Kamp Dels

Before I get into my review, I have to point out that I’m not big into camping. My idea is camping is a fifth wheel with electricity and running water. We went on a camping trip last fall with our neighbors to Kamp Dels and I stayed in a tent for the first time since I was in boy scouts. While the experience wasn’t horrible, I have some definite beefs with the facilities.
Kamp Dels is about an hour and a half drive from the Cities. They have a minimal playground, a big waterpark, pool, petting zoo, and lots of other activities. I was there for a weekend and while I, personally, ran out of things to do, there are plenty of things to keep you occupied if you have interests in them.
My big problem with Kamp Dels is that they are incredibly crownded. We were there in mid-​August and the place was packed. We had four campsites near the waterpark and there was barely 10 ft between us and our neighboring campers. Now granted, our group pitched tents at the edge of our sites so that we would have a large common area in the middle, but I walked around the campground and the sites were really tightly packed together. There were campsites where you could be surrounded completely by other campsites and would have to walk through someone else’s site to get to a road. I would hate to end up in one of those sites if I didn’t know a neighbor next to a road.
The pool was also incredibly crowded. There was always a large line to dive off one of the diving boards and the rest of the pool looked like the arctic waters when a pack of seals are swimming together. There was barely an arms length between you and the next swimmer. The waterpark next door was only slightly better but only because there was more room. Tons of people lined the edge to watch their kids. The worst part is that the waterpark closes about an hour before the pool, so where to everybody go? You guessed it. To Seal Central.
I’m a big fisherman, so I was excited to do some fishing off the dock across the street. But the lake was really dirty. I could barely see 6 inches below the surface of the water. I realize that’s not Kamp Dels’ fault, but it really put a damper on my activities when I planned to fish for a few hours.
Overall, the weekend was still fun, sans the rain storms that came through, and the kids had a blast. We had good company and quality bonding time with the neighbors. But this year, we’re heading to a different campground.