Best Cabin Camping near Defiance, MO

We stayed 2 nights in our van. Campsites are close but could be worse. River is gorgeous and the park offers trails, caves, cabins, clean showers/bathrooms and friendly staff.

My family and I are new to the RV World. We are currently renting a Class A Motorhome(33ft; double slide) and traveling to the 48 contiguous states. Our trip originated in Columbus, OH(our home), and we made our way to St. Louis for our second-night stay. 

When we arrived, we checked-in at the office, and the customer service was amiable and accommodating. Our site was across from campground cabins where the occupants of the cabin street-parked their trucks. The campsites are so tight; we couldn't back-in and park. Fortunately, management was responsive to our needs and asked the cabin occupants to move. Sadly, our location was next door to smokers, which necessitated we keep our windows shut during our stay. 

Full hook-up was relatively clean and easy to use. The campsite is off a hectic road, but we didn't mind as we only stayed one night(if you are looking to sleep under the stars surrounded by trees and squirrels, this place is not for you). The proximity to the Gateway Arch was terrific. We parked our RV, summoned an Uber, and were at the top of the arch in an hour! 

Our favorite part of this park is the onsite Sawmill BBQ restaurant. While we prepare most of our meals, we were so tired; we decided to give the joint a try and, wow, are we glad we did! Delicious food for a reasonable price!

Great time of year to visit! Surrounded by trees changing colors the fall is beautiful here. The campground has several hiking trails and also river access to go canoeing. You can rent a cabin here as well. Very nice and quiet campsite!

We spent a weekend here because we wanted to be close to six flags. I swear this place was more fun!!! There's swimming, games, lots of activities and you can go from rustic rent a tent to a really nice cabin with lots amenities!! We will be back!!

This is very new campground and is changing as they continue to add amenities. The new General store is great and very affordable. The showers and bathroom are clean. The fishing great and the camp sites are spacious and level. They have cabins for rent too and pavilion and amphitheater

my family and I visited just 2 months after it opened. There is still s lot of work going on, a bigger store, pool, more cabins, more rv sites, more meeting places. Despite it being new it was wonderful. So peaceful and relaxing. Not to mention beautiful. Will absolutely be back alone and with our large camping group.

Its a little to commercialized for my liking. I stayed in a wilderness site it was $25.oo bucks. Here you can rent sites, cabins & golf carts. Its is super close to Six Flags and right off HWY 44 Close are most fast food or grocery places. You can get a band allowing your kids to do games of mini-golf, free train rides on the Yogi Bear Express Train, two arcade tokens, and a discount on Pizza at the Snack Shack.

We stopped her for a few nights to check out St. Louis. It’s about a 30-40 min drive to the arch from campground

Sites were all gravel, fire pits were poorly placed and frequently it fell under someone else’s slide or trailer. We always bring our solo stove so we could have a fire in a better spot on our lot

Pool and bathrooms were clean, staff were very friendly

This campground has a ton of “cabins”

There is a very large hill to get in and some sites are VERY tight - we thankfully had a decent size site comparatively

We absolutely love this park. It’s just under an hour from St. Louis, with river access, amazing hiking trails & great views. Very clean campsites with lots of shade for tent campers & nice level lots. There is even a swimming pool if the river isn’t your thing & a couple playgrounds too. There is a dollar general right outside the park entrance which is super convenient if you forget something or your lighter runs out of fluid like us lol. They have cabins to rents as well as Camper spots and basic lots. Pet friendly! Highly recommend this park. The whole family enjoyed staying here.

While this is a perfect stop on a cross country road trip (very close to rt 44), it’s quite worthy of an extended visit. The campground is right on the edge of the river and you can get to the trails from your campsite.

Yay: Stay in cabins or the campground. Small camp store. Nice hiking trails, all easy/moderate. Rent canoes (not sure about kayaks) on site.

Nay: Our site was on a slope, some are close to a road, choose carefully. There’s a conference center so if there’s an event everything will be packed.

Surprise: Pay the extra for the caves tour! Down the road there’s an old iron foundry and a historic cemetery to explore.

This place has about anything you would want with the possible exception of peace and quiet. Store, pool, ropes course, playground, and several options for floating, including a 1 1/2 mile tube loop you can do over and over all day. The place is huge, with tent and RV areas, cabins, and the shower houses even have rooms above them. The sites we stayed at were fairly small and in the sun, but there were plenty of larger sites and many are shaded. They also have buddy sites configured for camping with friends and awnings facing each other.

They put on a large fireworks show on Independence Day right on the gravel bar. There is a family side and a party side that are well separated.

We stayed here with a new camper, to be near our RV dealer and hardware stores. The site was ok, tricky to level. There was a steep drop just past our steps, and not a lot of room to set up chairs, etc. Honestly, the site we were in felt like an afterthought, as we were just pulled off the lower loop road. But we were there primarily to op check the camper features, and this campground allowed us to do so.  

If you're visiting Six Flags this is an ideal location, with a great camp store and restaurant, and lots of things for kids to do. I found good hiking trails nearby at Rockwoods Range. There are a lot of cabins and tent sites here as well.  The camp staff were friendly and helpful. And the sunrise from our site was beautiful!

We utilized the special use area of the campground for our Cub Scout family camp, but visited the main loop during our trip.

Best campground hosts we ever encountered! Knowledgeable and friendly. The park has a pool, river access, canoe & kayak rentals and miles of great trails. Great program for kids on staying out of they get lost presented by hosts. This is a great park for organized groups, with lots to do!

Shower house was clean and convenient. Hands down one of Missouri’s best!

Tip- check out the petroglyph site.