hutchinson family farms

After we discovered, upon our arrival in late November, that our Minnesota State Park near the Iowa border was closed, we found Hutchinson Family Farms on the web and gave them a call. Dixie answered and said no problem, although they were leaving for a bit we could just pull in and set up wherever. Although they had several sites right along the beautiful Upper Iowa River, it being pretty cold we set up near the office with the warm bathroom.Dixie and Tim were very helpful with information and such. We bought a load of wood for a very fair price and they brought it right down to our tent. Although they offer a range of canoeing/kayaking trips, there didn't appear to be good hiking trails right near the farm. Decorah, 8 miles away, is a great little town, though, and you can get a map for some interesting hikes all around.Find them on Facebook for lots of great pics of all their warm weather activities.

What a charming little discovery. We had read up on canoe trips in eastern Iowa and the Upper Iowa trip looked perfect, but getting information for rentals and camping in this area isn't easy. This is a place where cash is still the only currency accepted and most businesses don't have, or want, a website.We had been looking into another campground in the area, but the reviews were giving us second thoughts. The only other website I could find was for Hutchinson Family Farms, and it looked pretty nice, so I jotted down the phone number and directions - the site said don't use google or garmin because they have wrong directions. As we neared the area I called the number. It took 3 tries to get an answer, but I finally reached a nice lady named Dixie. She explained that they had a family obligation that evening, but that we were welcome to just pull in to the camping area - a converted pasture - and set up anywhere with a table and fire ring, and we could settle up in the morning. I asked what time we had to be up to do the canoe run and she said any time was fine after we saw people moving around up by the office.Having some experience with farm life myself I was not phased by the laid back approach. We arrived to find that we were the only guests, We drove through the pasture and picked out a nice space under the trees along the river bank and made ourselves at home. The night sky that night was amazing, and we even saw a flaming meteor come down that we later read was visible in 3 different states.The next day we went to the office to settle up and take our canoe trip - which was wonderful. We were told 6 hours but the water levels were high and it only took about four hours, even with a couple of rest stops. The trip ends right there at the campground by your car, which is very convenient. We hung out with the kids and horses for a few minutes before we continued on to our next destination.There were many positives and only a couple of minor negatives to our experience at the farm. I would advise visitors to bring their own water. The hosts are glad to let you fill up water bottles, but the water is not of very good quality. I'm also not sure what they do when they have a large number of visitors because we saw only one small combination bathroom and shower, which can only be used by one person at a time. It was no problem with us being the only guests, but would be problematic with a crowd.If you are looking for a peaceful place in a lovely surrounding to camp by the river's edge, this is the place to go. It's more like taking your tent to visit relatives than it is like going to a campground, and that's not a bad thing. The prices are very fair, but remember to bring cash. Iowa has no use for credit cards.