Cardinal Marsh WMA
Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Area — about 1,173 acres, Winneshiek County. Primitive camping is allowed statewide on Iowa DNR wildlife areas by rule — no permit, no camping fee — for up to 14 consecutive days, UNLESS that area posts restrictions on site (Iowa Admin. Code r. 571-51.11). The DNR can close any individual area to camping just by putting up a sign, and there is no statewide list of which ones have, so read the signs at the entrance and treat a posted restriction as final. Iowa DNR's own camping article also says to stay 100+ yards from parking lots, boat ramps and jetties; that sentence was dropped from the rule in the June 2025 rewrite, but it is still good practice and may be posted locally. These are working wildlife areas, not campgrounds: expect a gravel parking area and nothing else — no water, no toilet, no table, no fire ring. Pack water in and everything out. Much of this unit is marsh, river bottom or seasonally flooded ground — dry, level tent ground can be genuinely scarce and access roads can be under water in spring. Fall is a hard time to use these: Iowa's shotgun deer seasons and waterfowl season put a lot of hunters on WMAs, and blaze orange plus a different destination is the smarter call. The pin is a representative point inside the official DNR boundary, NOT a campsite or a parking lot — scout the actual access off the DNR atlas before you commit to it after dark.
Everything you need — measured from Cardinal Marsh WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA
- FFuel4 mi
- GGrocery4 mi
- @Mail4 mi
- +Urgent care5 mi
- ShShower10 mi
- DDump10 mi
- WWater13 mi
- MMechanic14 mi
- EVEV fast charger16 mi
- HHardware16 mi
- RxPharmacy22 mi
- LLaundry24 mi
- OOutfitter24 mi
- AAir-up33 mi
- PPropane56 mi
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Cardinal Marsh WMA
Nearby & resupply — around Cardinal Marsh WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureTurkey River (river) · nearby
- Nearest townVernon Springs · ~4.1 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelKwik Star · ~4.0 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump station~10.2 mi
- GroceriesFareway · ~4.2 mi
- Hospital / clinicRegional Health Services of Howard County · ~4.7 mi
- HardwareCounters, Floors, and More · ~23.8 mi
EV charging — from Cardinal Marsh WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger15.6 mi straight-line E — Decorah Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram · Blink Network · CCS · 2 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach1 within 25 mi · 8 within 50 · 87 within 100 · 374 within 150
- Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)43.6 mi — Kwik Trip #414, Stewartsville
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO36.1 mi — Kwik Star 419 Charles City, Charles City
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)4.2 mi — City of Cresco - Fareway Parking Lot · Blink Network · J1772 · 2 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily
- Pricing at the fast chargernot listed
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 329946 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Cardinal Marsh WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- No mapped restroom within 30 miles — plan to pack it out.
Open Cardinal Marsh WMA elsewhere
How we know this — Cardinal Marsh WMA
What we don’t know about Cardinal Marsh WMA
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it