Best RV Parks & Resorts near Lake Lotawana, MO

This isn't our typical "go to" type campground; we stopped here because we were having some trouble with our truck and needed to have it looked over before heading out further west. The RV park is really close to downtown Independence, Missouri and has everything we needed for the night. It's within walking distance of everything in town, has full hook-ups, wifi, bathrooms, and a laundry facility.

It is what you might expect for an RV park so close to downtown, a little lacking in outdoor aesthetics. But, the bathrooms were clean, the showers very hot, and the laundry room was tidy! Also, the manager was super nice and accommodating.

Independence has some cool stuff to check out and has a very midwestern, small-town feel to it, even though it is basically a suburb of the greater Kansas City area. There is a lot of charm and some interesting architecture in the immediate area. The Truman Library, the Community of Christ Church, the downtown theater and court house are all interesting and worth a look. We had some time to kill and made the rounds to these various places. If the weather would have been warmer, it would have been a very bikeable area, too.

We’re from Kansas City and there are very few options when it comes to Campgrounds. This is by far our favorite and their rates are very reasonable. We enjoyed our stay, staff was very friendly and the park was clean and easy to get in and out of. You’re also very close to Hillsdale State Park, but this location has a tornado shelter 🤣

The park: great store, laid out well, gravel sites. Some are back in but most are pull through. Full hook ups- power/water/sewer.

72 Sites: 30' wide, 60' long and level 24 Sites are pull thru All have 30 & 50 amp service

You are within 40 minutes of southern Overland Park, and within approximately an hour (depending on traffic) to Kansas City.

Amenities: Laundry Storm Shelter Showers Meeting room available for RV Rallies (Must Schedule) Fishing Lake

Cellular: service was good, able to stream video, work, Facebook, etc.

Rates as of April 2020 (from their site):

-DAY RATE: $45.00 -CLUB RATE: $40.00 (Good Sam's, FMCA, AAA, Military) -WEEKLY: $215 -MONTHLY: $575 Back In $700 Pull Through (if not paid by due date, Day Rate will apply.)​

When we began our fulltime journey we stayed at this park for a couple of months and learned a lot about it. The management team was very friendly and would often disclose a lot about what was happening at the park. The park was in need of some improvements but it was clean and nice. The spaces are very tight in the travelers section and more spread out in the long term section. Many sites in the park were occupied by storage and the owners never showed up. To walk your dogs at the little park at night, you had to walk through there area. We called this the storage lot. The out of state contractors often had many loud and drunk guests which was obnoxious. They often harassed females walking their dogs to the park through the narrow street, and they were in the back section.

They had reasonable rates when we first stayed there ($40/night for in the city and $500/month). Now it is much more expensive, one night for our rig is $76 according to their website.

We never felt like it was genuinely part of the RV Community, it was more of a stop through or people were staying in the area for a job or to finish a house. It didn’t house many fulltime RVers that would continue traveling. They love to host NASCAR fans and know they are one of the closest parks to the Speedway.

Ammenities: Laundry Small Store Showers/Restroom Facilities Little dog park on the north end. Occasional BBq They were putting in Google Fiber internet when we stayed there in 2017 so I’m not sure if they completed it. Dump Propane Trash Mail

This location was the closest to our family’s homes so we have stayed there three times all together. There is a lot to do nearby and the main draw of this RV Park is definitely the location. You’re not far from downtown Kansas City, and still in the suburbs of Kansas City.

Stayed for the night to break up our journey. The sites are level with full hook ups. Friendly staff! Will stay here in the future.

We stayed for 1 night on a nice gravel site. Had full hook up and nice shade. The campground offered some hiking and walking routes. Kids had a great time at the playground.

was able to get in to full hook up sight with less than 24 hr notice. (rarity) weather was perfect and campground nice! wouldn’t know you were just minutes away from the “big city”. *will be back!

Camped here over the weekend, when arrived the staff was very friendly with everything, the site we had didn't have shade and most sites had full hook-ups. The campground was nice and clean with friendly campers next to us

This campground is a must for anyone with children. Awesome sites with full hook ups. They have several ponds you can fish from. My kids love that. Nice play area for kids as well as themed weekends with lots of activities planned that kids can do. Little pricey for camping but definitely worth it.

This park is privately owned. It has a very nice in ground pool along with a storm shelter which gives piece of mind in crazy Missouri weather. Shade seems to be scarce at a lot of the sites (all are full hook up I believe). They have what seems to be quite a few full time campers living here. Hard to get through on phone lines to book and no online booking options but overall a very clean campground with friendly owners.

Longview campground is not only peaceful and quiet but also in a very pretty area filled with wildlife.   There is an attendant and security arms when entering the campground and requires a key code to enter.   There are over 100 sites with tent, electric, and full hook ups. The campgrounds are open from April-end of September with prices from $21-33.  

There are fire grills and picnic benches at each site and the sites are level on gravel. There is a playground, volleyball net, restrooms and showers. There are 6 picnic shelters with bathrooms scattered on the way to the marina. The lake is beautiful but is not within walking distance from the campground.

We stayed from a Saturday night until Thursday. There weren’t a lot of campers so it was nice and quiet.  We saw deer running through the campgrounds and will stay again.

We booked a site here on our drive back East in August 2023. I saw “resort” and was like “Sign me up” after some real hot and grimy parks earlier in the trip.

Ultimately, most of the amenities were closed by the time we arrived. The game room, the restaurant, and store were all closing or closed. My kids did get some pool time (it was a nice pool) and loved the blob (whatever you call the bounce pads). There was a nice playground, pavilion and courts.

What is weird is that this is almost two parks - the front is the “resort” or old-fashioned campground, but where we were placed was in the back with what looked like a lot of long-term, single male residents. It was a longish-walk to front where the pool and store was and it definitely didn’t feel like a resort.

There were spots open in the front closer to the pool and lake - if we had camped there I think the experience would have been different.

This is the campground to be at if you are looking for a staging area just south of the KC area with full hookups, level sites and amazing owners.

Recently downsized our rig and selected this location for the initial shakedown. Had an easy to access pull through site that had 50/30 amp access, water and sewer. Nice landscaping, plenty of place to walk.

Accepts cask or check for payments, propane sold on site. Short drive from Flying J and grocery store

Nice park that has flat/level sites with 50/30 full hookups. Salt water pool, play ground, camp store with onsite storage available for campers or boats, this is a great place to be if you want to do some fishing or hunting at Truman Lake.

Small pond on site and storm shelter. Cell coverage a bit shaky- park has wifi

Increase in the number of RVers has this place packed so a quick call and reservation to hold the site is recommended

Great owners

Nice RV Park with concrete pads.

Stayed here while visiting friends in the metro - one of the few RV parks in the area.  Pads were concrete, level, clean, and well-maintained.  Easy walk to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun, with some back-in sites offering tremendous views of downtown KC.  Kids loved the fireworks at Worlds of Fun in the evenings, and could be seen from our pad.  Check-in was easy, and store was stocked with plenty of essentials.  Just off I-435, with easy access to the park from the interstate system.

Its all about the location and supply and demand. It was very over priced for the tiny amount of space you get and subpar wifi. Thank God our neighbor was nice because the poor guy had no room to get in his truck after we put out our slides.
It is however the only RV park anywhere near the area so kudos to them for capitalizing on a very small market. The staff is very friendly. Its clean. Its right by several major highways and is very centrally located. Tons to do nearby if you're not from the area; In all directions from where this is!

We offer a perspective on RV camping "off peak" (late fall and early spring).  This KOA has a nice eastern exposure for morning sun, and lots of pull through sites.  On the downside, if you're sensitive to nearby road noise, there's a lot of Jake Brakes on I-70 which, at least in the absence of tree foliage, is all over the park.