Tailwater West Campground

The Tailwater West Campground is located within the Dam Complex at the Coralville Lake Project, on the west bank of the Iowa River below the Coralville Lake Dam. The Coralville Lake Project is a multiple use project providing primary benefits in flood control and low flow augmentation, and secondary benefits in recreation, fish and wildlife management and forest management. Coralville Lake provides many recreational opportunities, including boating, camping, hiking, mountain biking, lake and river fishing, swimming, water activities, picnicking and hunting. The campground offers 22 campsites, including full hook-up campsites, standard electric campsites, and non-electric walk-to tent campsites. Amenities include a modern restroom with shower facility and a fish cleaning station. The dump station and drinking water are located just outside of the West Overlook Campground. The Tailwater Day Use Area offers a playground, hiking trail and ADA accessible fishing piers. Visitors enjoy Coralville Lake for camping, boating, fishing, swimming and water activities. Anglers will find large and smallmouth bass, crappie, walleye and catfish. Several trails are within the Dam Complex, including Squire Point, Woodpecker Trail, Tailwater Riverwalk and the barrier-free Veterans Trail. The Turkey Creek Disc Golf Course, also in the Dam Complex, offers nine partially wooded and open holes. The Devonian Fossil Gorge is just below the dam, offering a unique opportunity to explore a 375-million-year old sea floor and discover fossil remains of sea life that once inhabited this tropical marine environment. Twenty discovery points can be found throughout the site along with a cell phone audio tour. Coralville Lake is located in the Iowa River Valley, just north of Iowa City, and the Tailwater West Campground lies among a heavily wooded forest of mixed hardwood species on the west side of the dam. Wildlife is abundant throughout the project: whitetail deer, turkeys, pheasants, waterfowl, song birds and other species roam the lands around the lake. Iowa City and Coralville offer the University of Iowa campus, hospital and clinics, numerous restaurants and shops as well as Coral Ridge Mall. Cedar Rapids has cultural, historic and ethnic attractions such as The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, and is home of the Kernels Professional Baseball Club. West Branch boasts the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Presidential Library/Museum, the Amana Colonies hold seven quaint villages with outstanding restaurants, wineries, historic sites and specialty shops, and Kalona, known as the "Quilt Capital of Iowa," is home to an Old Order Amish and Mennonite community.