Elk Creek Marsh WMA
Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Area — about 2,666 acres across 8 separate parcels, Worth 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
Services & drive-time data covers the public-lands states we've mapped so far — not this camp's region yet. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site
Nearby & resupply (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureElk Creek (stream) · nearby
- Nearest townSomber · ~1.9 mi
- Drinking waternone within 10 mi
- FuelKum & Go · ~4.5 mi
- Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
- Dump stationDump station · ~16.8 mi
- GroceriesBP Shop · ~4.7 mi
- PharmacyWalmart Pharmacy · ~18.4 mi
- Hospital / clinicAlbert Lea Medical Center · ~17.1 mi
- HardwareBomgaars · ~14.2 mi
Nearby restrooms — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 16 · ~4.6 mi NE
- Highway rest areaAlbert Lea Travel Information Center · ~8.4 mi NE
- Highway rest areaHayward · ~19.5 mi N
- Highway rest areaOakland Woods · ~23.6 mi NE
Open this spot elsewhere
Other camps nearby
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Good Neighbors Marsh WMA~16.0 mi
How we know this
What we don’t know
A land record can put you within a few metres 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