Openings · last 7 days
0
01 · Detected Opening History · the openings record · file CS-233594
When Prairie Flower Recreation Area reopens
Prairie Flower Recreation Area's openings record: every site-date Campsite Sniper detected turning available, logged and time-stamped. Refreshed hourly.
Openings · last 30 days
197
Openings · last 90 days
670
Weekday pattern
Detected openings by day of week · 90dNo strong weekday pattern is evident in the openings Campsite Sniper has detected: 670 openings spread across the week.
Hour-of-day pattern
First detected by hour · local time · last 90 daysThe largest concentrations of detected openings were first detected during the 00:00 and 19:00 local-time hours. Those hours contained 153 of 670 detected openings (22.8%). Hours show when Campsite Sniper first detected each opening, in Central Time, not when the change was made upstream.
Lead-time profile
Days before stay date · percentilesHalf of the openings Campsite Sniper detected appeared at least 5 days before the stay date; the middle 50% land 2–10 days out. Set an alert if you want Campsite Sniper to monitor future openings.
Highest-churn sites
Most openings · 90d| Site | Openings | Share of all openings |
|---|---|---|
| C87 | 31 | 4.6% |
| C104 | 17 | 2.5% |
| A14 | 17 | 2.5% |
| C101 | 15 | 2.2% |
| C72 | 14 | 2.1% |
Site C87 had the most detected openings in the last 90 days: 31. One free watch covers every site here.
02 · Availability Outlook · May 1 – May 3, 2027 · of 252 monitored sites
Of the 471 tracked site-nights (May 1 – May 3, 2027): 433 open for online reservation · 38 reserved.
Where the open windows are
8.1% of tracked site-nights are not currently open for online reservation. 433 of 471 remain open; here is where they are.
Load status
May 1 – May 3, 2027Not open online8.1%
Open site-nights433 / 471
Reserved (of online inventory)38 / 471
Weekday openings145
Weekend openings288
Of the open site-nights on mapped sites, 145 fall on weekdays and 288 on weekends (Fri–Sun).
Open dates by month
May 2027 – May 2027May holds the most room. 433 of 471 site-nights are still open there.
Holiday windows
Sites open per night · of 157 sites| Window | Night | Sites open | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memorial Day | FRI May 28 | 0 | None open |
| SAT May 29 | 0 | None open | |
| SUN May 30 | 0 | None open | |
| MON May 31 | 0 | None open |
Memorial Day: no online availability on any tracked night.
Best-availability sites
Most open site-nights · tracked window| Site | Open site-nights |
|---|---|
| A01 | 3 |
| A02 | 3 |
| A03 | 3 |
| A05 | 3 |
| A06 | 3 |
The 5 sites with the most open site-nights in the current snapshot. Pair a bookable date with a free alert to cover everything else.
Tracked window
CoverageCampsite Sniper's data for this facility starts May 1, 2027. That is about 180 days after the current snapshot was taken, so dates before May 1, 2027 are not covered by what Campsite Sniper tracks here — they are not known to be unavailable. The site-nights shown on this page describe May 1, 2027 onwards only. Check Recreation.gov for earlier dates.
Stays and site detail
433 open site-nights across 145 sites at Prairie Flower Recreation Area, from the same hourly snapshot as everything above.
Multi-night stays. 144 2-night, 144 3-night openings where a single site is free for every night, per Campsite Sniper's current snapshot — soonest May 1, 2027 at site A01.
RV length. Longest recorded site here is 85 ft. 157 sites take 25 ft, 152 sites take 35 ft, 149 sites take 40 ft.
Showing 60 of 145 sites with current availability
| Site | Max RV | Hookups | Open site-nights | Longest run | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A01 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A02 | 66 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A03 | 65 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A05 | 64 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A06 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A07 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A08 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A09 | 66 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A10 | 62 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A11 | 52 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A12 | 64 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A13 | 62 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A14 | 50 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A15 | 67 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A16 | 42 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A17 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A18 | 61 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A19 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A20 | 72 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A21 | 64 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A22 | 50 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A23 | 72 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A24 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A25 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A27 | 72 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A28 | 66 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A29 | 72 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A30 | 66 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| A31 | 46 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B38 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B39 | 61 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B40 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B41 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B42 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B43 | 56 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B44 | 44 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B45 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B46 | 65 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B47 | 65 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B49 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B50 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B51 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B52 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B53 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B54 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B55 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B56 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B57 | 75 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B58 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B59 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B60 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B61 | 67 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B62 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B63 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B64 | 60 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B65 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B66 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B67 | 70 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| B69 | 58 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
| C100 | 68 ft | Yes | 3 | 3 nights | May 1, 2027, May 2, 2027, May 3, 2027 |
About Prairie Flower Recreation Area
Overview
Prairie Flower Recreation Area is located on the 26,000-acre Saylorville Lake Project, which stretches more than 50 miles up the Des Moines River Valley.
The lake provides a wide variety of recreational activities, including boating, swimming, fishing, hiking and hunting.
Recreation
Visitors enjoy Saylorville Lake for its excellent boating, sailing, water skiing, windsurfing and swimming opportunities. Anglers will find walleye, wiper, largemouth bass, catfish, crappie and northern pike.
The paved Neal Smith Trail winds 24 miles from Des Moines to Big Creek State Park and connects the campgrounds on the east side of the lake. It is designated as a National Recreation Trail and is used for biking, hiking, jogging, walking and in-line skating.
Facilities
Prairie Flower is a large, open campground covering more than 60 acres. It offers 153 family sites and 10 group sites, all with electric hookups. Many of the family sites in the south end offer a pleasant view of the 6000-acre lake. The north end is made up of mostly group sites in a circle-the-wagon design. Amenities include flush toilets, showers, drinking water and a dump station. The campground also provides educational programs, group shelters, playgrounds and a swimming beach. Nearby amenities include a visitor center, hiking trail, volleyball courts and a disc golf course. Boat ramps and a fishing dock are also close by.
Natural Features
Iowa's prairie heritage is celebrated in more than 40 acres of prairie plantings throughout the campground. The wide variety of grass and flowers provides vivid colors from mid-summer to fall. Wildlife is abundant throughout the project. White-tailed deer, turkeys, waterfowl and other small game animals roam the lands around the lake.
252 monitored sitesRVs up to 85 ft157 with hookups91 shadedPets OKFire pitsMax party 84
Getting there
From I-35, take exit 90 to Ankeny/Oralabor Road and go west for 4.8 miles. The road turns into Highway 415, continue and follow signs to the campground.
Saylorville Lake Administration Office, Johnston, IA 50131-1941515-984-6925
BikingBoatingCampingFishingHikingHuntingSwimming SiteWater Sports
View on Recreation.gov ↗ Get directions ↗
03 · Field Photos · roll CS-233594 · facility + sites
Photo gallery
Roll CS-233594 · Prairie Flower Recreation Area · Johnston IA12 frames · facility + sites
FAQ
How do I get a reservation at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
Reservations for Prairie Flower Recreation Area are made through Recreation.gov. The current snapshot shows substantial availability: 433 of 471 tracked site-nights are open (91.9%), though availability can change. Campsite Sniper has also detected 670 site openings here in the last 90 days, so further dates may appear. Pick a site on the map to see its calendar, or set a free Campsite Sniper alert. You complete the reservation yourself on Recreation.gov.
Does Campsite Sniper book this campground for me?
No. Campsite Sniper sends alerts and direct Recreation.gov links. It never books, pays for, holds, hoards, or resells reservations.
How current is this availability data?
Campsite Sniper re-checks public Recreation.gov availability for this facility every hour and republishes whenever anything changes. This facility's data last changed at Nov 2, 2026 18:20 UTC; an older timestamp means nothing has changed since that time, not that checking stopped. Always confirm final availability on Recreation.gov when you book.
How often do new openings appear at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
Campsite Sniper detected 670 site-date openings here over the last 90 days, none in the last 7. A free alert watches around the clock and pings you the moment one appears.
Can I get a multi-night stay at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
144 three-night openings are showing, counting only runs where the SAME site is free for all three nights. The soonest starts May 1, 2027 at site A01. Confirm and book on Recreation.gov.
Which sites at Prairie Flower Recreation Area fit a 35-foot RV?
152 of the 157 sites that support RV analysis have a recorded maximum of 35 ft or more; the longest recorded is 85 ft.
Which month has the most availability at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
May 2027, with 433 open site-nights in the current snapshot of 471.
How far ahead of a stay do openings appear at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
Half of the openings Campsite Sniper detected appeared at least 5 days before the stay date; the middle 50% landed 2-10 days out. Campsite Sniper can monitor future changes for dates you select.
When is the next open date at Prairie Flower Recreation Area?
Campsite Sniper cannot answer that from the current snapshot. The availability data held for Prairie Flower Recreation Area begins May 1, 2027 — about 180 days after this snapshot was taken, so any earlier dates are outside what Campsite Sniper is tracking here rather than known to be unavailable. Check Recreation.gov for dates before May 1, 2027.
Stop refreshing. Let the app watch it.
Filter
Lakefront, hookups, your RV length, weekends only - set it as picky as you want.
Watch
We run paced availability checks for Prairie Flower Recreation Area. One watch covers every matching site.
Get the ping
When a match opens, you get a push with a Recreation.gov link so you can review and book it yourself.