March 28, 2024

The 35th annual Iowa RV and Camping Show

The campground Clarke County Conservation is beginning this year at East Lake Park says a lot about the popularity of camping and recreation gear.

“Camping is really the in thing right now,” said conservation board director Scott Kent.

While winter in Iowa isn’t the busy season for sure, the park still gets at least a call a week about campsites. People love the great outdoors, including fishing, birdwatching and snow-bound sports like cross-country skiing. That doesn’t mean they have to be uncomfortable in their downtime, and there’s an event coming up that can prove it.

The Iowa RV and Camping Show will be at the Iowa State Fairground Thursday, Feb. 2 through Sunday, Feb. 5. Five major dealers will be there, including Herolds of Indianola.

“It’s indoors. It’s warm. It’s out of the elements,” says Show Manager Joyce Watters. “The Varied Industries building is quite large.”

The dealers bring in all their latest models and pack the building with more than 350 motorhomes, trailers, toy haulers, fifth-wheels and other RVs of all sizes.

“They use every bit of space,” said Watters. “Some of them are just 2-3 inches apart.”

While a few years ago, Winnebago tried to put on classes for wannabe owners, there wasn’t enough interest to sustain them. Crowds have too much fun simply going through the units. Visitors will see features at the Iowa RV and Camping Show they won’t see anywhere else — including special pricing.

“They have some really good deals,” said Watters.