Eastern Iowa
Panora is about 30 miles west of Des Moines, for those of you who don't use MapQuest.
Out of curiosity, I drove by the shooting range at Hawkeye Wilderness Area after work last night, and was kind of underwhelmed. There is a sign saying that the range is closed due to construction, but there were a couple of people shooting rifles. Both the rifle and pistol ranges look usable, since the construction appears to be occuring between them.
Parking is basically on the side of the (gravel) road, and the shooting positions are within 60 feet of traffic.
I guess I am either spoiled or more sensitive to facilities since I usually shoot with my wife, but the Matsell Bridge range is much nicer. The shooting positions on both the rifle and pistol ranges are covered and there is a large parking lot (and a bathroom structure) well back from the road. It is about 40 minutes from my house in CR, as opposed to 20 minutes to Hawkeye Wilderness Area, but is well worth the drive in my opinion, especially if you're looking to make a day of shooting.
I don't know about camping, nor do I know how the park ranger will react to rapid fire or even automatic shooting. I also don't have contact information handy to find answers.
Since I am very much an underarmed newby, I'm not sure my opinion matters, but I would pick a shorter drive over access to a large collection of automatic weapons. So what if my priorities are out of whack?
