Cabin Fever - Rental Cabins Expected To Lure More Visitors To Pony Creek Park

Pony Creek Park has upped its hospitality game.

In addition to the usual, and popular amenities offered at Mills County’s only camping park – from recently renovated electrical campsites and picnic shelters to hiking trails, a scenic overlook and acres of native prairie – Pony Creek Park is now offering rental cabins.

The park’s two cabins are located just southeast of the Pony Creek Nature Center and are available for rent year round.

“Everybody that has stayed in them has really enjoyed their stay,” said Mills County Conservation Director Jared Getter. “Weekends have been more popular than weekdays of course but we really have not advertised them a whole lot because when we were on a well, the water had that sulfur smell. Now with the city water, we don’t have that.”

Getter said his office is fielding a lot of calls about the cabins, many from area residents seeking accommodations for family for visits, area weddings or for upcoming holidays.

The lake and nature center are just a short walk from the cabins and the area hiking trails lead right to the units’ doorstep.

“They can walk right out the door and go for a hike,” Getter said.

The interest in more cabin-based tourism reflects a changing dynamic in what families are looking for in camping amenities.

“If people are going camping, grandma and grandpa aren’t going to take the grandkids out and sleep in a tent,” he said. “They’re looking for cabins.”

Pony Creek Park’s 1,500 square foot units sleep up to 10 people. Each has two bedrooms on the upper level with two queen beds and two full-size futons, a bathroom and a full kitchen. The basement has another bedroom with a queen size bed, a futon and a bathroom.

The cabins rent $150 a night with two-night stays required on weekends.

The cabin project began as a proposal by the Loess Hills Missouri River Region’s Parks and People plan to build rental cabins at county parks back in 2019. As part of that plan, Mills County teamed with Pottawattamie and Harrison counties to build the units in a joint effort to enhance its outdoor recreational opportunities by offering the cabins for rental in their respective county-owned parks.

The cabins are intended to serve as a starting point for attracting tourism and promoting economic development. By working as a region, the three counties reduced costs and shared promotion.

After a construction delay due to Missouri River flooding and then the pandemic, construction finally began late last Summer on Mills county’s cabins. Funding for the cabins was largely provided by the state with assistance from each county and the Iowa West Foundation.

The final price tag for the Pony Creek Park cabins was $250,000.

Cabins at Willow Lake in Harrison County opened in late 2020 and in 2021 at Pottawattamie County’s Arrowhead Lake.

Mills County is still in the process of setting up its online reservation system so for now all bookings are handled through the county’s conservation office by calling 712-527-9685.