Cedar Bottoms WMA

Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Area — about 1,643 acres across 3 separate parcels, Muscatine 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.

USGS topo — contours & terrain

Aerial — USGS / NAIP

EV charging — from Cedar Bottoms WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

• Nearest public DC fast charger14.7 mi straight-line NW — Brown's West Branch Ford (at a public site) · FORD_CHARGE · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
• Public DC fast stations within reach14 within 25 mi · 42 within 50 · 93 within 100 · 294 within 150
• Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)21.7 mi — Iowa City, IA - Tesla Supercharger, Iowa City
• Nearest listing CHAdeMO21.5 mi — MEGA RETAIL 2 MEGA 1, Iowa City
• Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)6.4 mi — Muscatine Power and Water · EV Connect · 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 456315 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

Nearby restrooms — around Cedar Bottoms WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 29 · ~12.8 mi NE
• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 37 · ~12.8 mi NE
• RestroomB-68 Comfort Station · ~15.2 mi NW · NPS
• RestroomB-50 Visitor Center/52358 Post Office · ~15.2 mi NW · NPS

Open Cedar Bottoms WMA elsewhere

Other camps near Cedar Bottoms WMA

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

• Wiese Slough WMA~4.8 mi
• Millrace Flats WMA~19.6 mi
• Wapello Bottoms WMA~22.9 mi

How we know this — Cedar Bottoms WMA

What we don’t know about Cedar Bottoms 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

Before you go — Cedar Bottoms WMA