Best Cabin Camping near Ozark National Scenic Riverways

As a child my family camped at Twin Rivers annually so it was really fun to go back in June. It is a popular spot for people who are there to float the Black River.
We were hiking the OT from Taum Sauk to Johnson Shut-ins so we opted for a camping cabin to keep it simple. We were delighted to find it had A/C! There are 4 small cabins with a double bunk, table and 2 chairs plus the A/C. There is as little porch: nice for sitting or gear stash. It was clean and simple. Bring your own bedding. Outside there is a big water spigot, picnic table, fire ring, and grill. You have access to the "beach" on the crystal clear Black River. There is a camp store with a good stock of what you forgot plus t-shirts etc.
I love Twin River's Landing and we hope to use that cabin again.

For Labor Day we stayed at Big Spring State Park CG, near Van Buren, Missouri which is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. 

We arrived Friday afternoon and set up camp in the 100 loop, which are primitive campsites with fire ring, picnic table and lantern hook. Nice shady outer ring with plenty of room to set up your area. The inner ring is less private and lacking in shade. There are trails from the back sites to the river and the wading/swimming was nice. Where your hiking shoes to get there, and pack your water shoes you’ll probably want them for the rocky river bottom. 

 In May 2017 the area had major flooding. ( A Park Ranger put on a very informative slide show about it Friday evening) The park is still in the process of rebuilding many of its structures. That being said there are porta pots in two of the campground loops and some of the trails are closed still. The actual showerhouse was extremely busy and not well maintained. Spiders galore, three claustrophobic shower stalls (one was inoperable) with questionable cleanliness and the configuration is just weird. I’ve said it before , it’s unfortunate that the state does not keep these awesome areas maintained. 

The campground was full but we still had privacy and the noise was never intrusive on our activities. 

Big Spring is pretty awesome. There is a trail that circles up around the spring to the far side and several areas to take pictures from. It’s worth the visit to see the spring. We will visit again but I think I will take my field shower!

I had no idea what to expect, just following brown signs in the Ozarks. The state park has a very interesting, well done visitor center to learn about the surrounding areas geological history. Arriving at the shut-ins by walking down a wooden boardwalk you get glimpses of crystal clear rushing water, then it opens up to points to get in. It's beautiful and impressive. The water has carved out tide pools and waterslides, canals and whirlpools. There are several deep collections if you want to take a break and float around. There are trout and blue gill, armadillo and elk in the area. Down the road a bit there is also Elephant Rock State Park and campground with walk in primitive camping that each have raised decks, picnic tables and fire pits. Also available RVs and cabin rentals. I personally walked around and collected quartz and mushrooms. Very pleasant.

This 1200 acre property used to be the beautiful Cherokee Ridge Girl Scout camp until it was sold in 2019. We have went through extensive renovations and development to bring this property to the public so that it can be enjoyed by our guests. River access and our private gravel/sand bars are available exclusively to our guests and have provided some of the most peaceful weekends imaginable.

We have everything from glamping tents right on the river bluff (photos attached) to 12 fully equipped cabins with hot tubs overlooking the 22 acre lake with a beach and activities (photos attached)

We have 4 Conestoga Wagons that are heated and air conditioned (see photos attached). They are the definition of glamping.

50 RV sites with picnic tables fire/grill pits with a variety of 30 and 50 amp pull-through and back-in sites. We offer float trips, rental boats for the lake, and rental golf carts to adventure around the park.

The park is going through endless development to continue to provide everyone with the most enjoyable and peaceful vacation possible.

Please check out our website www.otahkilake.com

We are trout fishers. This place is perfect for easy stream and running water fishing. We stayed in loop 3, site 325. We walked over to the "river" about 75 yards from our campsite. The water is shallow and clear. it was perfect. You are off grid in this park with Verizon (our service) or T-Mobile (another guest looking for connection). The lodge has Wi-Fi and I was able to pick up signal to text and call when standing outside. No connection for any data at our camp site. No Over air TV stations. One FM radio station. I you want to have any entertainment, BRING DVDs.

This is where my love of camping started. I spent many summers as a child camping at Montauk State Park with my grandparents. After those early years of riding my bike as a child around the campground loops, I now take my child there every year with the hope that he appreciates it as much as I do.

Montauk State Park is one of the Missouri Conservations four trout parks, and is located at the headwaters of the beautiful Current River. The Current along with the Jack’s Fork River make up the Ozark National Scenic Riverways National Park. Since it is one of Missouri’s trout parks you will find a majority of campers are there to fish. You can purchase a trout tag at the lodge for $3.00, and it will allow you to keep 4 trout per day with a possession limit of 8. The conservation will stock the Current on a nightly basis, based on number of tags sold the day before. The stretch of river from spring to the falls are some of my favorite fishing anywhere. I have a group of guys that get together every spring and fall for a trout fishing trip.

As the Current River winds its way through the valley, it creates one of the campground boundaries. This allows you to be near the river at all times, or even next to it, if you grab one of the spots on its banks. The campground is broken down into 4 separate loops, with loop 1 being the only basic section, all the others have electricity. I have spent more time recently camping in the basic section with the guys. We have used sites 115 for the space and 119 for the seclusion. Our family did camp on Mother’s Day on site 418, in loop 4. I would not recommend this site because you only have a small space between you and your neighbors.

There are two bathroom/shower houses with laundry facilities located in the campground, along with three campground host. You are able to purchase firewood and ice in the campground as well. Sites do go quickly so you will need to book months in advance.

The lodge has a full restaurant, as well as a diner style counter. My son love’s to go and sit at the counter to get ice cream. You will find menu item such as burgers, sandwiches, and salads, as well as a buffet on certain days. You can even order a sack lunch to take out to the river bank. The lodge also has a store stocked with camp essentials, souvenir items, and fishing supplies. If you do not have your own fishing poles, they have some for rent. You will also find the lunker board located here, so if you are lucky enough to catch a three pound trout bring it to have it weighed for your lunker patch.

If you decide not to fish, there are things to do such as take a tour of the mill when the naturalist does one of their demonstrations, hike the quarter mile trial to the springs (one of my son’s favorites, he likes to search for the water bubbling out of the ground), hike the longer 1.5 mile pine ridge trail, feed the fish at the hatchery, or take in one of the nature programs at the amphitheater. Also if you head out of the park on YY you will find Tan Vat Access located right outside the park on the Current. This is a great place to take young ones for a dip in its cool waters. Also you can take a gravel road out of the park to a funky little place called Bo’s Hollow. A family has built a small town in a field, where you can buy a bbq sandwich lunch, and take a model A ride to Ashley creek for swimming and a picnic.

I hope you get a chance to check out Montauk State Park. It is one of our family favorite destinations.

General: Very large state park with six separate loops/areas:

• Loop 1: 10 Equestrian sites with water and electric (50 amp)

• Loop 2: 20 FHU sites (50 amp)

• Loop 3: 21 Sites with electric only (50 amp)

• Loop 4: 14 sites with no hookups

• Loop 5: 14 walk-in sites plus three special use sites

• Six cabins 

Site Quality: We stayed in Loop 3. Each site was very generous in size and reasonably distanced from each other. Most had foliage separating them. All sites looked to be level, and the camper pads were either all concrete or concrete/macadam and in very good shape. A large wooden picnic table, lantern/garbage hook, and fire pit complete each site. 

Bath/Shower House: The one closest to our site (and I’m assuming others are the same) had three toilet/sink combos and one family restroom/shower. On the other side of the building were three shower rooms. While they were clean, the floors were concrete, and the walls cinderblock and there was a bit of a musty odor. 

Activities/Amenities: We were there during the week in May and the visitor center and both stores (one in the campground and one by the Shut-Ins) were only open on the weekends. There was a laundry room with very reasonably priced machines ($1 each for the washer and dryer), a playground, and an amphitheater (which also was not in use when we were there). There is a gravel path that bisects each of the loops providing a nice way to walk/run throughout the campground. The signage in the park is good so even though no one was at the check-in station, it was easy to find our site and other facilities. The big draw for this park is the shut-ins (narrow constriction or gorge in a stream) where people can swim/slide from one to the other via small waterfalls into pools of water. We did see a few hearty souls in the water when we were there, and I can only imagine what it would be like on a hot summer weekend! 

We had almost the entire Loop 3 to ourselves, so it was a very quiet stay for us (except for the cicadas)!.