Alley Spring Campground, near Van Buren, Missouri, is a fantastic spot for those looking to immerse themselves in nature. With its beautiful river access and shaded sites, it’s a great place to unwind and enjoy the great outdoors.

The campground offers clean facilities, including restrooms and a new shower house, which visitors appreciate after a day of exploring. Many campers have mentioned the flat, spacious sites, making it easier to set up tents or park RVs. As one happy camper put it, “Great camping! Flat spots. Mostly shaded.”

For adventure seekers, Alley Spring is surrounded by stunning scenery, including the historic Alley Mill and several springs that feed into the river. You can enjoy swimming, tubing, or fishing right nearby, and the trails around the spring are a must-see. Reviewers rave about the ranger programs on weekends, which provide a fun and informative experience for all ages.

While the campground is just a short drive from Van Buren, it feels like a peaceful retreat away from the hustle and bustle. Whether you’re planning a family trip or a solo getaway, Alley Spring Campground has everything you need for a memorable outdoor experience.

## Overview

 The rolling, forested landscape around Alley Spring is where two of America's most beautiful spring-fed rivers combine to make up the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. As the first national park area to protect a wild river system, visitors are able to enjoy various water activities as well as hiking, horseback riding and wildlife viewing.
## Recreation

 Canoeing, tubing, swimming and fishing are popular activities on the vast waterways in the region, with over 130 miles (209 km) of water trails. Canoe and kayak rentals and outfitters can be found nearby.A short walk from the campground leads to a popular swimming area on the Jacks Fork River, a crystal clear and spring fed waterway that's cool and refreshing on a hot summer day. Several interpretive trails with educational exhibits meander nearby. Other hiking trails include the Alley Overlook Trail, Chubb Hollow Trail, Ozark Trail, Cave Spring Trail and Big Springs Trail. 
## Natural Features

 Known for its caves, springs, sinkholes and losing streams, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways has over 300 identified caves within its boundaries. They range in size from a rock overhang to almost seven miles of identified passages. Eight caves, including an open sinkhole, have been designated as outstanding natural features. The Ozark forest is mostly White oak and Shortleaf pine, Missouri's only native pine species. Along the rivers, Sycamore, Cottonwood, River birch and maples are common. Redbud and Dogwood are abundant, putting on a spectacular show during most spring months. 
## Contact Info

 This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (573) 323-4236. 
## Nearby Attractions

 Historic and picturesque Alley Mill and the scenic Alley Spring are nearby. The mill is open daily in the summer and rangers offer tours upon request. Pretty Round Spring is close to the campground as well.

Alley Spring Campground — Ozark National Scenic Riverway

The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Eminence. Eminence is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Get the dirt on all the best camping near Eminence. Browse campgrounds by amenities, site types, and more.

Eminence

The Best Camping Near Eminence, Missouri

Nice camping, basically primitive unless you are generator savvy. Area well kept with nice informative staff at the different areas. At this campground you have walking distance access to the river and a rental place nearby. Check out the Alley Mill while your there.

Water works,

This place has some amenities, and a very friendly staff that help upkeep the area very well. I really loved how the river was just a short trot away from the tent 

Near the river!!

The Kodak Moment is at the Alley Mill and riverway by the spring of the same name, which is near the visitor center. This is large campground with frequent ranger programs. The campground is beautifully wooded with clean facilities. Sites vary in privacy so drive around first. Water is the main attraction here but there is also hiking. 


Ozarks

Totally classic Ozarks experience here with all the water and woods you want! Great easy and moderate trails with lovely views, critters, and wildflowers. If you have a watercraft you will absolutely want to bring it (not sure about rentals on site or nearby).

Yay: fantastic visitor center with kid and adult-friendly programming all summer (not sure about off-season). Exceptionally clean and recently renovated (as of our visit in about 2011). Lovely old mill!

Nay: our first night we were in a site without any privacy or much space (I think it was the only site like that...yep it was the last one available)...but the vast majority of the sites have dense vegetation around them.

Surprise: we saw so many interesting birds here (I forget all their names despite help identifying them from other campers and rangers).

Classic Ozarks 

Amazing 

Beautiful absolutely beautiful!! The old mill, the spring, the caves, wild horses need I say more

Why both of us are not here is crazy 

They suffered a flood in 2017 that reeked havoc on the camp sites. They have rebuilt so much of it now and it's back to better than ever! They have group sites, family sights, electric hook ups and it's all located on the beautiful national scenic riverway!

Also the historic mill is beautiful right at the spring! My family has been camping and floating the Jack's fork river for over 35 years and it's a must visit every summer and also in the fall to see the leaves change. AND if you get lucky you might even get a glimpse at the herd of wild horses!

Favorite place in the world!

Tranquil, peaceful, quiet. I could stay at Alley forever. Beautiful spot. 

Beautiful spot

This campground is very large thus always having availability for tent camping! They have ranger presentations on weekend evenings about the local wildlife and rivers and springs-Jacks Fork &amp; Current River that are very informative! Great place to bring family and an equally reasonable price!! Offers group camping too! Harvey Kayak and Canoe rentals is right around the corner and will pick you up right at your campsite! I highly recommend this campground. They also have RV hookups and a private beach!

Simple and spacious!

this is a very nice campground. there are several options to chose from such as camping in tents with no electric needed or there are spors that offer electric. there are toilets in each area and there is one set of showers (around 6) that are nice and new. the showers are hot and they are free to use. the campgound starts prices at $16 for a night without electric and around $19 for electric. the park is nice and the park host seem to be helpful when needed. there is a grill/place for a camp fire amd picnic table in each designated camping spot. its close to the Jacks Fork river and close to a canoe rental. town is about 7 miles away and it has several different mom and pop resturants along with gas stations and other canoe rental places.

Nice Campground

**Alley Spring** near Eminence, in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways of MO is in my opinion one of the best areas in this region.

There was a flood in 2017 which is a good and bad thing. Unfortunately MO has cut funding to the parks so prior to the flood the maintenance had dropped off considerably, many facilities had been closed and are no longer used due to the neglect. Since the flood there has been and is a lot of renovations going on. It’s not there yet. Some areas are still closed.

Alley Spring is somewhere in the midst of renovation. Still excellent area to camp in with mostly private sites. There are a few that aren’t so great but if you reserve ahead and stay out of the inner area you should be pretty happy with your location.

The nearby rental place for the river will come to you for pickup, there are some nice trails to explore and supposedly wild horses in the area. I’ve not seen them yet.

The spring is beautiful! Tranquility comes to mind when you see it. The trail that climbs above the spring to the overlook is moderate and unfortunately the overlook itself is damaged so you don’t get quite the same view as before. The trail also meanders around the mill and spring, if your lucky you will see the adorable muskrat that resides in the area.

There are pavilions for get together sand a small store with interesting things to see and a cold drink at the end of your journey.

The past and the present

Showers and bathrooms are new and clean! They are open year round. Trailer sites can either be too close together or perfect. You just need to make sure you pick the right site. Alley Spring is beautiful. 

Perfect Campground

Fantastic campground. Had all porta potties. Bathrooms were being rebuilt over half were done. 
Float trip start point for one company. Great water and amazing water. Red wheelhouse on campus is breathtaking. A must visit in Missouri. 

In the process of rebuilding

It is a large, yet quiet campground. They have 1 loop with electricity, so it can be hard to get a site in that area.  There are lots of trees and the river is close by.  New bathrooms after the flood are super nice.  My kids love being able to ride their bikes all over :)   

One of my favorites

Alley Springs is one of several NPS campgrounds along the Ozark National Scenic River. 
The campground is located on the Jack’s Fork River, which is popular for swimming and canoeing and tubing.
There are over 150 sites, and several group sites. The campground has a shower house, restrooms, RV dump station, electric and water hookups, picnic tables and fire rings. 
The Ozark Trail runs through the park.
Roads are paved, but campground sites are gravel. 
There are Ranger-led campfire programs in the summer months.

along the Ozark National Scenic River. 

Loved this campground. Some curvey roads to get to it. Has historic mill and plenty of river places to fish and play.  Canoe floats available.  We had several family’s camping and had taken almost a whole loop. We had everything from tent campers to large motor homes. Great fun !

Great camping plenty to do

Prettiest place ever!

This place was great. The showers and bathrooms were clean. The river was close to go swimming or tubing. Everyone was friendly and helpful

Awesome 

This is a great campground that is just outside of eminence and has just about everything that you need from spacious tree covered tent sites to full RV sites as well.
Easy access to both the jacks for river and Alley spring 
Because flooding destroyed the old restroom a new one has been built in its place with a full shower house as well. 
If you want a nice peaceful campground that is in the heart of the Ozarks scenic River Ways you will definitely want to check this place out

Great campground close to eminence 

Nice campground. Has nice clean bathrooms and showers.  10 minutes outside town. Stayed for just one night but would return here. Most all the campsites are walking distance from the river. Decent amount of room for each of the campsites.  

Nice campground

Great camping!  Flat spots.  Mostly shaded.  Nice hosts.  Bathrooms close to all the spots.  Shower facilities nice.  Great swimming holes (recommend checking out the bluff hole).  Ranger programs on the weekends were very informative and friendly.  Can't wait to go back!

Fantastic

When you visit Alley Springs campground you will be engulfed with giant oak, walnut shade and the beauty of all nature has to offer. There are approximately 5 springs dumping about 1,000,000 gallons a water an hour into the rivers in this area. Rocky Falls is scenic and great to cool off in the summer. 

Missouri at it’s best

Quite tent sites with restrooms in each loop and new shower house. Spring, mill, and the trails around the spring are a must!

Great! 

Nice level sites well spaces. A good size campground with onle one loop with water &amp; electri hook ups. very small loop. Fills up early.Reservations recommened, especially on weekends.

No cell service at all.

Nice level sites

Pretty campground with river access and accessible restrooms. Showers were a little far from our loop. I wish the sites had tent pads as it was hard to find a flat spot to place the tent and several holes in the terrain. There is NO cell signal, so I highly recommend you take a weather radio. I wish we had. 

Needs tent pads

Alley Springs is a Natural Park campground. It’s located right on the Jacks Fork River just a few miles west of Eminence MO.
The highway to get here is narrow, winding, and hilly! 
But it’s worth the trip.

There are 260 campsites some have electricity.
Also a dump station.
Sites are level, with shade.
The campground is located on the flood plane, heavy rain may cause flooding and evacuation!

Beautiful spot on the Jacks Fork Tiver

I'd seen a lot of great reviews for this campground, so I had high expectations when we arrived for a night in early November. We reserved a spot in the 900 loop, just to be safe - a few of the camping loops allow reservations, and the rest are walk in. The loop was very open, spaces all fully visible to each other. The bathrooms were locked for the season after 10/15. 

  

Since things were pretty empty, we moved to the 500 loop, which was more tree covered, near the river, and next to the shower house, which was the one park bath open for the winter. Bathrooms and showers were clean, though no camp host was present the night we stayed. 

  

We were the only people on the 500 loop, so it was fine, but again - sites VERY close together. Some picnic tables were less than 20 feet apart. The 600 loop was the only heavily occupied loop when were there, filled with campers, presumably because of the electric access. 

  

This is a NPS campground, so its amenities tend to be fewer than many MO state parks. I have other parks in this area that have more scenic and private tent camping. Just on the other side of the river is the Alley spring and mill, which are lovely - and ironically, some of the picnic sites are more spacious than these tent sites. I wish we could camp on that side!

Small sites with little privacy - campground fine, but not great

Chose this location to be our hub while completing a Missouri springs tour. 
Visited 8 springs in total. Checked out the camping facilities at every spring that offered camping. All locations looked similar.
The grounds were well kept and all the folks working their we’re courteous, knowledgeable, and helpful. 
Very short drive to get to the spring &amp; mill. Wouldn’t call it a “hike” but a very nice path to take a stroll on a loop at the mill. Highly recommend. 

Photos of Alley Spring Campground — Ozark National Scenic Riverway

Real photos from real campers