Looking for tent camping near Butler? Finding a place to camp in Missouri with your tent has never been easier. Whether you're looking for a quiet, dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
Scott Creek Campground features 60 campsites all with water and electricity. Sites 21,33 and 60 are 50 amp sites. Reservations can be made 2 days in advance at reserveamerica.com. There are two shelters available for campers to use on a first come first serve basis. Scott Creek has a vault toilet but no shower house. Camp Hosts and self-pay stations are available at each campground.
$10 - $50 / night
This recreation area is part of Hillsdale Lake
Windsor Crossing Campground sits on the shores of Harry S. Truman Lake in the hills of western Missouri. Visitors enjoy fishing, hunting, swimming and boating. Click here for the Harry S. Truman Lake virtual tour. Natural Features: Truman Lake lies among rolling hills and rocky bluffs. Dense hardwood forests studded with mature pine trees cover the area. Wildlife is abundant in and around the park. Whitetail deer, turkey, hummingbirds, hawks and ospreys are commonly seen. Bald eagles can be viewed during the winter months. Recreation: Windsor Crossing offers great opportunities to get out on the water. Boating and swimming are popular activities. The park is an excellent fishing location. Anglers find crappie, largemouth bass and blue and flathead catfish. Truman Lake is also a popular destination for tournament fishermen. A large sandy beach and plenty of open grassy areas make the park perfect for parties and families. Facilities: This year-round campground contains 47 primitive sites. Amenities include pit toilets, drinking water and a boat ramp. Nearby Attractions: Katy Trail State Park, the nations longest rails-to-trails project, is nearby. This unique park stretches from Clinton to Machens, with dozens of trailheads in between. Biking and hiking are allowed on the entire length of the trail, and horses are allowed from Clinton to Sedalia. Tebo Islands and Brush Creek State Wildlife Management Areas are close to the park, offering hunting and fishing opportunities.
Shawnee Bend Park sits on the shores of Harry S. Truman Lake in the hills of western Missouri. Visitors enjoy fishing, hunting, swimming and boating. Click here for the Harry S. Truman Lake virtual tour. Natural Features: Truman Lake lies among rolling hills and rocky bluffs. Dense hardwood forests studded with mature pine trees cover the area. Wildlife is abundant in and around the park. Whitetail deer, turkey, hummingbirds, hawks and ospreys are commonly seen. Bald eagles can be viewed during the winter months. Recreation: Shawnee Bend is an excellent fishing location. Anglers find crappie, largemouth bass and blue and flathead catfish. Truman Lake is also a popular destination for tournament fishermen. A playground and sandy beach make the area perfect for families. Facilities: This year-round day-use area offers two large group picnic shelters. An additional shelter on the beach is available on a first come, first served basis. Amenities include flush and pit toilets and drinking water. Nearby Attractions: The 950 miles of shoreline around Truman Lake provide plentiful opportunities for fun in the outdoors. Many parks surround the lake, including Harry S. Truman State Park. The Harry S. Truman Visitor Center sits atop Kaysinger Bluff and provides a spectacular view of the dam and reservoir. Exhibits provide information about the rich history of the Osage River Valley from pre-civilization to modern day. Waterfowl, bald eagles and turkey vultures are commonly seen from the observation deck.
Guide
We had our first trip to Long Shoal last week even with the extreme heat it was a nice spot. We always camp in a tent and the spots were nicely wooded and spaced. This is now our second favorite place for camping. They had the cleanest facilities I have ever seen.
Traveler
Fort Scott Lake lake is tent camping only no animenities. ( no water, electric or bathrooms)
Guide
It was on ok place to put up a tent. But a lot of rain runoff on tent sites
Scout
100 glorious acres. A little rustic but beautiful. Pull-Through and Back-In sites. MOST shave Electric, Water and Sewer. Tent Sites are available. Terri Karper is a wonderful Hostess.
Traveler
Stayed at Racoon Ridge campground in the Harry S. Truman State Park. Nice park. Pretty quiet. Has a decent beach. Shady spots with or without water and electric. Tent sites and basic sites available.
Guide
This is not a campsite I will go back to. When we drove into the park and paid the entrance fee, we were told to find a place that wasn't occupied then go get a tag from the host. We found a site and started getting our stuff out of the car and pretty soon the campground host came by and told us we had to leave. She assigned campsites when people drove in, which is not what we were told. After telling her we wouldn't leave, she left, then came back and said we could stay.
The campground itself was pretty, but a lot of people in RV's (we tent camp) who were there to fish and party, so I thought it was noisy.
TravelerOne of the 3 Jackson County campgrounds, but the most in level sites in any of the parks. Sits on top a hill, the sites are cut into the hillside so vary from small tent sites, to RV sites. We camped in our 39’ diesel pusher, had to use lots of wood to level everything up, including extending one of our jacks to the maximum and causing it to throw an error message. Sites run from 20/30/50 amp, some with FHU’s. One site has a view of Lake Jacomo and is somewhat level (#31 I think?) and is hard to reserve on short notice. The bathrooms are decent and clean. Fire pits are allowed, but you have to burn the wood they sell, don’t bring in your own.
As with all three parks in the Jackson County district, this one closes October 31 and re-opens in March. Of all three parks: Blue Springs, Longview, and Jacomo, this one is our very least favorite.
Scout
This has everything you want! Nice camp host! Swimming beach! Showers & nice toilets & a tent area and a RV area to separate it. Most tent and RV spots have shade!!! Tens have electic & It's CHEAP !! 20$ for electric tent & camper! They have water spouts at the tent area as well!! A walking path & a park and a huge dog park!!!!
Love love love this place!!
GuideThe campsites are located on a sloped layout. Some are at the top of a hill and the others lie around the base of the hill. We’ve camped here twice and if it rains the ones down hill get lots of water flowing to them which is not good for tents. Kids can’t have their own tent because they limit the number of tents and people per site. It is across from the lake but there is no lake view from any campsite.
Scout
The caretakers here are the sweetest people. Taking my 2 and 6 year old on their first camping experience we chose this place and they told us as we checked in that they wanted their 1st camping trip to be awesome...loaded us up with some complimentary firewood...let us pick out our tent plot, and directed us toward the bathrooms and drinking water....and that's where the good part of the review ends. We had to change plots 2 times bc as we unloaded our gear and attempted to set up camp we were welcomed and not left unpested by snakes of all sizes and large insects...it was dark when we managed to lay my already sleeping children down in the tent...the night air was clouded with mosquitoes but the moon was full and the stars were amazing. Coyotes could be heard in the distance...we thought...until around 3 am when we were startled awake by what appeared to be large dogs without leash, collar, or owner licking our tent. Circling our tent....The morning daylight couldn't come fast enough...The bathrooms were dirty and infested with various insects and covered in cobwebs...a short walk to the waters edge sent us home w 2 children covered in chigger and mosquito bites ...extremely disappointing.
GuideNo frills site with both hilly and flat tent spots within close proximity of finding "Weaubleau Eggs"
Guide
Missouri Department of Natural Resources has done an excellent job of taking care of this area and the surrounding wildlife. The Harry S Truman State Park is a treasure to relish and love. My family and I spent a week here and the place was amazing. Thank you Missouri Department of Natural Resources for your hard work.
Scout
Great campsite. Plenty of space for tents and other activities and very close to water
GuideAll of the campsites are designed for campers so there’s minimal grass areas for tents. Almost all are full sun and there’s zero lake access from the campground.
GuideGreat place to relaxe or fish away your troubles. Highly suggest keeping your food locked in your vehicle. Had a raccoon enter our tent but that's to be expected when you leave stuff out like I did
Guide
Large grassy area with plenty of room to set up a tent or camper. Right off the road, so no dirt roads to traverse. Signs were confusing as to whether it is ok to camp, but they didn't explicitly say no camping. The lake is really just a mud bog, so not very appealing unless you came to duck hunt. No picnic tables or fire pits. The pit toilet was really gross, but there was toilet paper.
Traveler
I car camped here for one night early this spring and will definitely come here again. There was a big RV parked next to me, some other car campers, and then a group of tent campers. The sites are right on the lake and the vault toilet was clean. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring and they are spaced out nicely. There was a decent amount of traffic to and from the floating boat dock but it still wasn’t too noisy.
Guide
This place is a small park that has lots of hiking trails it is five dollars for tents $10 for RVs with electric the bathrooms are Porta potty but for five dollars you can fish and you can have a campfire permit pretty much anything you wanna do you can purchase by the day here for about five dollars each item is really a nice place for the family to come they had a super decorated for Christmas
RangerLess amenities than other near by State Parks, no playgrounds mainly and the sites aren't too close to the lake. Power only, so be prepared for that if you are looking for hook-ups. Overall, you can't beat Missouri state parks for beauty, cost and availability of trails to hike! Enjoying our stay here!
Scout
This park is privately owned. It has a very nice in ground pool along with a storm shelter which gives piece of mind in crazy Missouri weather. Shade seems to be scarce at a lot of the sites (all are full hook up I believe). They have what seems to be quite a few full time campers living here. Hard to get through on phone lines to book and no online booking options but overall a very clean campground with friendly owners.
Legend
Campsite Review
This is quite a large campground, meaning it can easily cater to tents, car campers, and RV heroes. Each site had electrical hook-ups, and there was a common combination shower & laundry area. My campsite, like all, came with a picnic table and a fire pit. I definitely recommend ear plugs if you are a light sleeper since the bugs were very loud all night. This is one of a few campgrounds within the State Park and I chose it since it offered lakeside views – which were very pleasant. There was also boat ramp access. I had a nice bike ride from the campgrounds to a nearby campsite area near Racoon Ridge on some well paved roads, capped off with some different lakeside views. There was a few places to fill up drinkable water and use bathrooms.
Product Review
I won the Saris Feedom Superclamp 2-Bike bike rack from a contest held on The Dyrt's facebook page, so I decided after a few weeks and trips with the product to do a review.
So far the bike rack has been up to Jasper National Park from Boulder, CO with stops along the way in Grand Tetons, YellowStone, Glacier, Banff and Lake Louise National Parks as well as a roadtrip from Boulder to Toronto, ON through Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. I've gone on various road conditions over the 5,000+ miles as well as in various driving conditions (city, highway, off roading, and country).
This bike rack is incredibly easy to use. It is what I call "micro adjustable" just because the bike is clamped to the rack with a bunch of slide-able wheel wells and tire arms adjustable at any position. It works with any bike type, and is super easy to install - no special tools needed. Your car just needs either a 1.25" or 2" hitch. Watch the video review here.
I also love that it comes with included, retractable bike locks to secure your crappy or expensive bikes to the rack, then another lock between the rack and your car's hitch. I can't fully open my trunk (although it looks like the new model EX2 solves this bit of trouble) when I have bikes on the back, which I would complain about if this didn't take any longer than 10 seconds to get the bike's off.
I was also impressed how well the rack held up when I went up Shadow Mountain with 2 on the rack to do some riding around the summit with the Grand Tetons as my backdrop. The bumpy road and constant rocking could've bent the frame, but it held up beautifully.
Shout out to Saris for putting some good material around the wheel clamps to keep any harsh contact points against my bike. My bikes are cheap, but someone with anything they care about will appreciate the care they took to keep their bike protected.
I'll do an update on this review after a few more weeks with the rack for my overall impressions, and so far so good!
ROAD TRIP!
And so the road trip to Canada with my dog Sirius begins! I hit the road a little late from Colorado, so I knew as I was driving that when I finally made it to Missouri I was going to be rolling into the campsite in dark. Luckily, most of the drive east once you leave the Rocky Mountains is flat and uneventful so anything I would have seen in the daytime wasn’t much better than blackness. There’s some vast prairie landscape along highway 70, so it’s not the worst scenery to have, but I’ve driven from Colorado to Chicago a few time and I was trying to avoid another one of those endless farm field drives you can find along highway 80. Oh well, more of the same I guess.
When I was researching places roughly 9 hours from home, Harry S Truman State Park looked like a fun place to check out near the Ozarks if you’re on the road and passing through. There are lakes plenty large enough for any water activities you’re creative enough to think up, and the many campgrounds found scattered in the parkland offer a great balance of seclusion and variety. I picked Long Shoal since it was near the water and promised some nice lakefront views. I was going to have to wait until the morning to find out if that promise was one the park could deliver on though, as I didn’t arrive into camp until close to 2am. I parked, popped up the rooftop tent, popped in my ear plugs, and hit the sack. The next morning I awoke to a large lake and a kayaker enjoying their morning paddle. My morning was spent cycling the 4 miles just past the welcome center, where I enjoyed some more lakeside views from Racoon Ridge. It certainly was convenient to have a paved road the entire ride lined with dense forest trees. I wish I saw some deer along the way, but I can’t always get so lucky. The heat was quite strong, so it was a nice coincidence that the ride was shaded and hugged the water’s edge. I took in the lake views, but I didn’t have long to enjoy the scenery, as I had another 8 plus hours in the car that day, since I wanted to get to Kentucky and spend my real play time of the trip checking out the Land Between the Lakes Recreation area.
Ranger
We came just at the start of season, so we took advantage of a family spot to relax and get some extra privacy. There were maybe 5 other campers in Wild Ridge, and it was a ridge coming in, narrow roads leading into the peninsula.
Vault toilets were well kept, and well light at night.
We hiked to check out the other campsites that were also well spaced for privacy.
There was a desire line down to the lake, with a rocky shore to walk, the beaches themselves a bit wider.
We had a nice clearing to set up at our location, likely used for a second tent that lended well to privacy.
LegendLongview campground is not only peaceful and quiet but also in a very pretty area filled with wildlife. There is an attendant and security arms when entering the campground and requires a key code to enter. There are over 100 sites with tent, electric, and full hook ups. The campgrounds are open from April-end of September with prices from $21-33.
There are fire grills and picnic benches at each site and the sites are level on gravel. There is a playground, volleyball net, restrooms and showers. There are 6 picnic shelters with bathrooms scattered on the way to the marina. The lake is beautiful but is not within walking distance from the campground.
We stayed from a Saturday night until Thursday. There weren’t a lot of campers so it was nice and quiet. We saw deer running through the campgrounds and will stay again.
Legend
We read raving campground (CG) reviews on Osage Prairie, especially how nice the owners were. Based on reviews, we decided to spend three nights here to break up our way south for our annual RV maintenance appointment. Check in was easy and the lady was very friendly with a sense of humor. We were then escorted to pull through site 14 with FHUs. The way the long pull throughs work is that another trailer can back up to you. It was nice that the utilities and picnic tables were on opposite sides. We were told we probably would not get anyone in behind us. About 30 minutes after arrival, a small trailer came in without reservations and was placed right up behind us. We concur that the lady owner who checked us in was very nice. The other owner who escorted us to our site was, in our opinion, a little on the sarcastic side, especially after we had cut our turn on their grass getting into our site. This CG is an A-Typical overnighter where they cram you in. The park filled up every night after our Thursday arrival but we do realize they are in the business of making money. Good news is there were grass areas between sites so you can get slides and awnings out. WiFi was below average for a CG this size. No cable or OTA but after moving our satellite dish around to avoid trees we got it to connect. We got three bars on Verizon. The park is convenient to get on/off I-49 (exits 203 and 202A are both fine) but you’re going to get highway noise day and night. The CG is about 1/2 short termers and 1/2 long timers, and several of the long timer rigs gave the CG that “trailer park” look. I picked up numerous cigar and cigarette butts off our site to include trash in the little grill. We did not enjoy the older Dodge diesel trucks starting up at 5:00 AM to head out to work or wherever they were going. On a more positive side, they have a nice stable with one horse, which you can pet but not feed or ride (guess someone tried to ride him once upon a time). Shower and laundry facility looked clean. They have a little gift shop in the office containing a few camping supplies and leather goods. Again, from previous camper reviews, we thought Nevada (Nee-vay-dah) would be worth touring around but we were not impressed. We grocery shopped at Woods and Walmart and both were on the low side of okay. Our final “not impressed” came when we saw long timers letting their dogs do #2 in the tent area and not pick it up. Then they locked their 3 dogs in their trailer and left early Saturday and had not returned by the time we left the following Monday morning. Their poor dogs barked on and off all day and night. We informed the owner and he said he had told them in the past to not do that anymore. This place is definitely about the frosting, not the cake. We should have just stayed one night and moved on, but we stayed too long and experienced too much. We won’t be back.
ScoutVery friendly and accommodating owners. Low rates!
ScoutNew owners in Aug. 2017, working at improvements
and amenities. Weekly and monthly rates are available.
Traveler
Lots of trees lots of wildlife Had deer walk right through the campground when we were there. shower house/ rest room we’re clean for the most part but a little rundown. Also if you have kids that go camping with you chances are your cell phones will not work so the kids probably will be very bored lol
Tent camping near Butler, Missouri offers a variety of scenic spots where nature lovers can unwind and enjoy the great outdoors. With options ranging from well-equipped parks to serene natural settings, there's something for every tent camper.
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