Best Tent Camping near Knob Noster, MO

Knob Noster State Park is close to Whiteman AFB and towns nearby for amenities. The park is clean and quiet. Weekends often mean a nearly full campground so make sure to reserve ahead! Weekdays there are few campers. The park is well shaded and it includes primitive and electric sites with water pumps within easy access to all sites. There are two sets of campground bathrooms—one is near the front and is brand new (2018); the other bathrooms are half way to the back of the campground. A dump station is at the front of the campground with a pull through drive. Ice, small grocery items and items are all available for purchase from the camp host. You can also rent kayaks either hourly or by the half or full day. There are lots of great trails for hiking, weekend park programs at the campground amphitheater, a playground and basketball courts. There is no WiFi in this park yet but I hear it’s coming soon. This is a great little park!!

Site 36 with 30A & 120V. Public Water Spigot about 50’ away. No Sewer or Water connections at Raccoon Ridge. Plenty of dead kindling and wood around to burn. Asphalt drive with concrete pad. Picnic table, fire/grill ring, hook post w/ recycle bag attached. BEST Site is 38 which puts trailer door parallel with a 180 lake view. Heavy wooded with shared paths to lake or cove. Marina is within 1 mile by water or 15 minutes by car. Ice, Beer and necessities at Puddle Jumpers Bait Store about 10 minute drive. Hosts were great and did cleaning daily. Showers and Dump Station at top of hill few hundred yards away. Let shower water run about 3 minutes before the warm water kicks in. Swim beach is on other side of cove or about a 5 min drive. Dump Station has 4 Waste Holes, two Non-potable water spigots/hoses and one Fresh Potable Water hose and both sides have slight incline on dump tank side. Downtown Warsaw is about 15 minutes away with tourist antique shoppes, bars, ice cream shoppes and the historic Joe Dice Suspension Bridge. The Truman Dam is about same distance away. T-Mobile service with 2-3 bars, no WIFI; but HotSpot worked for ROKU. Keep food and bait inside as raccoons rule at night. Be CAUTIOUS of Red Ticks that are VERY tiny… you’ll want plenty of DEET! Flies were biting like crazy, some mosquitoes and LOTS of May Flies. You’ll see Bald Eagles, raccoons. deer, squirrels, chipmunks, hawks, turtles and FISHING near wooded edge of cove is Bass and Crappie haven!!! Also Geocaching near by!!!

We will return and hopefully get site 38!

Our first camping weekend this year, only 1 mile from home. Testing our 24' Forrest River Salem Cruise Lite pull behind camper systems, support supplies and food supply inventory. It was a spectacular weekend with our of town and our of state family. Knob Noster State Park is a great park for the grandkids to ride their new bikes on the level smooth campground road in safety, and for the adults to catch up over some cold beverages. The campground host this year - 2018 is ran by a couple from Illinois, and although a stickler for all the established park and campground rules - parking on the grass - they did a great job patrolling and managing the campgrounds so everyone was safe and the parks integrity was preserved. The park honored our disability rating and gave us a discount - $22.00 for 3 days & 2 nights. If you require electrical hookups, it is getting to be more common to plan ahead and submit a reservation in state parks as more and more young people are catching on to the camping experience. We didn't reserve a spot and had to take one of the last 5 'non-electric back in sites as all the many electric sites were already reserved and filled up fast. But, we were ok, as we had onboard water, sewer and DC power for lights, radio, awning, and jacks, we just switched our refrigerator to LP. We had a wonderful time and cooked everything on a portable LP grill outdoors in the amazing weather. The park offered a brand new shower house this year. Water and sewage dump sites were always available and no waiting. Next to the campgrounds was a nice medium sized lake we took our 3 canoes on with all the kids and grandkids. The only downer was that the only trash dumpster the campgrounds had and centered in the campground was already full beyond capacity when we checked out on Sunday - we were forced to carry our trash back home to disposes of it properly.

We came just at the start of season, so we took advantage of a family spot to relax and get some extra privacy. There were maybe 5 other campers in Wild Ridge, and it was a ridge coming in, narrow roads leading into the peninsula.

Vault toilets were well kept, and well light at night.

We hiked to check out the other campsites that were also well spaced for privacy.

There was a desire line down to the lake, with a rocky shore to walk, the beaches themselves a bit wider.

We had a nice clearing to set up at our location, likely used for a second tent that lended well to privacy.

This campsite is beautiful. Loop B is much quieter with fewer guests. Loop A is a little more busy. Loop A: 2 smaller loops of campsites. A17,18,19 are very close to a little walkway that goes down to the lake. These spots are very hot and sunny in the morning, but shaded in the afternoon. Loop A has 1 set of nonflushable toilets that were surprisingly clean. Loop B: this is where the shower house and flushable toilets are. Showers were clean and water was hot. Showers had good water pressure. Loop B also has the playground which is right behind site B47. It’s a newer playground and all equipment was nicely maintained. There are no swings. Only complaint is that there are no benches or picnic tables at the playground so bring your camping chair if you plan to stay awhile. Further past Loop B the road turns to gravel and there is a parking lot with a walkway to the lake. This offers some small bluffs with deep water for jumping off. If you walk further around the corner to the right, it turns into a nicer “beach” style area with few rocks, although the mud can be a little thick after it rains. When we were here (July) the lake was pretty muddy but I’m not sure if it’s always that way or not. It was also pretty low, but still had plenty of fun and kayaked through all the little coves.