Best Equestrian Camping near Kansas City, MO

I was looking for a decent place to camp near Kansas City during the weekend and found this spot on Smithville Lake. When I camp, I typically do it while on vacation and checking out a national park. This obviously isn't an experience like that. This was the first time I've camped over a weekend in years.

The campsites are very spacious and there are even places with covered picnic tables. The bathrooms are also clean. If you're not the most adventurous type, you'll like this campground.

The thing I enjoyed most about this campground was the trail around the lake. The trails are fairly low traffic and there wasn't too much noise coming from boats on the water. It was a peaceful location to camp and enjoy views of the lake.

Overall, I recommend this as a quick place to go during a weekend if you're in the area and feel like camping. I probably wouldn't stay here for an extended period of time.

Nice little campground tucked away just outside Kansas City. Close to everything but far enough that it’s still really camping. Cell service on AT&T and Verizon are great. Only negative is that some sites are right on the road, so kids can dart out at any time...just be careful!

Quaint campground an hour outside of Kansas City. Beautiful fall foliage. The last weekend in October they have a lot of great activities for kids. Pumpkin Carving games. There’s a campsite decorating contest. Kids can go trick or treating at the campsites that choose to participate. Showers are immaculate. Vault toilets are extremely well maintained. Well marked trails and friendly people all around.

very beautiful campground with views of the lake. nice beach just a short 5 min drive away. also horse trails and facilities to accommodate if you’re into that. $5 bundle of firewood was weak at best but got the job done. will be back!!

Sooo many things to do!!! We love taking our horses to Crows creek, there is an amazing barn with stalls and it’s withing viewing distance of your camper/tent so you don’t have to worry. Trails start directly from your campsite, you can also take your bikes, paved and mountain bike trails. You also can’t forget the wonderful lake and the beautiful views.

We live near Crow’s Creek, and enjoy making spur of the moment camping trips here throughout the year. There are many spacious tent sites with great views of the lake. Miles of paved walking/biking trails around the water offer for a nice activity!

Tip: Before choosing your site number, ask which loop is furthest from the horse camping as there can be some noise from the barn at night. The park staff has typically made this suggestion to us when we arrive!

Best value on a trip across country. Not far off of RT 36 going East through Missouri. Cost only $13 with hot showers. Nice campsite with table and fire pit. The night of our stay the ranger did a naturalist talk about stream life. Host was very nice and we were able to pay with a debit card. The Missouri State park system is automated and accepts credit cards.

During the camping season this campground has nice large shower houses and clean bathrooms. They sell ice and firewood at gates. Pleasant campground, very nice lake. I camp with kids from infant through 18 and hot showers and decent bathrooms are a must for us. Close to Smithville Missouri.

The staff of this park were just as fun as our stay! Just a walk away from a beautiful lake and your stay here is a perfect get away from the city lights!

We are camping here while doing the Cotopaxi Questival Adventure Race. It's a very nice setting in a Grove of trees atop a hill. Both electric and primitive sites are available. The bathrooms are the nicest campground bathrooms I've ever used - large, clean, and not communal, so you get a sink, toilet, and shower all to yourself. This campground is in close proximity to the lake, trails, and many other outdoorsy diversions!

Visiting KC for the Cotopaxi Questival and decided to camp for the weekend. Quaint little campground with a nice new shower and bathroom facility. Had some noisy neighbors that were too be desired...however the rangers came by a couple times to quiet them down and we got a fairly quiet night of sleep. Some road noise and planes flying over, but overall it was pretty quiet. The camp host was very nice and let us change campsites to get a better spot. Site 11 has a little plug in where you can charge your devices ;)

This is a very clean campground. The staff is very nice and helpful. I will definitely come back.

It’s a good camp ground if you are looking to get out of the city. The only draw back to this site is that you are close to your neighbors.

We really enjoyed this campground. The staff were very friendly from start to finish. Our site was perfect for our 32 foot travel trailer. Our site was shaded. as were many others on the campground. There are a handful that do not have any shade. Though we did not have one, there are also a few sites with a Lakeview. Nice playground for the kids, and plenty of grass to take the dogs out. Site was large enough for our trailer and two vehicles and still room for fire pit and awning to come out. A little hwy noise, but nowhere near enough to interrupt our trip.

One of the 3 Jackson County campgrounds, but the most in level sites in any of the parks. Sits on top a hill, the sites are cut into the hillside so vary from small tent sites, to RV sites. We camped in our 39’ diesel pusher, had to use lots of wood to level everything up, including extending one of our jacks to the maximum and causing it to throw an error message. Sites run from 20/30/50 amp, some with FHU’s. One site has a view of Lake Jacomo and is somewhat level (#31 I think?) and is hard to reserve on short notice. The bathrooms are decent and clean. Fire pits are allowed, but you have to burn the wood they sell, don’t bring in your own.

As with all three parks in the Jackson County district, this one closes October 31 and re-opens in March. Of all three parks: Blue Springs, Longview, and Jacomo, this one is our very least favorite.

Hard to give an accurate account for our stay due to it raining basically the entire time. When it wasn’t raining the sites were nice and spacious and relatively level. Made for easy set up and break down. Like the other Jackson county campgrounds the convenience of being close to home was nice and because of the rain made it easy to run and grab a pizza. Will go back!

The campsites are located on a sloped layout. Some are at the top of a hill and the others lie around the base of the hill. We’ve camped here twice and if it rains the ones down hill get lots of water flowing to them which is not good for tents. Kids can’t have their own tent because they limit the number of tents and people per site. It is across from the lake but there is no lake view from any campsite.

Kids really loved the area and close to a lake this fish. In the winter the campground closes but is transformed into a great drive through winter light show!