Jefferson County Conservation opened its newest campground on July 1, known as Prairie Ridge Campground.
The campground is just east of Jefferson County Park and accessible from Key Boulevard. It includes 14 stalls for campers, with electric, water and sewer hookups. Jefferson County Conservation Director Shawn Morrissey said this campground will not have a bathroom, since it’s designed for self-contained campers who have a bathroom onboard. He said the stalls are especially large to accommodate the big RVs in use today.
Seven of the 14 stalls are paved, and the others are gravel. Morrissey said that another difference is how campers will pay for them. Campers at Prairie Ridge Campground will pay using a QR code they can scan on a sign at the campsite, unlike the other campsites that involve leaving money in an envelope. These can also be reserved ahead of time, whereas the county’s other campgrounds operate on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We’re trying to get into the modern age,” Morrissey said.
Since the area is just now being developed, there are few trees on the property. Morrissey said the conservation office planted 40 trees at the campground, but it still looks like a “wide open field.”
“It will be really nice in 20 years, but for now it’s got that brand new, wide-open look,” he said.
Morrissey said he expects the new campground to be popular with people who need that extra room for their big RV, and those who appreciate a sewer hookup, since Jefferson County Park uses a dump station instead of sewer hookups. The new site doesn’t have a playground yet like its neighbor, but Morrissey said it has other perks.
“It has a nice view to the west, especially those lower paved paths that overlook the pond,” he said.
This new 10-acre campground was made possible thanks to a grant of $450,000 from Destination Iowa, which should cover about 39 per cent of the project’s $1.17 million price tag. Morrissey said the new campground was something in the conservation department’s strategic plan from a few years ago, when it became obvious the county needed more camping stalls. He said demand for camping has been especially strong ever since the pandemic.
Morrissey said he hopes this new campground will increase the conservation department’s revenue by 10 per cent. The office will charge $30 per night at Prairie Ridge Campground, compared to $20 at its other sites.
Though Prairie Ridge Campground is immediately east of Jefferson County Park, it won’t be connected by a road for at least a few years. Morrissey said that there will be another phase of the project, along with the addition of a playground or nature playscape at Prairie Ridge. Another dream that’s part of the conservation department’s strategic plan but is not yet funded is building two four-season cabins and a multi-use shelter.
“This campground was built with the help of some grants, and it pretty well wiped us out, being able to do anything in the near future,” Morrissey said. “We do have some pretty clear plans of what’s going where on that property in the future, like a design for the rest of the road, but it’s unfunded right now.”
CAMPSITES:
Those looking to commune with nature in Jefferson County should know the county now has three main campsites with the addition of Prairie Ridge Campground, the other two being the adjacent Jefferson County Park and Mac Coon Access north of Lockridge. Morrissey said the county’s camping season is May through October, though the public can use the county’s water and dump station as early as April. The county’s other campsite, Round Prairie Park, 9 miles southeast of Fairfield, is open for “primitive” camping. The county removed its water and utility access a few years ago as a cost-saving measure because the park was seldom used. That campsite still has picnic tables, a pit toilet and fire ring.
