The Bell Mountain Wilderness Area is about a 2.5 hour drive from the St. Louis area - mostly highway until the winding country roads for the last 30 mins. There are two entrances to the mountain. The first one you pass will put you straight into the Bell Mountain loop. Turn left and you’ll be headed up to the summit, turn right and you’ll be headed down to the creeks at the base. Travel a bIt further down the road (five mins or so) and you’ll find yourself at the second entrance which shares part of its path with the Ozark Trail. There are two campsites right near the small parking area, that you’ll pass before you cross the road and head on up the trail. The trail switchbacks multiple times as you work your way up to the split in the trail. Keep going straight/slightly right and you’ll stay on the Ozark Trail, turn to your left and you’ll find your self on the trail that leads to the Bell Mountain trail loop. As you come to the loop continue straight to the summit or do what we did and turn left to rock hop through the creeks in order to take in the full loop experience before reaching the top. The trail leading both down and back up from the creeks is very steep in some areas, and if you go during the spring/early summer like we did when the area experiences a good number of rains the trail can often be slick and muddy. The water in the creeks was cool and clear - great for resting tired feet. And the views from the summit were gorgeous - a great way to truly appreciate the area! There are a few campsites right near the summit - some better maintained than others due to frequent use. But any number of the large boulders and grassy areas provide a great place to camp for the night. If you enjoy low maintenance camping and the silence of being the only one for miles this is the camp for you!