Best Tent Camping near Doniphan, MO

The people of Missouri gave a wonderful gift to the people of the United States.  A gift I did not know about or had never heard of till we made the decision to camp in Missouri.

Big Springs was Missouri's first state park.  The CCC did a lot of construction on the park and so much of the buildings are still there.  In much need of repair and I do hope the federal government will restore.  Big Spring is off of Missouri Highway 160.  Turn onto State Route 103 to Big Spring.  The spring has a wheelchair accessible pathway that will lead right to the spring.

The campground is large and open.  Tent sites along with with RV sites but the RV sites are small and very close together.  Some RV sites had electric but no water or sewer.  There is a dump site.  During the summer I think I would get a reservation for the RV sites if you need electric.  If you have the ability to generate your own electric stay in the open tent site area.  The tent site area is large and open to the sun.  Big Springs has flush toilets and hot showers.

There are picnic areas with tables and grills scattered throughout the park along with two group shelters.

The Ranger programs are well worth checking out.  Take advantage.

The Current River makes a wonderful backdrop for nature lovers.  You have the options of hiking, biking, fishing, camping, floating, kayaking, and all sorts of boating with a ramp in the park.

Have Fun - Stay Safe

Leave No Trace

Better Than When You Found It

Stayed one night tent camping. We enjoyed that the park had several different short hiking trails of various length. Only downside was I wish the tent camping spots were spread out a little further, you can hear eachother's conversations because they are all side by side, maybe 15 yards a part.

Tent camped here during the week in June and the campground was only about 1/3 full. Quiet and the restrooms and showers were very clean.

We enjoyed clean well-maintained bathrooms. Men’s showers were hot and the women’s were cold! The grass was mown well, so it was easier to tent camp. Staff was very helpful and accommodating. Scenery was spectacular.

Sam A Baker has a large selection of sites. Perfect for tent camping or Campers of any size. Great trail selection, many moderate trails, but there are many options for those with young children as well.

I didn’t get to spend much time here but I tent camped for 1 night in November. Beautiful park with lots of trees. Clean bathrooms. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to do anything but the park looks great.

We typically camp just at the end of season and have this is our favorite place to camp. We always tent camp with minimal supplies. It is has always been clean and even during peak season I felt there was plenty of space between campsites.

This is a great little state park that has plenty of options whether you enjoy tent camping or enjoying your Rv. Some of the144-151 sites can be pretty tight to get into because there are so many trees so double check the pictures on the reservation website to make sure you can get yours in. Ours is 40’ and it was pretty hard to get in but we managed. Nice shower facilities and laundry as well as river access within walking distance

If you are looking for a beautiful RV or tent site on the water, look here. There is a massive lake, perfect for a quiet day on the water. We kayaked out to an island and did some fishing. We didn’t catch anything, but it was relaxing. Campground was oddly quiet, especially after dark... we were the only site with a fire going.

Hiking, biking and equestrian trails. Boat and jet ski rentals in season.

My group and I camped in two of the basic sites in Asher Creek campground and we couldn’t get enough of the front-row lake view! The sites closest to the lake are very level, and everyone in the campground is only a short walk from the cleanest park restrooms I’ve ever seen. If you’re like me and are just doing basic tent camping, I’d recommend a pop-up canopy for the table area since there is not a lot of tree cover in those sites. Overall, an excellent place to camp!

The park was great. The tent sites were very close together but still enough room (just no privacy.) There were a significant amount of mosquitoes. I was not expecting this 🤣 we are from Southern part of the state so we didn't think it would be any worse. IT WAS. We toughed it out, I would definitely say make sure to bring firewood to keep a fire going. It seemed to help. We loved the fact that there were 4 easy/short trails that we enjoyed with our kids and the swimming area was very refreshing after a morning of hiking.

Everything about this park is amazing. They recently redid the swimming area and cleaned and refilled with better water. They have paddle boats you can rent from Memorial Day through Labor Day. We have stayed many trips in this park. Site 1 is our favorite. Features pull through with a large area including tent pad and nice gathering area. We glamp camp and we’re able to set up a 16x20 tent, but the tent did go over the size of the pad. All sites have water and electricity, except for a few primitive sites. There is a nice campground and walking area. Also a great hiking trail which isn’t too hard. The park is close to Paragould with a Walmart and a dollar general is a couple miles away. The only site I wouldn’t recommend is site 9. It has a very steep hill and would only be good for very small campers or tent camping.

There’s a nice river next to the campground for swimming and boating. The whole place is a nice quiet setting. The sites themselves are not on top of each other. I’ve had good Verizon signal here.

Currently has 8 electric only sites, and 12 tent sites. All are first come, first serve. There are water spigots available for fresh water. The only dump station is in town at the Rocky River Resort, $10. The host told me that the three year plan is to have all sites set up for water and electric, with a dump station at the top of the hill. I’m staying here 5 days, spot #4, and the campground hosts are a nice couple. I’d recommend it.

From Thayer Missouri travel on MO 142 east, turn onto MO V for several miles and look for the Fourche Lake sign on the right, immediate turn to the right.  No more than a couple of miles down a well maintained gravel road you will see a boat launch.  The road will bear to the left and maybe a tenth of a mile you will see the first campsite.  Total peace and tranquility will invade your senses and take over your being.

At Fourche Lake you will find dispersed camping at it's best.  A well maintained pit toilet with toilet tissue and a fishing dock.  The fishing dock is handicap accessible along with a small day use area with a picnic table but no camping in that small area.  The pit toilet is handicap accessible.  There are suppose to be six camping sites but we could only work out three.  Picnic table, fire pit, no water, electric or trash service.  Our fire pit had burned items that do not burn.  Please people  PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT.  

On a calm day you will have wonderful photo ops of a mirror image on the lake.  The trees surrounding Fourche Lake provide a beautiful backdrop of perfection.  This is a very small campsite and for most of our stay we were the only ones there.  Fishermen would come and go and anyone who did camp was very quiet.  Boating in the lake is by paddle or electric motor only.

Bring all your camping supplies with you otherwise you will have at least a thirty minute or longer trip in front of you.  Remember this roads are narrow, curvy, and hilly.  Typical back roads in the Ozarks.  If you do need anything when you drive back to the highway turn right and just a matter of a few miles you will find a service station and they might have what you need.  They also have gas at a reasonable price considering you are in RURAL Missouri.  

If you plan to go fishing make sure you have your license because even if this is a dispersed site we saw a ranger at least once every day.  If fishing you will find catfish, bass and panfish.  Good luck.  BTW swimming is allowed.

The grass was freshly mowed and smelled wonderful.  No mosquitoes, flies, tick or chiggers, course we stayed out of the woods.  Do not know if that is the norm or we were just lucky.  If you hope to use solar and need to recharge the site next to the pit toilet at the round about will give you some sun  No trails to be found.

The closest actual town would be Doniphan, Missouri.  Check out Doniphan if you are able to pull yourself away from the lake.  It is an older Ozark town and the courthouse with its old jail on the ground floor is rather interesting.  You will also find a great tubing and or kayaking river.  There is a vendor that will rent kayaks or tubes and shuttle you up the river so you can have an amazing time.  Pack a lunch and hang out on one of the gravel bars along the river.

I listed that this could be a group site and pull through area because the first campsite has it's own road and is a large site.  Easy for more than one rig.

We booked online, from the photos of site 48 at the Ridge Campground loop, there was plenty of space for our tent & to enjoy our weekend camping. We could not have been more WRONG! This site is TINY! Not even enough room for our tent, the fire pit is nearly touching the picnic table & a drainage line runs right through the site. The grass was SO tall, leaves & Brush everywhere. The site & fire pit were full of trash! I pulled countless bottle caps out of my dogs mouth, and had to clean up broken glass as well. We spoke with the host & moved one site over, to #49. This site was bigger & looked more appealing. We were still WRONG! The ticks, ants & mosquitoes were thick (I know were outside, and I understand - but the amount of ticks I picked off ourselves, our tent, our chairs, table etc was more than normal.) when breaking down our tent we found a nest of black ants, millions of them, all through our tarps.

The bathrooms in this loop are large, but they are much older. They were dirty - constant trash on the floors, including sanitary pad wrappers & bloody tissues. The soap dispenser was broken, and someone had busted the lid off to get to the soap inside. There were dead bugs all over the counter & the showers didn’t drain, they had standing water. When we drove through the Asher loop it was like a different campground! I couldn’t believe the difference and was quite upset. Just because Ridge is the older part of the park doesn’t mean it should be maintained any different. We will NOT return to the Ridge campground, but would love to stay at Asher one day.

Camp host was nice and river was also very nice but campground was really tight. We had camper 5 feet off back window and tents on are side not much space

We love it here. Sites that can accommodate tents and/or RVs. Its clean and well maintained. Multiple access points to the water. Educational programs and entertainment of some sort most every weekend. Pet friendly.

This was a great stay! Nice and peaceful, great company with total strangers on the next site over. Campsites are spaced out nicely. There are only a handful of sites that are suitable for tents as each site varies on cleared area. No water or electricity that we seen. Boat launch and floating dock are just a short walk from any camp site. We stayed at campsite #5 and it was spacious for our tent. Dumpster for trash is next to the bathrooms across from site #3 & 4. Asphalt road through the camping area and Asphalt pulloffs at each site. Chiggers and bugs are an issue here so bring plenty of Off. We stayed 10 nights and we will definitely mark this one down on our list. Truck Stop 1 mile east for ice, food and drinks. There is a small grocery store about 18 miles west with a great selection. Picnic table and fire pit at each site. Free wood laying all over the place, when the management team cut trees down they leave them there for campers to use.

Will definitely be back here. Clear waters to swim in. Clean restrooms. Spacious tent spaces. Nice trails. We went and saw the park rangers showing us all kinds of different snakes in the area. Kids loved it.