Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cape Girardeau, MO

electric was not working at some sites and one post had hookups for two sites. No sewer, there is a dump station down the road. east side campground was busier and had more people than the smaller west campground where we stayed. sites are not well demarcated and grass lots. campground near boat launch and a decent restroom with showers that mostly worked. gray lake for kayaking. about 30 minutes from Cape Girardeau no which is a decent sized town or similar to Sikeston, MO. There is gas, liquor store and dollar general within 10miles. west side was very peaceful for most part. first come first serve, no reservations but fairly cheap. electric not working at first 3 or 4 sites so check before you set up your camper.

This is a stop-over type of campground. The sites are very close together with no privacy. There are some pull-thru sites, which is convenient. It is right next to interstate 57, so unless you're inside your camper, you'll definitely be listening to the highway. This is a pet-friendly campground, and they have a little dog park. They have a shower/laundry facility which is also convenient, especially if you're out on a big trip. Overall, it's certainly not a bad campground, but the highway noise really bothered us.

Electric and water. Great short term camping. There is a lot of history and nearby Cape Girardeau is a very neat city to visit.

Surprised to find nice porta potty at our site that was remote from others. Potable water and camper registration (but had a boil water warning but that was not normal). 30 min into Cape Girardeau and 15 min to Anna. Nice picnic table and raised fire ring/ grill.

Real nice RV park orientated toward rigs of all sizes. Easy to navigate the roads, with every site level concrete. ATT & Verizon both worked fine. Wifi & cable included in the price. 10% discount for Good Sam, military & seniors. Right off a hiway (W) and a bit noisey, but all in all a nice park, especially for a night over. Sites are reasonably spaced, many with large trees. Not real far off 55. Would stay here again for a nioght ofer and even an extra night. They also have a dog park area.

My husband and I recently returned to Trail of Tears State park for a weekend of camping - I have reviewed this campground before and still believe that it is 5 stars.

My main take away for this trip was incredible appreciation for the campground host. During the pandemic, Missouri State Parks have transitioned to reservation only camping with 24 hour notice. This has reduced the number of visitors to some of the parks drastically. This park has two campground loops, one electric and one basic. There is typically a host in each loop. Due to the pandemic, only one host has volunteered for Trail of Tears. The gentleman (I forgot his name) was very attentive to all campers and although he was located at the electric loop (3 miles away) he was very present through the entire park.

The electric loop was almost fully booked. This loop is directly next to the Mississippi River, and there is a playground and a brand new showerhouse down the road from the main loop. The railroad does pass right between the campground and the river, which could be distracting/disturbing. I personally enjoy watching the trains and feeling them shake the earth! At the river there is a boat launch with a nice dike structure providing a calmer channel at the ramp. We fished along the bank here and caught a number of small catfish, one was big enough to fry up for dinner!

The basic loop is up the hill from the lake and is heavily wooded. The sites are spaced fairly nicely and most have trees separating you from the neighbors. The facilities were very well maintained. We stayed at site 43 which was close to the vault toilet but not so close that other visitors using it would disturb you, not that it mattered this weekend, there were only 4 other sites with campers while we were there and we could not see any of them from our site. It was one of the most peaceful weekends I've had in a MO state park.

The lake's swimming area was very popular, as were other parts of the day use sections of the park. There are many places for picnics and bbq overlooking the river, a boat lauch (electric motors only, we saw only kayaks during our visit), and a nice trail that hugs one side of the lake.

Being <2 hours from St Louis City, this is a good choice for anyone in the area who wants to get away. The park is about 15 minutes from the closest convenience store and Cape Girardeau for any grocery, shopping, or emergency needs.

Maybe it's because I am from WI and we tend to rip on IL a lot, but I really found this park sub-par. I am also spoiled from getting to see some of the larger parks in the country. Would probably be nice for a long weekend with the kids. But I don't have kids. It's more of a touristy place than a real campground in my opinion. If you are in the area check out the view of Tower Rock. There are a lot of campsites available for both tent and RV, and they do offer grills, tables, camp fire pits, toilets, and a playground. Pets are welcome. Part of a foundation of an old house built on a rock is still around and is a neat part of history.

Fern Lake has almost two separate campgrounds. One for overnight stops and one for camping. Has bathrooms, laundry and showers. Cute little lake with coats and geese and painted turtles and room for dogs to run off leash.

Spent two night at Ferne Clyffe. Camped at spot 13. Dog friendly, pretty well spaced out campsites but some are used as paths with to get to farther back campsites. Good set up, not too close to neighbors and it’s heavily wooded in between. Nice large clearing with picnic tables and outhouses. Camped in mid August and it was in the 80s during the day and 65 at night.

This campground is very nice with electric,water and some sewer hookup. They are dog friendly and has a central shower,toilets and laundry area. There is a soda machine outside the women's showers. There is a mini golf course and a snack stand with picnic tables scattered around.

They have civil war reenactments sometimes and a museum on site. Also a community center to rent out.

The grounds are well maintained. Lots of nice tall trees for shade and grass is mowed on the regular.  There are a few spigots around for fresh water. There a couple hiking trails. But, the RV sites are very close together, so don't expect privacy or quiet days/evenings at least in the Pine Ridge campground--not sure about the other campgrounds. Plenty of people and dogs to be heard, most hours of the day.

Stopped here for one night as we were headed to MO. The family who owns this are the nicest. They checked to ensure the spot for our tent wasn't too damp as it had been raining and they came out to check us in and showed us where to go. Recommended a Mexican restaurant across the street, but we had already picked up food. Told us we could walk our dogs around the pond. Nice level spot for our tent.

We were able to try our first Buckee's on the way to this campground in Crossville TN! Check it out if you haven't been!

We stopped for the night on our way to Georgia. Booking was easy and price was average. The property itself is beautiful. Spots are intermingled in the trees and it is spectacular in the morning. The pool is better then most hotels and the giant trampoline looked like it would be my daughters favorite thing if she were with us.

The bad parts of this place was the fact that rules didn't seem to apply. Someone was playing loud music till at least 1130pm when we went to bed. We also witnessed dogs being left outside unattended and barking for 20 minutes straight starting at 735am. The highway is also extremely close and can be heard at all times.

All in all it's a nice place. We would definitely stop here again if we're ever around. But we wouldn't stay long.

If you're cool with the noise check it out!

Despite terrible storms during my stay, it was a wonderful place. The hosts and staff seemed a bit eager to have someone visit, it was rather empty for the middle of the summer. Firewood is a bit overpriced but thats to be expected. The non-electric sites in the first loop have the best view of the lake but zero shade. The next loop had great sites but no view of the lake. The pamphlets from the park are poor quality copies and out dated… they show things like a store that is not on the site. The showers and laundry were great. The staff were friendly. A little buggy, but I think that has more to do with the weather and time of year. Couple raccoons tried to make a move, but my dog had something to say about that.

Overall, great park!

Nice little campground, with full hook-ups available. Nice views of the Mississippi River. Very clean all around. All site are hard and somewhat level. You can drive a short distance to the river for some boat watching. Everything is very well cared for. Lots of Civil War history on site. I'd recommend that you pass on buying the internet service. It's spotty at best and slow.

Columbus has plenty of areas to have a cookout, an abundance of trails to explore, a ton of scenery for your eyes to enjoy, history woven into it's fabric which is narrated to you by way of signs and a museum(which cost a very reasonable fee to explore), a beautiful campground, a pleasant little food shack with reasonable food prices( hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream, sodas and more on menu), and cute mini Golf course!( also a reasonable fee). The staff we ran into were very friendly and helpful. Can't wait to journey back

We spent 5 nights on Site A5 at Crab Orchard Campground. All sites are FC/FS. Full hookups are in Loop B & it was full. Overall the campground was full but not very many people around. Appears many locals take spots on the weekends & then hold onto them during the week. The 2 nearest to us we saw on Sunday (Easter) and the only 1 more time during the 5 days. Someone in one of the sites by the late (A9, A11 or A13 I think) said they saw snakes but we never saw any and our dogs would have noticed.

Showers and restrooms are nice. Ones in Loop A are no new (Loop Bs are new) but still nice. Lots of hot water.

Lots of trails (within 10-30 minute drive). Fishing was good (especially catfish and crappie). Went into Carbondale a few times. Also went South to Alto Pass but wineries all closed on Tuesday; locals told us they are open more hours during summer.