Mississippi River - Pools 11-22 · Iowa
Overview Shady Creek Campground is a 22-acre park where campers enjoy getaways on the banks of the Mississippi River. A nature trail, shore fishing and fantastic bird watching are offered at Shady Creek. Recreation The Mississippi River draws many anglers annually.
Sites at Shady Creek are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 56 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard, Tent only, Group, Shelter |
| Hookups | Electric hookups at some sites |
| Location | Muscatine, IA |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Shady Creek around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Thomson Causeway | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Grant River | Cancellation alerts available |
| Fishermans Corner | Cancellation alerts available |
| Clarks Ferry | Cancellation alerts available |
| Blanding Landing | Cancellation alerts available |
| Bulger's Hollow Recreation Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Blanchard Island Recreation Area | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Shady Creek; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.