Best Glamping near Alton, MO

I must make a comment regarding two other reviews. A lake is generally deeper than a pond. You weigh the depth and surface to judge if a body of water is one or the other. In Arkansas you will find a pond on a ranch or a farm. Now in some areas of the United States there are lakes that cover masses of acres and I had to laugh at the fact that Lake Charles was being called a pond. In the south we consider Lake Charles a lake even if it is only 645 acres.  Please don't take offense, I meant none, we just look at things a bit different, we are also very proud of Arkansas and the fact that it is considered "The Natural State."

Folks if you travel to very many state parks or Corp of Engineer COE parks in Arkansas you will encounter another southern foible.  Narrow roads.  Most of Arkansas is rural and you will find that most roads are older, narrow and farm equipment or ranching equipment uses the roads.  That also leads toward the "charm" of Arkansas.  If you stay in the larger towns you will manage to get by fairly well but venture towards the campgrounds and we hope you enjoy the state.  Take your time.

Lake Charles State Park is 1/2 more or less hour from Jonesboro on a quiet country road.  It has a 645 acre lake with bass, crappie, bream and catfish.  This park operates year round.  From March to October to will be able to purchase bait and tackle at the Visitor Center.  There are Class AAA sites to tent sites with many on the lake.  There are yurts available.  From November to February a 3-D Archery range is open.  You will find 4 hiking trails and there are several programs offered by the rangers.  Check on the programs offered through the Arkansas State Parks, find the park you want, and plan your stay.  It will be a learning experience for young and old.  So map out everything you want to do and learn.

Fish, kayak, hike, ranger talks, camping, picnicking, what more can you ask for.  Lake Charles was established in 1963 and was dedicated on May 28, 1967.

Picnic tables, grills, lantern hooks and paved pads are at each campsite.  Restrooms and bathhouses are modern and "air conditioned" which come in handy when you are dealing with Arkansas heat and humidity.  There is a dump stationed and trash area shortly after coming into the park.  All sites may be reserved.  Beautiful shades trees, level sites with some a bit tight.  No waterskiing or tubing is allowed.

Four walking trails with the Cedar Trail being paved.  The Butterflies and Blooms Trail is a short gravel trail and the Native Plant Trail uses plants that will attract butterflies and local wildlife.

Swimming area is free of charge and is located in a day use area.  You will not find life guards so please watch over all.  Alcohol, glass bottles and pets are not allowed.  You will find a gently sloping sandy beach.  

A short distance away from the park is Davidsonville Historic State Park and Powhatan Courthouse State Park.  There is plenty to keep you busy and we hope you enjoy a laid back southern vacation.

Word of warning.  Even a native Arkansan quakes when it come summer time and the dreaded flies and mosquitoes come out to play.  Research, find all kinds of options for keeping them at bay, screens on your doors, campfire smoke, anything just don't let them stop you from enjoying.

Have Fun - Stay Safe   Leave No Trace Better Than You Found It

Having experienced many rustic & gravel campsites, paved campsites are a welcome change of pace. It’s a new park (opened in 2016) with amenities like (excellent) WiFi in the campground, clean bathrooms/showers, and a fully stocked camp store at the lodge. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. While there is not much seating in the restaurant dining room, the patio area has plenty of space for the warmer months.

There is a large, modern playground for kids to enjoy and pavilions to grab some shade. The creek is a short walk from the most areas of the park.

As time goes by, programs would be a welcome addition to the park - maybe even some geocaching or scavenger hunts. A small band of wild horses roam the park, but all we saw was evidence that they had been there.

All in all, a great experience.

Echo Bluff State Park in Ozark National Scenic Riverways near Eminence, MO is a brand new “old camp”. 

Opened in 2016 the history is rather interesting. From 1929 until the 1980s, Camp Zoe was a children’s summer camp, founded by Russell S. and Margaret McMahan Louis County teachers. There is one of the structures still on site with plaques and information. More recently, it was home to music festivals — and an open-air drug market. I didn’t find any plaques in relation to that. However when the government gained control of the land in a court proceeding it was decided to bring more business into Shannon County by opening a very nice campground for people not wanting to rough it. 

And “BAM” you have very pricey accommodations from lodge rooms, to cabins and two story condos. The campground is pretty nice too but lacking in shade and privacy. There are walk-in (uphill) sites and nice wagons provided to transport your gear. Not my favorite style of camping. Completely full and busy, which is why it got a 4 instead of 5 star. This may be your type of camping and you would say a 5 star. Reserve ahead, I mean way ahead.

There is a huge pavilion that can be reserved that overlooks the area. It has a large fire pit and mega size grill, one of the trails meanders below the pavilion. This would be a nice venue for an extended family get together.

This is a very nice, new, recreation creation. The playground was given two thumbs up by my granddaughter. Then the river, which you can see from the lodge and playground was given 12 paws and 2 thumbs by dogs and grandkids alike. Crystal clear ice cold water that you can walk across to the sheer wall of rock. Bring your water shoes, the rocks aren’t fun to walk on.

A very cool feature , if you are lucky , you will see the wild horses that roam the area. They are not for petting, so use caution. 

Aside from the abundance of people we enjoyed Echo Bluff SP.

this is a nice park, with clean restrooms/bath houses. sites are a comfortable distance apart with good hookups, asphalt or concrete parking pads and patios for solid picnic tables as well as well drained gravel under the hookups, pole for lantern or trash, fire pit with grate, and barbecue. The lake is lovely, turning leaves and night sky astounding. the reasons this wasn’t a 5-star review are 1) WAY TOO MANY bees and house flies. Maybe that’s a time of year issue as some of the trees dropped rotting fruit.Flies were not the biting kind, just annoying and bees were, well, bees. i’m Happy to see a healthy army of bees but my dogs were not. 2) The wifi strength was awesome during the day and pitiful after dark. Wifi reception best near the bath houses.

From Thayer Missouri travel on MO 142 east, turn onto MO V for several miles and look for the Fourche Lake sign on the right, immediate turn to the right.  No more than a couple of miles down a well maintained gravel road you will see a boat launch.  The road will bear to the left and maybe a tenth of a mile you will see the first campsite.  Total peace and tranquility will invade your senses and take over your being.

At Fourche Lake you will find dispersed camping at it's best.  A well maintained pit toilet with toilet tissue and a fishing dock.  The fishing dock is handicap accessible along with a small day use area with a picnic table but no camping in that small area.  The pit toilet is handicap accessible.  There are suppose to be six camping sites but we could only work out three.  Picnic table, fire pit, no water, electric or trash service.  Our fire pit had burned items that do not burn.  Please people  PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT.  

On a calm day you will have wonderful photo ops of a mirror image on the lake.  The trees surrounding Fourche Lake provide a beautiful backdrop of perfection.  This is a very small campsite and for most of our stay we were the only ones there.  Fishermen would come and go and anyone who did camp was very quiet.  Boating in the lake is by paddle or electric motor only.

Bring all your camping supplies with you otherwise you will have at least a thirty minute or longer trip in front of you.  Remember this roads are narrow, curvy, and hilly.  Typical back roads in the Ozarks.  If you do need anything when you drive back to the highway turn right and just a matter of a few miles you will find a service station and they might have what you need.  They also have gas at a reasonable price considering you are in RURAL Missouri.  

If you plan to go fishing make sure you have your license because even if this is a dispersed site we saw a ranger at least once every day.  If fishing you will find catfish, bass and panfish.  Good luck.  BTW swimming is allowed.

The grass was freshly mowed and smelled wonderful.  No mosquitoes, flies, tick or chiggers, course we stayed out of the woods.  Do not know if that is the norm or we were just lucky.  If you hope to use solar and need to recharge the site next to the pit toilet at the round about will give you some sun  No trails to be found.

The closest actual town would be Doniphan, Missouri.  Check out Doniphan if you are able to pull yourself away from the lake.  It is an older Ozark town and the courthouse with its old jail on the ground floor is rather interesting.  You will also find a great tubing and or kayaking river.  There is a vendor that will rent kayaks or tubes and shuttle you up the river so you can have an amazing time.  Pack a lunch and hang out on one of the gravel bars along the river.

I listed that this could be a group site and pull through area because the first campsite has it's own road and is a large site.  Easy for more than one rig.

I was able to get my 28' trailer in site 37 and managed to level it. There's a sign to keep car tires on pavement, but I wasn't able to and parked the Jeep on the grass next to the trailer. Unlike other sites at this campground, this site did not need stairs to get to the fire pit or picnic table; they were right outside the door. The fire pit was clean and I used the grill box everyday to cook all the meals. The weather was too hot to use the entire fire pit for a large fire.

Unfortunately, my view from the fire pit was of the shower building and watching people go in and out at the end of the day.

I have solar panels mounted on top and the large shading tree kept them from charging the batteries, but shaded the site very well. This made me look for portable panels after I got home. The lower branches should be trimmed to avoid damage to taller trailers. The branches barely cleared mine.

The ground is rocky and bent my flimsy tarp stakes. This made me look for better stakes when I got home. Haha.

The dump station is at the entrance to the campground and there were two issues with getting fresh water. The fresh water tower had the elbow nozzle and I couldn't get it unscrewed to put my hose on. To fill up using the elbow nozzle and trailer's gravity fill port meant parking the trailer in the exit lane. Not knowing what to do, I proceeded to site 37. There is water near the shower building and thankfully my three hoses spanned the length and was able to fill up while parked in the site. When dumping on the way out, there was no issue with unscrewing the other non-potable water tower's elbow nozzle and putting my own hose on to flush the tank. Maybe I wasn't strong enough to remove the fresh water tower's nozzle.

The host was really nice and so were the park rangers.

No signs about generators; I used mine during the day. I didn't hear anyone else using one though and felt guilty. Heard lots of music and barking dogs so not too guilty.

The river is awesome, cold, and a highlight of the campground. People take their dogs and chairs to the bank and I'm sure they love it, but it's a busy bank with boaters and not a lot of room to separate from others. Instead, we waded to the center of the river, and after several minutes of getting used to the cold water, sat in the rushing water. It was great and the noise of the rushing water around us drowned (haha) out the barking dogs and peoples' conversations on the bank.

The walk on the trail and across the bridge to the country store was nice and took 15 minutes. Worth the walk for wifi and ice cream. The trail to the store is not marked well but figured it out.

I will go back, but choosing a different site.