Searching for a tent campsite near California? Finding a place to camp in Missouri with your tent has never been easier. Each tent site offers quick access to one or more of California, Missouri's most popular destinations.
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.
Visit the Missouri Department of Conservation's website for more information.
Dry Fork Recreation Area, a campground and picnic area located at the equestrian trailhead of the 36-mile Cedar Creek Trail. This area, located in central Missouri near Fulton serves recreationists with or without horses. This campground is situated in a quiet mostly oak/cedar forest. It is comprised of 8 single primitive campsites that can accommodate RVs up to 30 feet in length, each with table, fire ring, and lantern post. Other amenities include drinking water, vault toilets, and hitching rails. There is a picnic area across the road with picnic tables that can accommodate small groups. There are currently no camping fees, but donations are encouraged. A printable brochure is available.
Visit the Missouri Department of Conservation's website for more information.
Visit the Missouri Department of Conservation's website for more information.
Visit the Missouri Department of Conservation's website for more information.
Visit the Missouri Department of Conservation's website for more information.
$10 / night
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.
ScoutGreat 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
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.
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
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.
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.
ScoutVault toilets available. Quiet. No water, hook ups or picnic tables, but fire rings. Wish people would understand pack in pack out and not leave trash! Otherwise very peaceful experience. Had service of at least 2-3 bars entire time. Town of Linn a 20 minute drive to get supplies.
ScoutThe security guy will just open the women bathroom door to yell at females instead of waiting at the camp site when there is an issue . Really really creepy
TravelerVery nice, clean and organized campsite. Sites are spaced further apart for great privacy. Host was pleasant and very friendly. Nice to see him driving through the site checking up on things.
ScoutNice free camping to overnight if you are travelling on your RV, close to the highway but without noise. No toillets. Verizon signal works good.
ScoutSpace between good, nice lay over spot
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near California, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near California, MO is Rock Bridge Memorial State Park - Educational Scout Camps with a 3.6-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near California, MO?
TheDyrt.com has all 20 tent camping locations near California, MO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
