is north of Fort Dodge, maybe 15 miles from the factory. It is Kennedy Park. It has very nice shaded sites in a very pretty park. It is a little more expensive, about $15, but for my money is a much nicer environment than either Sheldon or Gotch. We stayed there in mid-September and had no problems getting in. It may be harder to get a site in May.

Both Frank Gotch and Kennedy parks have dump stations. All 3 have 30 amp electric and water.

To sum up, any of the 3 are fine for staying while getting stuff done at the factory. The factory lot itself can work for a night, but is certainly not a campground, and the road going by the factory can be noisy at night with truck traffic.

Joe Zygala

[Bogiesmom]

We stayed at Kennedy Park just north of Ft. Dodge for our "shake down 1st night camping" when we picked up our Born Free last May. A nice small campground with water, electric, and dump site and very clean. It's about 15 miles to the factory, so its just a short drive to the factory

This is off their web site:
"The Kennedy Park Campground offers large, shaded sites for all types of camping-from the weekend tent camper to the full-time camper. Conveniently located just four miles north of Fort Dodge on County Road P-56, the park offers the camping enthusiast one of the finest camping facilities around. With over 100 sites, the campground contains modern restrooms and shower facilities that are cleaned daily."

John F. Kennedy Memorial Park
1415 Nelson Ave
Fort Dodge, IA 50501
Phone: 515-576-4258
Fax: 515-574-3763
Email: conservation@webstercountyia.org
Located 4 miles North
of Fort Dodge on highway P56

Just search for" J F Kennedy Memorial Park - Webster County IA" and you can bring up their site on the internet.

[Steve W]

Our thanks to all who replied. The information is great and just what we were looking for. Thank you.
Roger; will bring my clubs as I am always looking for a chance to play at a different course. Thanks for the info. As to the recommendation for the HyVee Grocery Store, we will definitely give it a visit.

[Steve W]

Sam. Thanks for the information re Humboldt and the HyVee stores. It looks like the factory will have the coach for at least one day, possibly two so we will have time to explore a bit of Humboldt. I say "bit" as we will be leaving our toad at home. Again, many thanks for the info.

[iowaride]

If you bring your mountain bikes, you might like to try the Three Rivers Trail which runs through the edge of Humboldt not far from the factory.

http://www.inhf.org/iowatrails/3rivers-intro.htm
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.as ... BGM019-018

Sharon
east coast of Iowa