Hootentown Canoe Rental & Campground, near Crane, Missouri, is a lively spot that caters to both RV and tent campers looking to enjoy the great outdoors. Set along the banks of the James River, it’s a prime location for fishing, floating, and swimming, making it a favorite for those who love water activities.

The campground offers a range of amenities, including electric hookups and picnic tables, which make for a comfortable stay. Visitors have noted the convenience of the on-site store, where you can grab essentials for your floating adventures or stock up on snacks and drinks. As one camper put it, “They have it all. Firewood for your campfires. Canoe or raft rentals and a ride upstream so you can float back to camp.”

While the atmosphere can get a bit bustling with canoe rentals and campers, many appreciate the vibrant community feel. Some campers have mentioned that the sites can be close together, but the overall experience of being by the river and enjoying the outdoors makes it worthwhile. If you’re looking for a place to unwind and reconnect with nature, Hootentown is definitely worth considering for your next camping trip.

Hootentown Canoe Rental & Campground has been in business since 1993 and has always focused on building a family-friendly environment for everyone. We are family-owned and operated and do our best to provide the best experience possible. We now offer online booking and mapping of our campground to better serve you.

Hootentown Canoe Rental & Campground

Are you in need of a campground near Highlandville, MO? Discover secluded campsites where you can reconnect with nature. Or maybe you like to bring your family and friends along. Either way, there are Highlandville campgrounds just for you. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.

Highlandville

The Best Camping Near Highlandville, Missouri

They have it all. Fire wood for your camp fires. Canoe or raft rentals and a ride up stream so you can float back to camp. Riverside camping. A convenient store we had a blast.

It’s true camping. 

River is excellent floating.  Great cs.pground along river bank.  3 spots to putin upstream  quick easy shuttle by float service business with lots of canoes an kayaks to rent

Great campground canoe rentsl on side of rivet

This campsite is laid out nicely. Our spot had electricity and was all by itself tucked in the back corner which was perfect! We were a cpl min away from the River which made for a beautiful walk! My son wants to come back for his birthday! We will definitely be back!!!

We scored a great spot!!! 

Took my Son here for some Winter Camping. Sits right on the James River and it's my quick escape to reset my Soul. They have a little store, canoe rentals and the very nice Woman that runs it is AWESOME.

The Spot!

Have been coming to hootentowm for years. Always a great trip

Always a great experience 

We arrived having booked a reservation online for a campsite nearly a week prior to the date, but were told “good luck finding your site, someone else is probably already there” by the girl at check-in.  This place was a disorganized free-for-all with no one monitoring anything at all.   There were unsupervised children setting off fireworks directly under a low-hanging tree, free-roaming dogs, and not even enough room to navigate the area in a vehicle due to overcrowding.  We decided very quickly not to stay and found a much better campground with better management and policies.

Poorly managed and overly crowded

I have been floating on the James River many times. Always a great experience on the river. 

Campsite PROS- 
Very large grassy sites for tent camping with RV sites also available. On site general store for various floating items, alcohol, food etc 

Campsite CONS- 
VERY STRICT  camping rules when camping  with minors... 
We were all well  over the age of 21 ( 30 years old +) with the exception of my brother who was 20 at the time. He was DENIED an overnight site due to his age and the alcohol sold on the premises. Even with my father present .
Also their shower/ bath room is poorly maintained and always dirty. They have one bath and toilet for men and one for women for the entire campground, which has well over 40 sites. They are unorganized when it comes to drop offs and pick ups and could use more staff to help get on and off the river for floating. 

Good floating, Strict policies

This campground offers RV camping with full hookups or tent camping. The RV sites are a little small and close to each other, and you can tell some people are long time campers. That being said, it’s a very nice area by the river with lots of fishing, floating, and swimming opportunities. 
A few things to keep in mind-if it’s been raining a lot it does tend to get muddy, we don’t have 4WD and got stuck, luckily some others there did and helped us out. Once it dried up it was no problem. (It had been over for over a week, so it was out of the norm) The exit to get out is a hill with gravel so again not having 4WD that was a little tricky, the visibility is also not great because of curves so you just have to hope people aren’t going too fast. The last thing is this place is also a canoe rental so there are vans/buses with canoes going back and forth all day so it can be noisy. 

Photos of Hootentown Canoe Rental & Campground

Real photos from real campers