Onondaga Cave State Park Campground

We stayed one night on our way through Missouri. It’s only about ten minutes south of I-44. The campground was only about half full, so it was nice and quiet. All sites have a concrete pad for the RV and for the picnic table. Includes water and electric. Playground, laundry room, and dump station. Hiking trails available from the campground and cave tours on weekends. We stayed at site #65 which is close to the entrance/restrooms and has no campsite on either side.

We stayed one night in campsite 65. Onondaga Cave is amazing with the new lighting; it just reopened July 4, 2024. The river is still fantastic fun, especially for our grandkids ages 9 and 12.

Avoid campsite 65 when it rains. We had over an inch of standing water on the concrete pad when we arrived. 18 hours after it stopped raining, we still had some water on the concrete pad.

Other than the water, Onondaga Cave SP has been one of my favorite places to camp in Missouri for more than 20 years.

Very beautiful and relaxing. Would recommend to anyone. Clean and accommodating, this is one of the best campgrounds I've been to. I ❤️ it and will Def be going back!

This is a great campground for the offseason but I don’t know that I would stay here in summer.

Pros: I was surprised by how nice the bathroom was, very clean. There was access to the river, although not much bank. There was access to trails but I wasn’t impressed with the quality. It was very quiet, only one other person on the basic loop on a beautiful spring weekend. The host was very nice and was available at the check in booth to receive guests.

Cons: the sites are really close together, if visiting in the summer I would have felt cramped. The basic sites to the north east of the playground were better if it’s gonna be crowded. The oak ridge trail was so rocky it was an unpleasant trail to walk on. The deer ridge trail was better but still not great. The water access is nice to have but don’t expect to sit by the river. The bank is very narrow so there’s not a lot of space to just sit by the water. Not bad if it’s not busy but in the summer there’s just not enough space.

These sites are all 50 amp service in the section we stayed. All the sites are paved with long pads sufficient for just about any rv. Lots of room between sites and the staff was super friendly. There is also a guided tour available to go through their enormous caves. There were super clean vault tiolets and seperate showers. Probably the best state park we have ever stayed at.

Very nice and clean. Spots were a little too close together for my liking. Camp hosts were exceptional and helpful. No cell service from Verizon of T-Mobile.

A couple of the basic sites are great with 2 having paths to the river. Great access to outfitters for floats on the river. Visit the cave, hike or just sit in the river.

I only stayed at the campground for one night, but it was lovely. I had a tent/car setup. Nice electric and water access, and a picnic table with fire pit. Bathrooms were clean. Just be alert for bears and other interesting animals.

Our space was away from the big loop which was cram packed but pretty quiet. Trails were great but cave was closed while we were there.

We’re more River focused than interested in a cave during a pandemic. So, I dunno about the cave.

Good river access, logical layout, standard Missouri state park fees and layout. The wifi got knocked out during a flood and may not be replaced.

The welcome center has a lot of information and the cave is awesome. They have camp sites and river access close by. Makes a great float trip get away.

Stayed here last night and was thrilled to see the platforms were clean, I cracked concrete, with plenty of grass space to boot. The lots, at least 1-9 are well spaced. The proximity to the cave tour is wondrous and worthwhile

Likes: Onondaga state park campground is one of my favorite camping spots in central Mo. The campground is very nice and clean and pads are level and all concrete with 50amp service and water hook ups. Very peaceful and friendly people. Dislikes: I’ve camped in a dozen sites at least there and never had a problem when it rained a little bit (rains ever time I go camping seams like!!) last week I stayed in site #65 and it sucked!!! The site has no run off and all the water collects on the concrete pad so there we sat. Walked out of camper and at least 2-3” inches of water stood on concrete pad with mud everywhere!! Finally after a day are so I couldn’t take it. ( I have 2 boys that wanted outside as well as myself) I went and bought shovel and started digging little ditiches so water would run way from camper.. With it being October it didn’t get real warm so the water was there for three days.. The one day it did get nice and sunny the yellow jackets and lady bugs where so bad that you had to watch every move you made.. The next day the camper was covered on the inside with lady bugs everywhere.

I will definitely return camping there but will avoid site #65

Stayed here for one night we toured the cave which was great. The park is very well kept and nice clean facilities. We tent camped and every spot had a good place to set up a tent.

Wonderful state park with paved roads and level concrete pads. We were nestled up against a beautiful creek. Could barely keep the dogs out of it. Nice,clean bathrooms. Nice play area for kids. We hiked one of the many hiking trail available. Tours are offered throughout the day in the two onsite caves. They were amazing. Natalie was our Gide and really knew her stuff! Park also offer kayaking, swimming, rafting and just a whole bunch of fun. There was a large camp of boys scouts and several other tent camping. Would recommend this park everyone. 10 out of 10!

My wife and I pulled our popup here this past weekend. Weather was wonderful. We camped on a basic site as all the electric sites had been booked. (note to self book sooner) Beach access was so close and clean. Shower and bath house was clean and one of the best we have experienced. We did have the power go out through the campgrounds. (Nothing to do with the park. Someone in town cut down a tree that caught a powerline. It was back up and running in a couple hrs) The cave tour was so cool! (No pun intended) I highly recommend it! We will definitely be back here!

The river had to be the best part of this - although, to be fair, we did not have time to do the caves. Cell reception is pretty much non existent but it was still worth it. The gift shop does have WiFi.

Onondaga Cave State Park is about 2 hours SW of St Louis. There is a campground and a Caverns you can tour, which is nice on hot days. The park is located on the Meramec River, so there is also swimming, fishing and canoeing, and hiking along the bluffs. The campground has basic electric/water campsites. They also have family campsites, which are a little larger. There is a playground and a small store.

I think I like this cave better than  Meremec Caverns nearby. Much less of a tourist trap and just a nice cave tour! They also have bats and that’s cool.  I don’t have any complaints about the campground but I can’t say anything of particular greatness stands out either. Nice campground, great cave!

The campground itself is very well taken care of. Spotless bathroom/shower, attentive campground hosts and plenty of amenities.

The basic campsites are right by the water too, just walk down a short path and boom! Numerous beautiful paths with nice variation in lengths and gorgeous views.

Wllderness is available but I personally have not explored it yet. The VC was able to point us to some suitable clear water for wading and a deeper point (10ft some said) called the Blue Hole.

The Onondaga Cave is a bit pricey to see but it's well worth it, one of the larger caves you can do a walking tour with well maintained and careful paths, lighting etc. Takes about 1.5hrs, our guide was very knowledgeable and humorous.

We where able to do the walk with our whole family with NO melt downs from the kids, which is kind of special. We toured with a 4month old in a baby harness, two 6 year olds and a 9 year old. We did see a couple with a stroller and it is doable.

Overall a great park and beautiful spot to visit.

Great level sites with water and electric. Easy access to the Meramec River or take a short drive to the Huzzah. If you want to float Ozark Outdoors is just over the bridge.

Saw both caves in 1 day and they were more than worth it! Great hiking trails with stunning views. Peaceful and quiet camp. Showers were great. Will definitely be back!!

The campground has limited parking and some of the terrain was hilly but still a nice getaway with a cave nearby to visit!

Great Campground, clean campsites with good pad for trailers, close to cave tour, and really nice trails!!

Loved the cavern tours, great trails but did have a little problem with ticksthis year even with spry

My favored cave in Missouri by far. I highly suggest you go for the day or stay the weekend and enjoy the cave tours and surrounding area.

Small park with great trails and views and of course the cave. Good level sites with shade. Great place for kids.

My one regret is that we didn't get to take a cave tour. Definitely going back!

The facilities and campsite were all really clean. Our neighbors left all of their food items on their picnic table, and had a justifiable raccoon encounter overnight. I would think any responsible camper would have no issues with critters here otherwise!

The park is very easy to get to. Like other MO State Park campsites they all have picnic tables, fire pit, and area for a tent. The basic loop, sites 1-13, are not very private, but would be ideal for a group of people sharing space and adjacent sites! We stayed in site 16, which backed to the woods but was at the beginning of the long road toward the rest of the campground, so there was comparatively high traffic to other campgrounds with separated loops.

A good place for RV camping, not so much for tent camping. This is a campground with RVs in mind- large parking pads, tons of sites with hookups, and small green space for tents. No privacy as the trees are along the back of the camping row. Which means there really isn't anywhere for a person to hang a hammock. But, the campground was sparkling clean. The bathrooms were new looking, and shower passes could be purchased for $5 from the camp host if you weren't camping but needed a shower. I guess they have had some boaters from the Meramec River come up and use the facilities. If you are camping on the weekend you do have to pay for two nights (F/S or S/S).

The real draw of this park is the caves. You can tour the main cave from the Visitors Center. $15 will get you a guided 90 minute tour of Onondaga Cave. Afterwards you really should take the hike on Herron Trail to see the original entrance to the cave, which is mostly underwater unless its a really dry season. There is also a second entrance that is gated, so if you want to go in, you have to pay up at the Visitors Center. There is apparently another tour offered for Cathedral Cave, but it wasn't open while I was there. The tour of Onondaga Cave was worth every penny and makes camping here worth it.

Onondaga Cave State Park has a very well maintained, long campground. It meanders through a hilly area and affords campers with several locations to have some privacy from other nature seekers and the inevitable bring the kitchen sink campers too. The lower campsite is prone to flooding but has direct river access.

Unfortunately we arrived the week after the Onondaga Cave had closed for the season to let the resident bats get some well deserved hibernation privacy and quiet. We were still able to enjoy the many trails offered and fall colors just ramping up. The campground is off I44 outside St Louis, Mo and surrounded by several other parks including part of the Mark Twain National Forest.

Showerhouse facilities were small but well maintained and decorated by the local high school and laundry facilities were on site. Keep your pup leashed even on site and watch for local wildlife which may show up at your doorstep.