Best RV Parks & Resorts near California, MO

This was a pretty campsite with lots of trees and simple deer trails throughout. Sites are well spread out. The lake itself was filthy and smelly. Lots of trash and rotting fish on the shorelines. The campground website said they had WiFi throughout the campsite, however it was only available at the front office. No cell service. We had planned to stay for a week to school and work remotely, but had to cut our time here short because of no connectivity. If we hadn’t had the need for WiFi, this would have been a fine campground to stay at, as it is centrally located to many sightseeing locations.

Sties were level, kid and pet friendly, quiet campground, 30/50 amp electricity, no water hookups, firewood avail for fire pits, also had nice picnic tables. Inexpensive.

Making reservations: We made reservations a few weeks in advance (glad we did). We received an email with the site and instructions, which included calling to make final payment. This one, like many private parks, has limited office hours. So, catching them while they were in the office took a few tries.

The park: That all said, the experience in the park was fine. Beautiful tree canopy covers the whole park, tiny playground for the kids at the back of the park, etc. There was plenty of space between sites for our tow vehicle and 37’ 5th wheel with 3 slide outs. Utilities were close (50/30/20, water, sewer). Pull through sites if nobody is slotted in front/behind (you pull through one site to get to the other). No branches in our way (we are 12’7” tall). This park is a combo of mobile homes, transient RVs and long term RVs.

Surrounding area: There is a gas station right up the road although it was too busy / small for us so we went back toward the main Highway where there are two big ones to choose from with plenty of space to turn. Seems to be the gateway to the Ozarks for gassing up, so plenty of space and stuff.

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.

Stayed two nights in early March in our RV. I knew the bathrooms would be locked and that the water would be off so had full fresh tank and jerry cans. There's a dump station on site so I didn't have to go home full too. Electric at the site was appreciated so we can run the furnace fan and water heater off it. I was not expecting to see no trashcans so I had to pack out. However, there were recycling bins.

I didn't see anyone selling firewood along the way so I scavenged for wood near the site. Not a big deal to find wood but it was wet and challenging to keep from smoking me out.

There were only a couple other campers and they were nice not to camp next to us. Felt like we were the only ones there. The best part of camping off season.

Walked the trail down to the river and appreciated the crushed rock trail. I didn't visit the nearby town, but will next time I visit.

The only negative was not being able to reserve and pay ahead of arrival, which means I have to bring exact cash. Who carries cash anymore?!

Site 37 is a premium site with 50 amp service for an additional cost. I didn't have enough cash to pay the premium site price and had already setup camp before realizing it. My RV has a 30 amp service and it was off season so I didn't feel too bad about paying the standard electric price.

Turkey Creek was a very nice campground for our month long stay.  The park is well maintained and clean.  It is very quiet!  There is a train track nearby, but we only heard it a few times during our stay.  

Amenities included full hook up, laundry room, bathrooms, showers and a fenced dog park where you 4 legged friends can enjoy some off-leash time.  We had 4 bars with AT&T and waffled between 1-3 bars with Verizon.  

The location is great for visiting local attractions such as Branson Landing, Silver Dollar City and Top of the Rock.  

Really appreciate the park manager, she was friendly and brought an overpayment to our attention and quickly issued a refund.

Great experience overall!