Des Moines was a great capital to visit.
After our city camping experience in Madison, we decided to camp a little way outside of Des Moines. We had good experiences just winging it and getting camp sites, but our luck ran out in Des Moines. The place that we picked was filled up or reserved by the time we arrived. It looked great and we wished we could have stayed, but instead we had to drive further on to a different park. Cherry Glen Campground was run by the Conservation Corp and It was amazing. I am glad we ended up there, so lady luck was with us all along. The sites were spaced out and we were able to pick the one we wanted at the back of the camp ground. It was an extremely difficult back in (I have heard it called a blind back in). We worked as a team and made it in without a problem.
The choices for camping near Madison are not abundant and mainly in county parks. We chose one close to the capitol building knowing this was to be one of our destinations. Unfortunately, it was on a very busy, noisy road with only a chain-link fence between us and the road. Other than the noise (which basically lasted all night) it was fine, although the showers were not clean and to be avoided. Fortunately, it was close to town and a laundry mat, which we were desperately in need of. The roads in Wisconsin are pretty rough, I guess due to the cold weather, so it was a pretty bumpy ride especially with the trailer hitched up.
