Amana Colonies, IA

One of the highlights of our trip through Iowa was to visit the Amana Colonies and learn of other lifestyles and Christian beliefs. We really enjoyed our visit and the great food.

Unfortunately, our visit was dampened by our stay at the Amana Colonies RV Park. The staff is very pleasant and helpful. However, we were disappointed in what it had to offer. It appears to be a converted cow pasture or corn field, will hold about 500 RVs, has water, electricity in most sites, and sewer piped to some, but not all sites. You share a site with someone on your back bumper. The RVs are parked 4 to a pedestal for electric & water. The restrooms and showers are a "good hike" from all but those parked very close to the center of the park. There are no trees or shade of any kind. We were parked about 100 feet from a "pavilion" with 4 sets of picnic tables under a roof, and the birds nested in the rafters, leaving their "deposits" on the tables and concrete.

If you decide to visit this interesting part of American history, let me suggest 2 other RV parks within 8 miles of the colonies.

1. Sudbury Court Motel & RV Park, Marengo, IA (319) 642-5411. On US-6 about 8 miles west of the colonies. We drove past it on our way to Amana RV Park and it looked nice... it is relatively new, has 20 sites with full hookups.

2. Sleepy Hollow RV Park & Campground, Oxford, IA (319) 828-4900. Near Jct of I-80 and SR-W38, about 5 miles south of the colonies. We did not see this one, but it has 110 sites, 62 pull-thrus.

We would consider staying at either of the above rather than Amana RV Park again.

7/21/2007: We had the opportunity to drive past the Sleepy Hollow RV Park & Campground , Oxford, IA, on our way back up to I-90, which is our return route home. We were very impressed with what we saw... wish we had "researched" better before staying at Amana Colonies RV Park. It is a very nicely shaded, and spaciously laid out park, family-friendly, sheilded from the highway. We did not stay there, as it was the middle of the morning when we drove by, but we can now unreservedly recommend this park highly if you are in this area.