Sam A. Baker State Park Campground

Just spent the weekend with my family at Sam A Baker (SAB). We stayed at campground 2. Spot 145 and had plenty of shade and space. There are two traditional camps and one equestrian. The park is crowded but that’s because of how great it is. Lots of paved walk/bike trails around the park. If you forget your bike no problem you can rent one for $5 a day! The visitors center was neat. The general store has everything you need and a restaurant attached where you can get breakfast, lunch and dinner. We spent some time on the gravel bar which was a short walk from our campsite. The water on Big Creek was clear, shallow, and not too cold. I would recommend this state park to any family looking to camp.

Great Missouri SP 

The state park is located in southeastern Missouri was a disappointment to us on our visit. The campground, while large and spaced out, was a little bit on the trashy side. The facilities were dated and the park state were not the most pleasant. There are several trails in the park that look challenging but we chose to move on.

Disappointing 

Such a scenic park. Beautiful at every turn. Well kept, lovely staff and has something for everyone. Cabins, camping, hiking, river, floating, horses, you name it. Amazing place! GO! 

State Park of all MO State Parks

Beautiful camp sites and a beautiful river to paddle around on. This park usually isn’t very crowded which is really nice. It is very tranquil and perfect for a weekend get away. 

One of our favorite parks

We absolutely loved this state park! It's easily our favorite Missouri state park to visit with our kiddos. There's just so much to do! The campsites are nicely spaced and clean. Expect plenty of sand at your site (my kids loved this, of course). There's a paved bike path that runs through the park. We took bike rides every day! We were pleasantly surprised that Big Creek was clear, cool and shallow (at least where we were). Swimming in the creek was one of our favorite activities each day... even having a 2 year old. The kids caught and released huge bull frogs and tons of minnows. We also enjoyed the evening presence of deer. Shower house and bathrooms were as clean as to be expected from a packed campground. This park also has a couple of on site stores in case you forget swim shoes or even swimsuits (like we did). You can even rent kayaks and canoes!

Our favorite Missouri State Park!

The campground was clean and looked nice. The bathroom and shower house by the river were disgusting.

Clean campground 

**Campground Review**

I was very excited to finally get to check out [Sam A. Baker State Park](https://mostateparks.com/park/sam-baker-state-park) as I had heard great things about beautiful land. The drive to the park was very pretty indeed, my husband and I enjoyed the view on the way in. My first impression upon entering the park was that this place is huge! There are 2 huge campgrounds (around 100 sites each!) and a nice paved bike path connecting them. There is also a visitor’s center were you pay for your campsite, a camp store that sells all kinds of things, a small restaurant, equestrian campsites, cabins, and an equestrian trail. We set up our tent in a basic site with no electricity, which was nice that it put us a little bit away from RVs and campers. The sites are very close together and even on one of the hottest weekends of the year the campgrounds were full! They do allow advanced reservations and I would definitely recommend them in the summer. The basic site cost $13/night and was close to a shower house with flushing toilets and a water spigot. Since it was such a hot weekend, Saturday morning we decided to the 4 mile float the campground offers. They depart at 10am or 11 am from the boat ramp at campground 1\. They have a bus that picks you up at the end at either 2pm or 4pm. We paid $40 for our canoe for the afternoon. It was nice to float a different river, but the St. Francois (at least near Sam A. Baker) was pretty murky and you couldn’t see your feet in about knee-deep water. There were also tons of trees down in the water, making it a more technical trip at some points and even requiring us to get out and portage our canoe for about 25 yards. Although the price for the float was decent, the distance was very short (without stops, it would take about 1.5-2 hours). I think next time I would choose to just play and relax in the river near the campground rather than do that float again. The park also has some backcountry trails with backcountry campsites and is near the Ozark Trail. My husband and I really wanted to explore the trails and see if it connected to the Ozark Trail, but because of the heat the weekend we were there we didn’t get a chance to. Most of the trails are shared use, meaning foot and horse, which is never great for the hikers on foot. We wanted to be able to see the true condition for ourselves, but I guess that will have to wait until next time!

Pros:

*   Full amenities (showers, water, electric, store, restaurant)
*   Lot of activities (river floats, fishing, swimming, equestrian trails, backcountry trails, amphitheater, bike path)

Cons:

*   Very popular, and therefore very crowded
*   While it was pretty, it did not feel exceptional in any way.

**Product Review: Snapbuds**

As a Dyrt Ranger, I get the honor of reviewing products from time to time. This trip I got to highlight [Snapbuds](https://www.snapbuds.us/). They are a magnetic earbud cord organization system. If that sounds complicated, they are. They are a series of magnets that you clip around your earbud cords so that when you wrap up the cord it stays in place. This is to prevent the inexplicable phenomenon that is setting down your earbuds perfectly coiled, not touching them, then finding them in a yarn ball like knot the next day. They certainly do help with that problem. However, I have noticed since I am now coiling my earbuds the same way each time, they get twisted up after a few uses. The set up process is not entirely intuitive. You lay your earbuds on the provided guide and tape them down. Then you snap the buds in the locations of the wrap you want to achieve. Once the buds are placed, they are not supposed to be able to be moved, but you can pry them back open with a fingernail or slide them down with a bit of force. I found that the indicated placement to wrap around your hand or phone was not where they should line up for my hand or phone once I placed them. This required me to remove or slid each bud. Since they are magnets, if your cords are slightly twisted and the buds line up so the poles of the magnet don’t attract, you have to flip them and it doesn’t look as nice. Also, the magnet will be attracted to anything metal, so when using these at my desk, I have to be careful around my laptop. The buds do add a little weight to your earbuds, but it’s not bad. I did find that wearing the earbuds with snapbuds on them while running was a little annoying, since you have magnets hitting you in the chest with each stride. After each use you have to careful wrap the cord to match up. All in all, I don’t feel like this a worthwhile solution to the problem. At $10 per set, I feel like I would just rather continue to coil the cord at my leisure and keep them in place with an old hair clip.

Pros:

*   They do offer a solution to a common problem
*   You can get them branded and use them as a promotional item

Cons:

*   Still causes issues with coiling nicely
*   Not intuitive to install
*   Magnates get attracted to metal around you
*   Magnets add weight to earbuds
*   Still had to invest time into untangling and coiling. Didn’t feel like it saved me anytime.

Ranger Review: Snapbuds at Sam A. Baker State Park

Equestrian sites are never hardly used and we have came on all major holidays. Electricity is only every other site which sucks if your trying to camp with friends. Have to use the human camp ground showers vault toilets in camp area. Love the trails but river crossing can be hard to find. Always shaded spots. There’s camp store and you can float trip or go play in river.

Always shady camp ground 

Sam A Baker has a large selection of sites.  Perfect for tent camping or Campers of any size.  Great trail selection, many moderate trails, but there are many options for those with young children as well.

Clean Sites, perfect for family.

There are several places to access the river and the site we stayed at was very spacious(note not all sites are).

Loved this camp

Sam A Baker is an amazing state park. Great access to water and awesome landscapes. 
There’s lots of hiking available but we spent most of our time in the water. You can actually tube from one end of the park by the visitor center to the boat ramp on the other end. 
Sites are fairly close in some areas and on top of each other in others. 
All in all loved our stay an we will be back. 

Beautiful water lots of neighbors

We love it here. Sites that can accommodate tents and/or RVs. Its clean and well maintained. Multiple access points to the water. Educational programs and entertainment of some sort most every weekend. Pet friendly. 

Perfect for family camping 

Great river access, nice little store, good price!!

Great State Park!!!

Very well maintained and clean campsites. We always enjoy coming here. The shut-in is a little walk but a very nice hidden jem, if you don’t mind the hike.

Great Family campground. 

This is a great little state park that has plenty of options whether you enjoy tent camping or enjoying your Rv. Some of the144-151 sites can be pretty tight to get into because there are so many trees so double check the pictures on the reservation website to make sure you can get yours in. Ours is 40’ and it was pretty hard to get in but we managed.
Nice shower facilities and laundry as well as river access within walking distance

All that you need!

I attempted the Mudlick trail all was great until I got to the 3rd hiking shelter everything was overgrown with poison ivy. I needed up setting up my hammock and just staying until morning since I got on the trail late. Which I wouldn’t recommend due to the high traffic of wildlife. 

Quiet and over grown 

Stopped after long drive, was further from highway than I thought but well worth the drive,, crystal clear water, October water was low but color change was starting, needed electric, showers n dump on long road trip, was a nice stop.

scenic

Sam A Baker is really hard to beat. There are all the amenities (electric, showers, store, bike and watercraft rentals, etc) and plenty to do. We stay here 2-3 times a year depending on if we can get one of the sites we like. We normally stay in Campground 1. It's great for the kids to ride bikes. There are short and long hiking trails, good swimming and wading areas in the creek and river and mostly friendly people. The closeness of some sites along with the barking dogs and few loud partiers tend to get on my nerves when camp is full, but that can happen anywhere. I have bought firewood here twice and it was a waste. Overall this is a great family campground with attentive hosts. I also love the old-style CCC buildings and it's just a pretty area.

All You Need in a Campground

Great park. I did the backpacking with 1 night of hammock camping. They have 3 actual tent shelters on the trail but it is over grown by #3 there’s also aquatic trails so be ware of the horses. 

Great park 

Will definitely be back here. Clear waters to swim in. Clean restrooms.  Spacious tent spaces.  Nice trails. We went and saw the park rangers showing us all kinds of different snakes in the area. Kids loved it. 

Beautiful place to stay

We absolutely love  this campground! We have been  camping there for over 9 years now. Very kid friendly. Our kids enjoy riding bikes, swimming, the nature programs, and kayaking. Highly recommend! We love the fact that river access is just a few steps away.

Always a blast

My group and I stayed in Campground 1 and we were so pleased with how well-kept our sites were. Even during the last weekend of September, it was hot out, so we were glad there were plenty of trees around. The store up near the other campground sold reasonably priced firewood, too!

  

The park itself offers a lot to explore--quite a few trails to choose from, and the river made for nice wading in the afternoon heat. A friend and I even spotted a baby eastern spiny softshell turtle while crossing Big Creek!

Well-kept and Shady

We Stayed in site  174. While this location was right next to dumpsters it was also adjacent to a gravel bar access for the entire park.  Our trip was amazing. Site 174 and most around it had quite a bit of shade and plenty of room for kids, dogs, and our 4 hammocks.

  

Our campground hosts were knowledgeable and on top of things with seeming overbearing. Campground is obviously hit and miss as far as neighbors but here you have enough room to make your own oasis. 

  

Clean Shower houses and historic visitor centers. We cant say enough about how much we love this campground. Do yourself a favor and book it early they fill fast.

A true diamond in the Ozarks. Cold water and Shady days   

Enjoyed our stay at this campground very much. The campground can be a bit crowded without much privacy but the highlight is the river. Beautiful clean, crisp refreashing water great for tubing and chillin'. Easy access to the sand bar from the campground. Our site had electricity but no water. Fill up on the way in. Did not use the bathhouse due to COVID19. Be sure and check out the stars at night! We did shop at the campground store which was well stocked. There is a nice bike trail that the kids really enjoyed. The walk to the shut-in area was nice and the actual shut-ins are beautiful. Will definitely return to this state park.

Beautiful river!

We enjoyed our 1.5 mile hike to get to the river access to float.  We brought our own flotation devices and really enjoyed every aspect of the seclusion.  They have equestrian trails as well and we got to see horses while floating too.  The water was crystal clear and we even found quartz in some rocks in the water.

Fun Campground

 Pros:

\--Tons of swimming in the rivers and"shut-ins" throughout the park(just remember to wear water shoes if you can; it's VERY gravely)

\--Lots of trails

\--Nice, mellow bike path connecting the two main campgrounds and the very fun camp store(look up on the ceiling!)

\--Tall pines(I love tall pines, that's all) 

  

Cons: DISCLAIMER-- We were here on a weekend in August, so I suspect our experience was very much shaped by that....

\--Campground was PACKED and LOUD

\--Campground was PACKED and LOUD

\--Campground was PACKED and LOUD 

  

Okay, I think you get the picture with the campground itself. It was one of those things that made me feel like a cranky old man, saying,"man, why can't these people stop trying to show-off their lame-ass stereos???" That said, the park itself was beautiful. 

  

The main attraction is the water. The river twists and turns through the park. It's shallow, gently flowing, and VERY clear pretty much everywhere(except a few places where it was stagnant!). PRO TIP!!! Since the campground was PACKED and LOUD, most people seemed to not venture too far from the campground itself, so if you want your own private swimming spots, you can hike a relatively short distance and grab one. We did the short"shut-ins" trail and found a perfect one. 

  

BOTTOM LINE: If you want any peace and quiet, don't stay here on the weekend. I suspect the weekdays would be better, and if you managed to schedule mid-week, I suspect it would be an incredible place to stay.

Amazing river swimming, but try to come mid-week if you can!

We went with the whole fam to Sam A Baker. Shower houses were conveniently located in camping area. Big River was just a small walk away from the campsite. I know they had been flooded, but I am still cleaning rocks and dirt from the camper. They had a nice camp store and were very friendly. Mostly electric sites. A few full hookups close to the front of the campground. Nice paved roads and larger than normal sites. It was during a pandemic, but bathrooms were pretty clean.  Will definitely go again. 

Great swimming hole!

The state of missouri does an amazing job providing opportunities for families to enjoy the beauty of nature. Nature programs for kids and parents to learn. Well kept facilities. The ice cream is just a bonus. This is by far my favorite campsite for the kids. 

Perfect Family Campground

Campground 1 is beautiful. Keep your food stored safely as we saw 5 skunks, 4 raccoons, 1 weasel and a partridge in a pear tree. They're all pretty bold about stealing food.

Great campsite!

I’ve never been to a campground so finely manicured. The grass is short and the roads are in great shape. Campground 1 has a boat ramp and easy access to river sits. Some of the sites are a little crampy, but if all you’re doing is cooking and sleeping, you’re as good to go as a crunch wrap supreme. When night falls, be sure to lock your food up like Fort Knox. We saw a few stinks, a whizzle, and a fat racc. And boy, were they persistent. Next trip we’ll be hitting the backpacking trails. Can’t wait to come back. Thanks Sammy. 

Easy going in Campground 1 

Stayed here for three nights over Halloween weekend, and it was wonderful. There were very few people there to begin with, but Sunday night there was no one else there but us. We even had a deer run through our campsite while we sat fireside! Bathrooms were clean, roads were well maintained, and the signs were very clear.  

Very well maintained 

We have been coming here for years, there is something for everyone here! The water is slow and shallow enough in tons of places for littles and deep and cold enough for the older kids and adults to cool off too. The store is adorable, the food is surprisingly really good (I’m craving those loaded nachos!), and when you’re absent-minded like me and forget the bikes you can rent them there 😁 We like Campground 2 on the gravel side (to the left when you pull in) because it’s nice and quiet and close to the nature center. You really can’t go wrong with any of the sites!