Island View (Rathbun Lake) in IA -- Campground & RV Camping

Island View Park is set in the open, grassy rolling hills of the Chariton River Valley on the shores of 11,000-acre Rathbun Lake. The facility offers 187 family campsites and one group site, all equipped with electric hookups. On-site amenities include flush and pit toilets, showers, drinking water, a dump station, a boat ramp, a dock, a marina, playgrounds, and a horseshoe pit. Known locally as Iowa's Ocean, the lake draws visitors for sailing and fishing for crappie, catfish, and walleye, with self-guided tours available at the nearby Rathbun Fish Hatchery.

Getting there: From Centerville, IA, travel 2.5 miles north on HWY 5, then go 4 miles northwest on J-29, then 0.1 mile north on J5T to the park entrance.

• Little separation from through roads or other sites here, a 188-site campground with the nearest through road 0.2 miles off.
• Sits on broad, near-level ground.
• The Rathbun Lake shoreline is 0.3 mi off.
• Open country, with nothing named rising within 30 miles.
• Most sites here have an electric hookup, with most of them shaded.
• Estimated night sky: Bortle 2, true dark-sky territory.

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