A gray 4x4 Sprinter with a roof rack on a two-track through a wildflower meadow, cloud sitting on the mountains behind.

Army Corps of Engineers campground

Sandy Beach Camp

Army Corps of Engineers campground in Coralville Lake, Johnson County, Iowa. 731 feet. 3.7 miles from Shueyville.

Managed by
Army Corps of Engineers Coralville Lake
Elevation
731 ft USGS elevation model, at the mapped point
Sites
56 48 standard electric, 8 walk to
Longest rig
66 ft The longest vehicle any site is listed for
Hookups
Electric
Reservations
Recreation.gov

Overview

The Sandy Beach Cammpground is located on the northern shores of Coralville Lake. The Coralville Lake Project is a multiple use project providing primary benefits in flood control and low flow augmentation, and secondary benefits in recreations, fish and wildlife management, and forest management. Coralville Lake provides many recreational opportinities, including boating,, camping, hiking, mountain biking, lake and river fishing, swimming, water activities, picnicking, and hunting.

Recreation

Visitors enjoy Coralville Lake for camping, boating, fishing, swimming and water activities. Anglers will find large and small mouth bass, crappie, walleye, and catfish.

Facilities

The Sandy Beach Campground offers 58 campsites to include full hook-up campsites, standard electric campsites, and non-electric walk- to tent campsites. Amenities include modern restroom and shower facilities, playground, dump station, drinking water, and entrance station. The Sandy Beach Day Use Area offers picnic sites, a large group picnic shelter, boat ramp, fish cleaning station, vault restroom, and lake access.

Natural Features

Coralville Lake is located in the Iowa River Valley, just north of Iowa City. The Sandy Beach Campground lies among a heavily wooded forest of mixed hardwood species on the northern reaches of Coralville Lake. Wildlife is abundant throughout the project. Whitetail deer, turkeys, pheasants, waterfowl, song birds and other species roam the lands around the lake.

Nearby Attractions

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. The Lake MacBride Golf Course is nearby, offering nine holes among rolling hills. Several additional golf courses are scattered around the lake. Iowa City/Coralville offers the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Iowa campus, hospital and clinics, numerous restaurants and shops as well as Coral Ridge Mall. Cedar Rapids has wonderful cultural, historic and ethnic attractions such as The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library and is the home of the Kernels Professional Baseball Club. West Branch boasts the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and Presidential Library/Museum. At Amana Colonies visit seven quaint villages with outstanding restaurants, wineries, historic sites and specialty shops. Kalona is known as the Quilt Capital of Iowa and is home to an Old Order Amish and Mennonite Community.

The description, directions and fees are the Army Corps of Engineers’s own words, from its record on Recreation.gov.

What people do here

  • boating
  • camping
  • fishing

The land around Sandy Beach Camp

The ringed pin is this campground; the others are its nearest neighbours. Switch on forest roads or BLM routes to see the way in.

Interactive map. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select any point to see which agency manages the land. Arrow keys pan and the plus and minus keys zoom when the map has focus. A list of every state with its share of federal land is on the Explore page.

Map layers

Layers
Base map
Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • US Forest Service (USFS)
  • National Park Service (NPS)
  • US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
  • Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
  • Department Of Defense (DOD)
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
  • Other Federal
  • State
  • Local
  • Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
  • Alaska Native Allotment

Federal campgrounds, by agency

  • Forest Service
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • National Park Service
  • Army Corps of Engineers
  • Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife and others

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

  • State land
  • County and city land
  • Regional agency or district
  • Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

Source: Recreation Information Database (Recreation.gov), record updated February 25, 2026. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program. Seasons, fees, water and fire rules change; the managing office has the final word.