Wapello Bottoms WMA

Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Area — about 2,815 acres across 8 separate parcels, Louisa 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 Wapello Bottoms WMA · Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources · IA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

• Nearest public DC fast charger22.9 mi straight-line S — Shottenkirk Ford Lincoln, West Burlington, IA (at a public site) · FORD_CHARGE · CCS · 6 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-09-16 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
• Public DC fast stations within reach2 within 25 mi · 35 within 50 · 87 within 100 · 254 within 150
• Nearest listing NACS (Tesla)24.0 mi — Mount Pleasant, IA - Tesla Supercharger, Mt. Pleasant
• Nearest listing CHAdeMO37.2 mi — IOWA80TRUCKSTOP DC 1, Walcott
• Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)18.1 mi — 500 S Houser St, Muscatine, IA · 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 390236 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center

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

• RestroomFederal restroom · ~4.2 mi N · FWS
• RestroomFederal restroom · ~4.2 mi N · FWS

Open Wapello Bottoms WMA elsewhere

Other camps near Wapello Bottoms WMA

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

• Millrace Flats WMA~4.2 mi
• Cedar Bottoms WMA~22.9 mi

How we know this — Wapello Bottoms WMA

What we don’t know about Wapello 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 — Wapello Bottoms WMA