Best Glamping near Joplin, MO

Tent area is undeveloped, but the lawn is fairly level, bathrooms and showers are only a short walk away. Nicole showed me to the site and was a wonderful help. Great spot that most people might pass up because its right next to the highway, but honestly you can barely tell aside from the hum of trucks. Bathrooms are beautiful and clean, 2 toilets, 2 showers and a sauna in each. The place is quiet and seems like a lot of people here are long term residents. We are in a tent on the back lawn by a small fishing lake. Nice playground for younger kids and you cant beat the atmosphere and the birds. Free on-site laundry which I took advantage of when I needed to wash and dry my blanket on a cold night. Unfourtunately no campfire for tent camp sites, but bring a camp stove and you'll be fine. They are actively doing renovations and the office isnt open yet, so you have to call the park manager, Kim, for info and she is wonderful. All the staff is. Kim came by and took my son and 2 other kids on a golf cart ride on the trail behind the lake and they had a blast. We are loving it here and are sad to be leaving after the weekend. Update: I have just been informed they have a Willie Nelson impersonator doing a show here tonight, this place would get 6 stars if I could.

I’ll start my review by saying I’ve never pitched my tent in this park but have visited many times. They added tent sites in 2019- they appear to be primitive and include a fire ring. The nice thing is the tent sites are far from the RV sites so no unwanted noises for tenters in the night.

Trails abound in and around blowing springs which connect into the back 40 trail system...you can hike the B40 but remember this is a shared trail and you will come across many mountain bikers enjoying the trails system. There is also a arbortrarium in the park towards the back, a couple caves, and a creek.

If you are in need of snacks etc it’s a quick 2 minute drive to the grocery store / sonic/ Pizza Hut.

What I like about this campground is that the tent sites are separate from the RV area, and RV’s don’t have to go through the tents to get to their area. However, the RV’s have actual loops off the main road and the tent sites are right on that main road. The main road goes all the way through the park to the actual springs, a picnic area, and a nice arboretum. There are great hiking trails in wooded hills on either side of the campground. The RV area has dedicated parking spots for each RV with picnic tables and fire pits. The keypad coded bathhouse and laundry are also located in this area(keeps out the general public). The tent area is more or less a strip of mown grass with a few picnic tables and fire pits on either side of the road, with the creek and run off channels on either side. Obviously, you want to get a site on the creek side. Definitely hike back to Blowing Springs, LOTS of flowing water. The hiking trails up top are really pretty and surprising. I came across a cemetery up on a bluff, and found another small spring. It’s easy to get turned around and confused on the trails as they seem to overlap and some trail names seem to appear on several trails.

We stayed in late June in the Rocky Cove Campground on the lake.  The lake itself is dotted with campgrounds.  Rocky Cove has concrete pad sites, nice and level, both on and away from the lake.  The lake sites have power only, and the Prime sites (opposite the lakeside sites) have water and power both.  We don't have water in our teardrop, so we got water from an unoccupied site.  

The sites are small, and for the summer, don't stay in site #118 (a lakeside site), as it has no protection from the sun.  The sun sets across the lake and although the view is great, the sun bakes the campsite from morning until 9 pm.  The site next door, #120 is nice and shady.  In winter, the desirability of the sites might be reversed.

The odd thing about the campground is that there is no bathroom or showers.  At all.  You have to go to the next campground over, Oak Point.  Not convenient.  Overall, Oak Point appears to be the better choice, with more trees, larger sites and a convenient bathroom (with ice machine at the entrance).  I should note the restroom was "clean enough".  Not terrible, not great.  The shower I used had merely a trickle, but my wife's had great pressure.  The hand dryer in the men's room looked corroded and was out of order (in Oak Point)

All the campgrounds appeared quiet, and the people there were friendly.  We would go back, but stay in Oak Point.