Best Campgrounds near Independence, MO

You can camp in one of several little inlets and nooks. It's a Fish & Game preserve with camping and fishing spots all around the lake. Many with picnic tables and most with vault toilets. It's on my top 10 list of best primitive/dispersed camping locations. Only con is the vault toilet at the inlet I camped in. It was unusable with fetus nearly to the top. I think some unscrupulous person put trash in it then other used it probably without knowing. Very bad etiquette! Be sure to bring your own camping toilet and/or check the vault toilet before setting up. I didn't see very many RVs but several vans, trucks, and cars were there. The wildlife is predominantly water fowl.

Very nice parks. It is a major recreation center for the county. Well maintained grounds. Minor annoyances like check in and check out times are the same so we had to wait for the people in our site to leave. We enjoyed taking time to go to Osage Fort and Missouri town. Two historical landmarks worth the visit. Our StarLink worked well. We did not do as much because we were working and because of the rain. The bathrooms were merely adequate, poorly designed without hooks where you need them and a long walk. There was a handicap toilet near us but it was clearly designed by a committee as I can’t see how anyone with a physical handicap could have used it. The light switch and the door lock were high up. The water in the sinks was cold.

It was a very lovely county park. We stayed for nights. The sites were well situated such that you felt you had plenty of privacy. The staff was nice but since entrance time and exit time are both 2:00 we had to wait for our spot to open which was difficult as we both needed to check in with our jobs. Our only complaint was the bathrooms. Not particularly clean and oddly designed. The one nearest to us was a poorly designed handicap accessible bathroom, which was huge but difficult to use. Not sure how you could reach the door lock from wheel chair? There was toilet paper but no hand soap or paper towels just a blower. Rainy weather for the most part but did take time to go to the Fort Osage National Historic Landmark and Missouri Town which is part of the Jackson County Parks & Rec. Nice way to spend a rainy kind of day. Beautiful Lake, with fishing, and boating.

We stayed at Hamilton City Lake in early summer and really enjoyed the peaceful, low-key atmosphere. There are two known dispersed sites, and while they’re basic, they’re free and offer a great natural setting. We had plenty of room to spread out without worrying about noisy neighbors—it wasn’t crowded at all, and we were the only campers overnight.

The site is shaded with lots of trees, which helped keep things cool, and it’s right next to the lake. We were able to fish right from our spot and caught some bluegill and a big crappie. Another visitor reeled in a bass. We also saw several turtles swimming around, which was a nice bonus.

A few things to note: there’s only one picnic table, and the site is fairly close to Highway 36, so you can hear some road noise. Still, the tranquility of the spot overall and the lack of campground crowding more than made up for it.

Highly recommend if you’re looking for a quiet, simple place to camp with great access to fishing.