free boondocking in Northwest MO
We scoped out this spot as a potential site to post up for Memorial Day Weekend 2022 in our square-drop camper. Sadly, we moved on to another location but wanted to review for anyone else that is interested. Here are our thoughts camping in this specific MO conservation area:
This area has a small (~1/8 of an acre maybe) gravel pullout off the dirt road where the iconic brown fish and wildlife area guidelines and regulation signage are posted per ushe in Missouri.
As far as we could tell, this gravel area was IT, as far as a camping site - so there wasn't much to it. Buuut it did have tree coverage for shade! IF there was anything behind the gravel area, we didn't see it, but a google sat. image looks like there might be a smaller road that goes on into the trees from the gravel lot, but at the end of May it was fully grown over and we didn't feel safe exploring it to see if there was any potential back there (its tick and snake season here right now.. maybe we'll check back in the Fall and update if we find more camping spots!)
I'd recommend this site for someone passing through just looking for a free, quiet spot to boondock for the night safely because the gravel parking lot is all you get (as far as land goes). The surrounding area of the conservation plot looked to have some trails and some creek features but no prime camping spots. Getting here was easy (Jeep Wrangler + square back pull behind) and the roads leading to the CA were well maintained and not muddy even after a ton of rain earlier in the week.