Best Tent Camping near Joplin, MO

I stayed at twin bridges this past weekend with my wife and our two dogs. Despite nice weather it was less than half full. There aee three distinct areas to camp. One on the east side of HW 137, one on the west side of HW 137, and one south of HW 60. The area south of HW 60 is camper pads and very busy as it is right at the boat ramp. This area also charges a premium rate for its location ($27 with water and electric hook ups). The west side of HW 137 has lake huts ($50-$60ish per night) as well as tent and RV sites. The east side of HW 137 has tent and RV sites as well as the visitor center. Tent sites are $14, with electric $18, and electric and water for $22. You can reserve RV sites online but not tent sites. This area is mostly for RVs. The tent sides are all on a hill side so you cant find flat sites to tent camp and tent camping is poorly marked. We did find an "unimproved camping area" presumably for tent camping but everyone with an RV at the nearby RV sites used it as boat trailer parking. There are bathhouse on each side of HW 137 and we found them to be pretty good for a campground. There is a RV dump station behind the visitor center ($5 to dump, free to camping guests, payable at visitor center or envelope station). If you get in late there are signs instructing you to pay at visitor center the next morning. However these must be old signs as there is an envelope station in front of the visitor center door to register and pay (didnt seem like the visitor center is open much). Noticed a lot of trash around camping area into the wooded area around it. Not a lot to do in the park but plenty of fish and boating areas nearby. Also there are camp grills at each RV/camp spot but no fire pits, although we did notice people have just built camp fires as they see fit (not sure of park policy on this). Overall its a decent enough campground if you are going to be spending all your time on the lake but wouldnt recommend for tent camping or longer RV stays if you are looking for hiking trails and more secluded relaxation.

Squirrel campground is one of the smaller campground at Twin Bridges area of Grand Lake State Park.  This campground has both RV and Tent campsites.  Most of the sites are tent sites.  This campground does have the dump station for the Twin Bridges area of the state park, this is located near the entrance to the campground.  Site has restrooms and water and trash service.  RV sites are fairly close together, tent spaces are nicely spread apart from each other.  ADA site is available.  Sites can be reserved.

Gopher Valley campground in on of several campground in the Twin Bridges area of Grand Lake State Park.  This campground is fully paved with both full hook up RV camping area, tent camping area and areas that work for both.  Campground have drive through and pull in sites.  Sites all have picnic tables and metal fire rings.  Campground has a large pavilion which can be rented.  The pavilion has a huge BBQ grill.  Campground has a small playground for the kids.  Small restroom with showers is available.  With the exception of the RV pull through sites all the other sites have plenty of grass to set up a tent.  Sites can be reserved.

Eagle Bluff campground has both RV and tent camping spots.  Drive in sites have electrical, picnic tables, metal fire rings, BBQ grills and paved parking pads.  The nice part of this campground is the undeveloped camping area for those tent campers, the sites while close together have Shelters over most of the sites picnic tables as well as BBQ grills.  Sites with electricity have plenty of room for setting up tents.  Campground has a new playground for the kids.  Rest room has showers as well.  Horseshoe pits and a basketball hoop are also available.  Sites can be reserved.  A Pavilion is available.

Woody Trail Campground has lots of options.  From walking tent sites with or with out electricity, RV site with hook-ups and even cabins, this campground has something for everyone.  All sites are nicely distanced from each other.  Campground roads are paved.  Sites have picnic tables Metal fire pits, and BBQ grills.  Trash service and water as well as flush toilets and showers available.  Campground has a large pavilion.  Play ground for the kids and horse shoe pits.   Tent sites with electricity have covered picnic tables.

Loved the roomy tent site right on the water. Bathrooms were nearby and decent. Would stay again!

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.

• Many Trail Heads right at the RV park! No need to drive anywhere but close to local restaurants and attractions if you want.

Friendly and helpful Staff!

Nice Facility's

Full RV Hook-ups and many tent sites plus 1 Cabin!

Will be back when the leaves start to change!

This is our go-to when we go to the area!! Blowing Springs is fantastic! Tent sites do not have electric but it’s so worth it! Such easy access to the Back 40 and Slaughter Pen mountain bike trails! We get on our bikes and ride all day and then come back and enjoy the peaceful campground! Totally recommend!

Use to tent camp there 10 years ago or so. Went back to camp and pretty much caters to RVs now. Pretty much campers and fisherman now. Be careful does not say anywhere about reservations. We had been set up and kicking back for over 3 hours before the RUDEST ranger came and told us our site was reserved she just hadnt put up sign yet. Plenty of nicer places in the area, oh well used to enjoy it.

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.

If you are interested in bison sightings, this is the park for you. If you need water, supplies, shower or a flush toilet, skip this one. The tent sites are VERY primitive, but you drive up to your camp. You really have to go out of the way to get to this camp, but we were rewarded with a scary but fun close encounter with a lone bull bison. We also got some ticks, so be careful!

My first experience in an RV park and it wasn’t a bad one. Pulled into a tent site with my teardrop and stayed for a night. The RV side is exactly how I envisioned and packed pretty tight. Tent spots were fairly well spread out and in the back of the park. Only downfall, which wouldn’t matter in the summer months but the shower was outside and it was a little chilly. Overall my experience was pleasant and if I’m ever in the area, I will not hesitate to stop by again.

Angler's Paradise campground is a 20 site campground in the Twin Bridges area of Grand Lake State Park.  The campground sits between the Neosho and Spring rivers.

17 of the sites are RV sites with hook ups, the last three are primitive tent sites.  All sites have Picnic tables and BBQ Grills.  Some sites have hooks for lanterns.  Restrooms are on site as well as water and trash service.  Most of the RV sites are right up against each other with little room between.  It appears that this will be a busy site due to the very large boat launch at the campground.  The campground is also just off of U.S. Highway 60 so expect some road noise.  The campground does have a shelter as well that can be rented for $51.

I hate this place and will never go back. I did primitive tent camping for 2 nights with my 5 kids and a 5 mile float in a raft. It was over $500. The raft, by design, took on several inches of water so we couldn’t keep anything dry. Then, they didn’t have a pick up bus. We had to walk down the highway back to the office after floating for 6 hours and then waiting for an hour and even calling twice. The kids behind the counter don’t have a clue what is going on and are completely unapologetic when they mess everything up (our reservations, the float instructions, the pick up bus…). They made zero effort to make anything right and the counter girl even laughed at me for being upset. When I got mad and asked to speak to someone who knows how a business is supposed to operate she called security to throw my son and I out. We left early, ate the money and paid a different campsite down the street where the staff are friendly and helpful.

Twin Bridges is actually located in North East Oklahoma, not in Kansas. Quite near both Kansas and Missouri. Beautiful sites, busy campground. Great facilities including showers and a playground. Office staff was rather rude, which is unusual in the camping industry, so maybe it was a bad weekend for them. Some sites are too close to the very busy road.

I have a mostly stock 4Runner. We were able to drive it around on a lot of very light off-road trails. There were many more intense off-road options and challenges though. They have RV hookups there and plenty of places to park and vehicle-camp or to set up a tent. Trails were $35 a day and camping was $15 per person per night.

Went camping with our adult daughter and her boyfriend. I am glad that we were the only ones camping because the spots were very small and close together. We had a hard time securing the tent because the ground was so rocky. The bathroom had 2 toilets but no doors and the exterior door didn't have a lock on it. The sink was so close to one of the toilets that you could have washed your hands while sitting on the toilet. The power supply was next to the road and not next to where you would put your tent so I am very happy that we had brought extra extension cords. All of the camping spots had a fire ring, BBQ grill and a picnic table. There was no clear shot to the water from any of the camping sites from what I could tell. We did however go to Anglers Paradise to see how the water was and it wasn't as clear and swimmable as I would have wanted. We did however find a nice little spot called Sycamore Creek on #10 and it is the clearest water you could amagine! Swimming was amazing there and it was only about 7 minutes away! Over all we had a great time camping!! Oh yeah, I did try fishing but didn't have much luck.