Are you in need of a campground near California, MO? California is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Find the best campgrounds near California, plus reviews and photos from other campers like you.
With Lake of the Ozarks camping, enjoy the solitude of an undeveloped cove hidden along the shorelines of one of Missouri’s largest lakes. Swim, fish, boat or simply take in the view from a shady campsite or picnic area overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. The park offers the opportunity to enjoy a variety of recreational activities on the lake or on shore. Lake of the Ozarks State Park offers basic and electric campsites and three organized group camps and Pin Oak Facility. For those who need a little extra space, family campsites are available. Stock up on camping supplies at the Camper Store, which is located near the campground entrance. On shore, hikers, backpackers, equestrians and bicyclists can wind through open woodlands, sunny glades, small springs and streams to bluff-top views of the Lake of the Ozarks. Water enthusiasts can make use of the park’s two swimming beaches, boat rentals and paved boat ramps. Park stores sell all of the necessary supplies for a day on the water. Year-round overnight accommodations include campsites, Outpost Cabins and yurts.
$13 - $50 / night
Looking for a spot to launch your boat, rest your head for the night, or spend some quality time with your friends and family? Cooper’s Landing offers all of this and more! We’re a year-round full-service marina, campground, store, and live music venue on the banks of the Missouri River and right off the Katy Trail. Our family-friendly campground is freshly graded for RV and tent camping and our brand new Backyards and Beyond edition glamping tent package is ready to rent. The country store is stocked with ice, cold beverages, snacks, and firewood. Bring your own grub, or be wowed by the occasional food truck!
$10 - $60 / night
Cottonwoods RV Park is a family & pet-friendly RV Park and Campground that is located in the heart of the Missouri off of US Highway 63 in Columbia, Missouri. We are just 4 miles north of I-70, minutes from the University of Missouri, and just minutes from many local attractions including Warm Springs Ranch: The Budweiser Clydesdales Breeding Ranch.
Our park features paved roads and gravel sites and many indoor and outdoor amenities. Each site is equipped with Full Hook Ups - Electric, Water, and Sewer and a concrete patio and picnic table. Be sure to check out amenities and social calendar pages. We hope while you are here, you will enjoy our friendly, relaxed, and clean atmosphere!
We would love to be your choice for the perfect option for camping whether you are looking for. Come join us and make new memories and lifelong friends!
We are proud to be voted as the 2018 Mid-Size Missouri Park of the Year by the Missouri Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds.
$45 - $52 / night
This area is located in a pine forest and provides a campground and picnic area while serving as a trailhead to the 36-mile Cedar Creek Trail. Four picnic sites and 8 campsites are provided. Larger grassy area can provide small groups such as scouts.
The roar of ATVs and off-road motorcycles combines with the peacefulness of rolling hills at Finger Lakes State Park, one of two ATV parks in the state parks system. Built in a former coal mining area, Finger Lakes’ trails and motocross track are popular with users who come for the day, but often fall under the spell of the spacious campground, leafy trees and hilly terrain. The park is also the site of the challenging 2.75-mile Kelley Branch Mountain Bike Trail and a 4.5-mile water trail.
Finger Lakes State Park offers basic and 30-amp and 50-amp electric campsites.
Just minutes from Columbia, Rock Bridge Memorial State Park gives visitors the chance to scramble, hike and bicycle through a scenic environment – and lets them peek into Missouri’s underworld. The park contains some of the most popular hiking trails in the state and also offers solitude while hiking in the Gans Creek Wild Area. Visitors can also see a large cave system with its rock bridge, sinkholes, a spring and underground stream at the Devil's Icebox. You can explore Connor's Cave in the light of the opening for a taste of the underground world.
Non-profit, educational or Scout groups can take advantage of the special-use area for overnight primitive camping. It features two fire rings, a vault toilet and several picnic tables. There is no water or electricity. The cost is $2 per person, per night. Reservations are required. For more information, call 573-449-7402.
Looking for the perfect RV park for your next getaway? Look no further than Osage Beach RV Park! Nestled in the serene beauty of the Lake of the Ozarks, this quiet, family-friendly park offers a tranquil escape for all. Centrally located to shopping, dining, golf, and all the attractions Osage Beach has to offer, you'll have endless opportunities for adventure right at your fingertips. Whether you're seeking to relax by the pool or explore the lake area with your family and friends, Osage Beach RV Park provides the ideal setting for a memorable vacation experience.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Lake of the Ozarks!
Browse our website, or stop by if you are in the Osage Beach area.
We’d love to have you visit!
Walk-in primitive camping is allowed year round except during modern firearms deer season. During modern firearm deer season, hunters may camp along roads and around parking lots. Camping along roads and in-and-around parking lots is otherwise prohibited. Groups of more than 10 campers require a special use permit.
Three Creeks Conservation Area is in Boone County (halfway between Columbia and Ashland). The area takes its name from the three creeks that run through the area: Turkey Creek, Bass Creek, and Bonne Femme Creek. The rugged forest features scenic bluffs, intermittent streams, geologic formations, and old eastern red cedar trees. Three Creeks Conservation Area was considered for purchase as a result of substantial public input and interest in protecting the general Three Creeks area from further urban development, which would destroy its appearance and natural features. Moreover, Three Creeks Conservation Area was acquired to maintain and manage representative plant and animal communities and to provide outdoor recreational and educational opportunities in an urbanizing region of central Missouri. Much of the land in the general area was purchased by freed slaves following the Civil War. Generally, the tracts were small (usually 40 or 80 acre parcels). Land which could be seeded to pasture for grazing or plowed with a horse was farmed into the 1930's when many families could no longer support themselves on the small tracts of land. Many had to sell their property due to the economic conditions during the Depression. The reduction in the number of landowners has continued up to the present time. Seven identifiable house sites have been located on the initial 685 acres.
With Lake of the Ozarks camping, enjoy the solitude of an undeveloped cove hidden along the shorelines of one of Missouri’s largest lakes. Swim, fish, boat or simply take in the view from a shady campsite or picnic area overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks. The park offers the opportunity to enjoy a variety of recreational activities on the lake or on shore. Lake of the Ozarks State Park offers basic and electric campsites and three organized group camps and Pin Oak Facility. For those who need a little extra space, family campsites are available. Stock up on camping supplies at the Camper Store, which is located near the campground entrance. On shore, hikers, backpackers, equestrians and bicyclists can wind through open woodlands, sunny glades, small springs and streams to bluff-top views of the Lake of the Ozarks. Water enthusiasts can make use of the park’s two swimming beaches, boat rentals and paved boat ramps. Park stores sell all of the necessary supplies for a day on the water. Year-round overnight accommodations include campsites, Outpost Cabins and yurts.
$13 - $50 / night
Looking for a spot to launch your boat, rest your head for the night, or spend some quality time with your friends and family? Cooper’s Landing offers all of this and more! We’re a year-round full-service marina, campground, store, and live music venue on the banks of the Missouri River and right off the Katy Trail. Our family-friendly campground is freshly graded for RV and tent camping and our brand new Backyards and Beyond edition glamping tent package is ready to rent. The country store is stocked with ice, cold beverages, snacks, and firewood. Bring your own grub, or be wowed by the occasional food truck!
$10 - $60 / night
Cottonwoods RV Park is a family & pet-friendly RV Park and Campground that is located in the heart of the Missouri off of US Highway 63 in Columbia, Missouri. We are just 4 miles north of I-70, minutes from the University of Missouri, and just minutes from many local attractions including Warm Springs Ranch: The Budweiser Clydesdales Breeding Ranch.
Our park features paved roads and gravel sites and many indoor and outdoor amenities. Each site is equipped with Full Hook Ups - Electric, Water, and Sewer and a concrete patio and picnic table. Be sure to check out amenities and social calendar pages. We hope while you are here, you will enjoy our friendly, relaxed, and clean atmosphere!
We would love to be your choice for the perfect option for camping whether you are looking for. Come join us and make new memories and lifelong friends!
We are proud to be voted as the 2018 Mid-Size Missouri Park of the Year by the Missouri Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds.
$45 - $52 / night
This area is located in a pine forest and provides a campground and picnic area while serving as a trailhead to the 36-mile Cedar Creek Trail. Four picnic sites and 8 campsites are provided. Larger grassy area can provide small groups such as scouts.
The roar of ATVs and off-road motorcycles combines with the peacefulness of rolling hills at Finger Lakes State Park, one of two ATV parks in the state parks system. Built in a former coal mining area, Finger Lakes’ trails and motocross track are popular with users who come for the day, but often fall under the spell of the spacious campground, leafy trees and hilly terrain. The park is also the site of the challenging 2.75-mile Kelley Branch Mountain Bike Trail and a 4.5-mile water trail.
Finger Lakes State Park offers basic and 30-amp and 50-amp electric campsites.
Guide
Heavily forested with a lake. Trails and camping areas in woods are setup for equestrian with good trails for hikers, bikers and horses. Camping at lake is open gravel or grass. Nice fishing lake with docks, boat ramp and vault toilet and the only one provided. Parked lakeside. Quite night with one fishing boat late morning. Get a brochure with park map at entrance as roads pass through park and private property.
Scout
Great quite and secluded camp sigh. But can muddy due to sessional flooding
Scout
Asked for a lake view cabin. We were the only ones here since it was a weekday after labor day so all cabins were open. I go to check in and it's a long sidewalk between narrow rails. Not at all easy if you are disabled and with my COPD, I had to stop several times.
I get cabin 6. If you go here DO NOT GET CABIN 6. It's the only one you can't park in front of as it's down the side of a hill. You must traverse several levels of steps down a steep grade. The office hours are over by now so I hauled what we needed down.
The lake view was somewhere past the forest so I'll take their word on that.
The refrigerator was filthy and we had no hot water. Since it was after hours all we could do is clean the fridge, make supper and wait till 9 in the morning to call maintenance.
Maintenance arrives and determine the elements are bad. At about 10:30am they started working. Spent most of our only full day watching them fix the water heater. The maintenance guys were very nice but I'm not leaving my stuff with strangers.
So basically, I spent $200 to sit on a deck with acorns falling on us or on the world's most uncomfortable couch as they worked on getting me hot water. Early morning fishing was shot.
They did say we could now switch cabins but I would need to move our stuff back up Mt Fk-That just to move it again into the new cabin, then back out again tomorrow.
It is a lovely area and the people are friendly but they need to do better. Also, warn people that cabin 6 is more cliff side than lake side.
Guide
Basic tent site, potable water was right near our site. Bathrooms were clean. There were some families staying nearby but overall was a quiet stay.
Scout
Completely free clean and shaded couldn’t ask for better
Scout
Great stop 5 minutes off of I-70! The site has three camp sites available with car pull ins and fire rings. Lots of mosquitoes due to the site being right on the water. Also two cats hang out around the site. No bathroom we could find.
Legend
Check-in was quick and easy and we proceeded to pull through site 83 with FHUs. The gravel pad was very long and we had plenty of room for our 40’ rig and F450. The utilities were in the middle of the pad and water pressure was decent at about 40 psi. As we were on the end of a row, we had a lot of front yard space. The sites here are very close together, but long-term guests kept their sites nice and well organized, and overall this CG was very clean. There are mature trees so satellite placement could be challenging. We were able to place our Starlink in the yard area for a good shot to the north sky. We got 4 bars on Verizon and their WiFi worked well for a campground of this size. At the office, they have a nice store and gift shop with one of the best selections of camping shirts etc. that we have seen.
Traveler
During our stay at the campground, we found several positive aspects. The pricing was reasonable, the staff was friendly, and the pool was cute. The bathrooms and showers were clean, and the overall environment was pretty quiet and well lit. Additionally, our site was mostly level. However, there were also some drawbacks to our experience. The pond on the property was essentially a large ditch with standing water, which attracted bugs. The distance from our spot to the bath house was quite far, and we were disappointed by the lack of a clear view of the river. While the campground may be enjoyable for longer stays, we found it to be nothing special for a one-night stop during our travels. NOTE- I don’t think the contact info on this listing is correct.
RangerOnly 2 miles off of the highway and is perfect for someone just passing by. I’m on my way from St Louis to Denver and it was perfect for one night. Very quiet but still close enough to hear the hum of the interstate traffic. It looked like there were 3 sites with fire rings and all very nice.
Guide
Good: It was clean and tidy, had ice and firewood for sale, was close to the boat ramp for the Osage River, and the bathrooms looked to be newly remodeled. Good shaded and flat spot for our tent.
Bad: No one on-site, no TP, no paper towels, no internet (Other campers said it had been working until the power went out during a storm a few days before; when the power was restored, the internet didn't come back)
Conclusion: For $44.29/night, I would keep going next time.
ScoutMy favorite place to camp!! Can't wait to go again.
Scout
Don’t mistake this for the RV hookup site at Roberts Bluff. It’s a bit further down the road and called Roberts Bluff Access. You will eventually see signs for a Conservation site.
There were about 4/5 spots to pull/back into. Its a small space and really close to the river where you can see huge trout and turtles swimming. There is even a boat ramp.
Guide
The campground was quiet and low key. No internet available so bring your own or purchase WiFi from their system. Shower house was ok, the smell made me dry heave, smelled like old meat. Small fenced area for dogs to play / go to the bathroom in. No playground for kids. Our site was level, it stormed during our stay but staff was quick to clean up downed trees and regrade the roads. The location was perfect for visiting Branson and its attractions. I got the vibe that it was more of an older generation camping campsite with more long time campers. We’d go back and stay if our focus was the attractions at Branson, not to hangout at the campsite.
Scout
I didn't stay in the campground, I stayed at the hotel. The rooms are comfortable and clean.
I wanted to comment on the price for boat slips at the marina. Charging $40.00 a night for a slip is outrageous. It is also bad business practice to price yourself out of money. If they were only $20.00 you would have made $320.00 this weekend from our Bass club. It is not that inconvenient for us to put in and out at the ramp instead. THINK ABOUT IT!
TravelerEnjoyed a campfire before a thunderstorm rolled into the area. Ground away from the campsite was a bit muddy and made a mess. No surprises there! Established campfire ring at 2 spots. Another ring farther down in the turnaround beyond the boat launch.
TravelerSmall, quiet and out of the way. A few spots for camping. No restrooms, electricity or running water.
Scout
Stayed here overnight and the camphor was very friendly and helped us out. Bathrooms and showers were open, super clean. Peaceful and would definitely stay again to venture into the town
Traveler
Beautiful campgrounds. Hiking trails. Super showers & toilets. Clean. Friendly staff.
ScoutIf your camper has everything you need, it's a good campground. The website says it's 50 amp only, but it has 30 too. When we stayed there in March 2024, the shower/bathroom was locked. No park management came by our site, and when you call to get information, you get city hall telling you you need to call some other number...that they didn't have. So, everything's up to you.
GuideWe liked this place. It was a good place for an overnight camp on our travels. No restroom that we could find. No water or power. Camp is free. It has an old boat ramp so you can get down the the river easier, but water was way too low for a boat when I was there in September of 2023. Down a gravel road a few minutes off the highway in some corn field area. There are only a handful of spaces on the grass. So hopefully you get one or someone is willing to share. We had the place to ourselves.
TravelerWe have infested cabin number 3 outpost. Crawling on our food children in our beds and biting our family. I was disappointed. And shock. With conditions and attitude of the state park. Read correspondence. Beware.
ScoutGreat spot on my road trip west! Put in some miles and didn’t get in until about 2am and this was easy to find and great spots away from the highway but also didn’t have to trek far away
TravelerPark was full. We could only book a basic site (no hook-ups) through the website but the camp host easily upgraded us to a vacant electric site. Great park to bring your dogs! The walk or drive to the historic town literally park of the park was a surprise with a couple of hiking paths making each trip different from the first.
ScoutDecided to take my time heading from Southern WA to Southern IN and this is the best dispersed camping I’ve seen on this trip. I’ll definitely stop here again if I’m ever heading down I-70, and hopefully I’ll have my RV with me.
TravelerNot bad camp spots here, but there are a lot of drug deals going on here. Don't feel very safe at all. Sept 2023. Update... so I woke up to find out that the other campers we saw were actually homeless people. They're were people in the bathroom strung out on something also. Don't camp here!
ScoutUnless you enjoy loud noise, drunks, busy traffic, guns being shot off at all hours of the night and a massive cloud of bugs, avoid this campsite.
Guide
Camp is clean, and very quiet. WiFi works okay.
Best part of this park is you can see the lake from many of the campsites, and the pool. The pool area sits on top of a bluff overlooking the lake. It’s absolutely beautiful. The pool area also has a very nice cabana, firepit, and bathrooms. I was VERY impressed with it.
Only downside of this campsite is the website seems sketchy and is hard to use. The campground itself can only be booked through the campsite and there is a 3 night minimum stay.
I will definitely be back here. If you are looking for a “luxury” campsite this place cannot be beat.
Camping near California, Missouri, offers a mix of beautiful scenery and outdoor activities. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or a fun family adventure, there are plenty of campgrounds to explore.
Camping near California, Missouri, has something for everyone, from families to RV enthusiasts. Just remember to plan ahead and enjoy the great outdoors!
Frequently Asked Questions
What camping is available near California, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, California, MO offers a wide range of camping options, with 97 campgrounds and RV parks near California, MO and 6 free dispersed camping spots.
Which is the most popular campground near California, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular campground near California, MO is Lake of the Ozarks State Park Campground with a 4.6-star rating from 49 reviews.
Where can I find free dispersed camping near California, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 6 free dispersed camping spots near California, MO.
What parks are near California, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, there are 13 parks near California, MO that allow camping, notably Harry S. Truman Lake and Mark Twain Lake.
