Shady Creek
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 8 of the next 8 nights read 16:16 UTC
- A night
- $14–$26Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 5554 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
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. Keep reading
Recreation
The Mississippi River draws many anglers annually. The most popular fish species is the channel catfish; bluegill, walleye and northern pike are also found in the river. Picnicking and playing horseshoes is a popular activity in the park.
Facilities
The park's campsites contain 50-amp electric hookups, campfire rings and picnic tables. Flush toilets and showers are provided. A boat ramp and playground are on-site.
Natural Features
The park has spectacular views of the Mississippi River. Many trees throughout the campground provide great places to lounge in the shade. The Upper Mississippi River begins at the headwaters of Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows 1,250 miles to Cairo, Illinois where it joins the Ohio River.
Nearby Attractions
Wildcat Den State Park is just north of Shady Creek, offering hiking trails and the historic Pine Creek Grist Mill built in 1848. The Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge is a 40-minute drive downstream. Trails and observation decks are open to the public. Hunting and fishing are allowed in many area of the refuge.
What the agency tells you
Our new Check-Out time is 12:00 PM. The new Check-In time is 2:00 PM.
Visitors are expected to be aware of Campground Rules
All campers must register with the fee booth on day of arrival. Fee booth hours are 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. daily and 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays of holiday weekends.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Firewood is for sale in the park.
Campers using a discount card are required to present the discount card and ID during check-in.
STOP THE SPREAD OF INVASIVE SPECIES. Remove plants, seeds, animals, and mud from boots, gear, pets, and vehicles. Clean your gear before entering and leaving the recreation site. Stay on designated roads and trails, and follow local guidelines for firewood. CLEAN, DRAIN, DRY boats and any other recreational equipment that contacts water. Dispose of unwanted bait, worms, fish parts, or other organisms into the trash and not into the environment. For more information visit https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/rec.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 55 · 2 tent-only
- Hookups
- 51 electric
- Longest rig
- 92 ft
- Paved pads
- 53 of 55
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 53 of 55 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets · Pit Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 2 of 56 campsite records / PIT TOILETS on 2 of 56 campsite records
- Showers
- Seasonal Showers
- SHOWERS (SEASONAL) on 2 of 56 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER (PEAK SEASON) on 2 of 56 campsite records
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Night sky · 15th darkest of 32 in IA
- Bortle 4
33 of 108 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:16 UTC
recreation.gov lists 54 of the 55 campsites the agency files here. The rest aren’t on its booking system, so a reservation won’t get you one.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $14–$26 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:16 UTC · rules read Oct 1, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
56 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 52 mapped sitesAll 56 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 53 of the 56 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Downriver Loop | 054 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | $14 | ||||
| Downriver Loop | 055 | tent only nonelectric | 15 ft | $14 | ||||
| SHADY CREEK | 001 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 49 ft | 401 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 002 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 76 ft | 283 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 003 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 76 ft | 208 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 004 | standard electric | 62 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 62 ft | 215 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 005 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 49 ft | 276 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 006 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 49 ft | 325 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 007 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 49 ft | 385 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 008 | type not stated | 67 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 415 ftMississippi River | |||
| SHADY CREEK | 009 | standard electric | 59 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 68 ft | 361 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 010 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 68 ft | 290 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 011 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 69 ft | 219 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 012 | standard electric | 78 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 55 ft | 217 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 013 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 55 ft | 246 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 014 | standard electric | 79 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 59 ft | 264 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 015 | standard electric | 76 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 75 ft | 318 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 016 | standard electric | 76 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 75 ft | 349 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 017 | standard electric | 68 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 65 ft | 394 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 018 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 65 ft | 414 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 019 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 74 ft | 444 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 020 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 54 ft | 494 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 021 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 54 ft | 513 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 022 | standard electric | 63 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 59 ft | 602 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 023 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 59 ft | 642 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 024 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 59 ft | 601 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 025 | standard electric | 69 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 72 ft | 580 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 026 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 82 ft | 570 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 027 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 78 ft | 510 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 028 | standard electric | 74 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 78 ft | 473 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 029 | standard electric | 92 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 65 ft | 459 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 030 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 25 ft | 447 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 031 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 25 ft | 451 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 032 | type not stated | 75 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 451 ftMississippi River | |||
| SHADY CREEK | 033 | standard electric | 61 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 68 ft | 256 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 034 | standard electric | 59 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 68 ft | 239 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 035 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 85 ft | 235 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 036 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 76 ft | 296 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 037 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 44 ft | 306 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 038 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 44 ft | 322 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 039 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 61 ft | 364 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 040 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 63 ft | 399 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 041 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 42 ft | 440 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 042 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 54 ft | 470 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 043 | standard electric | 52 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 31 ft | 499 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 044 | standard electric | 63 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 41 ft | 525 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 045 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 41 ft | 566 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 046 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 38 ft | 542 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 047 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 31 ft | 517 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 048 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 42 ft | 482 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 049 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 59 ft | 462 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 050 | standard electric | 68 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 62 ft | 425 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 051 | standard electric | 67 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 68 ft | 385 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 052 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 78 ft | 369 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | 053 | standard electric | 62 ft | 50/20/30 amp | 78 ft | 370 ftMississippi River | $26 | |
| SHADY CREEK | Shelter 1 | day use | 20 amp | yes | 329 ft | 221 ftMississippi River | $25 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 56 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Clarks Ferry3.8 mi
Blanchard Island Recreation Area12 mi
Fishermans Corner27 mi
Tailwater East Campground39 mi
Tailwater West Campground39 mi
Cottonwood Campground (IA)39 miFrom Davenport, Iowa, drive west on Highway 22 about 17 miles and turn at the Shady Creek sign.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Fairport, IA
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 64°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 13°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Shady Creek is in Iowa’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →