Otter Creek Marsh WMA

Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Area — about 3,586 acres across 4 separate parcels, Tama 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 Otter Creek Marsh WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

• Nearest public DC fast charger17.6 mi straight-line S — Pilot Travel Center 495, Brooklyn, IA · eVgo Network · CCS · 4 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
• Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 24 within 50 · 106 within 100 · 190 within 150
• Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)22.4 mi — Grinnell, IA - Tesla Supercharger, Grinnell
• Nearest listing CHAdeMO28.3 mi — Casey's Williamsburg #2 (Williamsburg, IA), Williamsburg
• Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)19.5 mi — GRINNELLCOLLEGE STATION 1 · ChargePoint Network · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 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 360877 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

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

• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 35 · ~20.2 mi SE
• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 27 · ~20.3 mi SE
• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 34 · ~24.2 mi SW
• Highway rest areaNHS Rest Stop or Truck Facility 26 · ~24.2 mi SW

Open Otter Creek Marsh WMA elsewhere

How we know this — Otter Creek Marsh WMA

What we don’t know about Otter Creek 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

Before you go — Otter Creek Marsh WMA