Onondaga Cave State Park Campground

The caves are a short walk (about a mile or a mile and a half) from the campground. We got to see many bats and found out there was a BatFest the next month! Next time will definitely plan for the festival. There is lots of interpretive material about the bats and how to protect them from diseases/fungus.

The campground itself is very developed. There are showers, bathrooms, a store, a playground and even a little stage.  Felt like we were some of the few not camping in a RV.

Missed BatFest but not the bats themselves

Most people who are camping and visiting this part of the Ozark's are here to enjoy the river, but don't forget to checkout the caves.  I spoke to the campground host and his wife and they told me that the Onondaga caves are the third most visited in North America.  The staff at the visitors center was also friendly.

The campground was very clean and well maintained.  There isn't a lot of tent camping, most people are visiting with RV's and camper trailers.  There are a lot of folks with canoes and inner-tubes in the campground.

Checkout my one minute video with Mike, the campground host, talking about Onondaga Cave State Park.

Onondaga Cave SP is a hidden gem in the Missouri Ozark's

We live Missouri and love getting away from the city and out to the forest and farmland, When we visit the Ozark's for camping we generally choose Onondaga, Clean large sites for tents and trees for Hammock camping. Bathrooms, showers, nice general store/gift shop with thing you may have forgot. Bringing  water shoes is a must! Depending on when you come bug spray or a bug deterrent makes being in the outdoors in the Midwest more pleasant. Summers are sticky and warm, by September the mornings and evening are cool with a high of 76-81.  There is a ton to experience here go for a float on the river or bring a chair to sit and watch floaters go by, caves, hikes, there is a zip line close, horse back riding, fishing, and  great places to take a photo of the day. 

Love getting away from the city 

Cave systems and tours are seasonal, so be sure to call ahead for tour availability if you are wanting to tour the caves. DNR is working hard to deter white nose disease in the bat population, so cave tours cease from mid-Oct to April.

Campground is well kept. Laundry, shower house and restrooms are very well kept. High school art class painted murals in the restrooms, which are rather neat. Trails are everywhere and well marked.

No cell signal &amp; limited cell signal!! Best signal was actually on the trails or in the church parking lot up on Highway H &amp; Nixon School road.

So much to do, you'll go batty

**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.

Off season

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.

RV camping and Caves

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.

Great Campgrounds

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. 

Great place to explore and camp

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

Beautiful with lots to see

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

Great State Park


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.

Wonderful Park

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.

Cool place to relax on hot days

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.

Amazing place, can’t wait to return

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!

Great Camping and a Cave or Two

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

quaint and quiet, cave-tacular

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.

I’m here for River but I’ve heard the cave is nice.

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. 