Are you in need of a campground near Perry, MO? Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Perry is surrounded by family-friendly activities. Get the dirt on all the best camping near Perry. Browse campgrounds by amenities, site types, and more.
"Gorgeous little lake. Vault toilets. Our camp fire ring was shaped like a heart! Probably not on purpose but we liked it. Very quiet. Lots of fishing. And we actually saw the cat!"
"Fairly nice conservation area, about 10 camping sites with picnic tables and fire rings, vault bathrooms aren’t very clean but over all a decent getaway."
"Vault toilets, dump station with potable water, always mowed. Give it a try!"
"Grass sites, fire pit and picnic tables. Lake with free paddle boats(do need life preservers) and fish hatchery across the street. Free potable water and dump station behind ranger station."
$30 / night
"All sites fronting the river, shaded by trees. Mix of campers, fishermen and hunters. A few trains at night but not many. Vault toilets. No tables, no fire rings."
"Otherwise, I have only accolades for this primitive campground."
$25 - $30 / night
"They brought me a huge fire pit as well as dry wood and pointed out where I could find even more wood if I needed it."
"Plenty of tent spots with tree cover and fire pits. Lighting bugs came out at night."
"Heavily forested with a lake. Trails and camping areas in woods are setup for equestrian with good trails for hikers, bikers and horses. Camping at lake is open gravel or grass."
"Stay at lake for three days, established area with vault toilet and gravel parking. Has boat ramp and fishing docks."
LegendThere are 10 or so primitive tent sites and an area that will accommodate about a dozen RV’s. There are no services here and no hook ups, but it’s free. The primitive tent sites are spread out along the main road through the conservation area, which means that in the daytime you will get road noise and dust, but its pretty quiet at night. Only a couple have picnic tables, but all seemed to have at least a level spot for the tent and a fire ring. I noticed some sites had a bit of trash in the fire rings, probably from day use or partiers. There is no trash service, so plan to pack out your trash. The best site (already taken, too bad) was set on the edge of the woods next to a fishing pond. The campers that were there let me take some pics of their site since it was so pretty. The only downside to that site was its proximity to the RV lot and their generators. There are some nice hiking trails here to explore.
LegendThis is a free primitive campground on the Mississippi River. Most sites have some sort of fire ring and a gravel spot to pull a vehicle in. I only saw two picnic tables in the whole campground(maybe 10-12 sites total). The clean but basic vault toilet is at the far end of the campground loop near the boat ramp. Pretty much every site has great views of the Mighty Mississippi(depending on where your neighbors set up their site), which means you can watch boat traffic from your site and maybe feel a little like Huck Finn. A few notes of caution: this area WILL flood if the river floods; it WILL be buggy in the summer as the campground backs to a large wetlands area; on the other side of the wetlands is an active train track, so you may have train noise as well as barge noise on the river.
TravelerA group of us stayed on the Badger loop. Each has gravel pads with electric, picnic table, lantern pole and fire ring. Plenty of buffer between sites and quiet. Clean showers, park programs for kids and friendly camp host. We enjoyed driving over to Mark Twain’s birth place and shrine and antiquing in Perry.
GuideThe whole park doesn't match the awesomeness of site 97 and the few around it, but the end of this loop is almost perfect. Great shade, almost no slope to pads, all power options, great water pressure, and a sewer hookup. Plenty of rocked lounging or tent space with each site. Good size fire pits, lantern post, and an aluminum picnic table on a concrete pad. All the sites have enough empty space in between that most campgrounds would have stuck another site in-between. Restroom/shower house very close by and it's regularly cleaned. 2 trails to lakeside access are close by too.
GuideBasic tent site, potable water was right near our site. Bathrooms were clean. There were some families staying nearby but overall was a quiet stay.
TravelerWe stayed at Camp Takimina on our first shakedown trip with our Popup camper. It was amazing. It was about 5-10 minutes from I-70, super easy to get to. The camp was quiet, private, and peaceful. There are no hookups, but water was right next to us near the parking lot, and the picnic tables near the lodge were shaded most of the day. Portapotties were clean and well stocked. We brought our dog and two children and the had an absolutely fabulous time! We hiked a lot in the woods, played in the creek, and had plenty of time and space to figure out our new to us popup camper. There aren't actual spots for to park in, it is just a big gravel lot with a couple designated areas for campers if the lot is full (it wasn't full at all). We reserved Arrow Hill also, which is a huge site right next to the parking lot, so we had a campfire ring to cook on. Most of the firepits have benches that surround them, which was very handy not to have to move chairs around all the time. The tent sites were huge- easily would fit multiple tents at each site, and we will absolutely be back to tent camp, and with the popup too!
RangerCampground Review:
Mark Twain state Park is an absolute blast. approximately 30 minutes from Hannibal MO this park sits on Mark Twain Lake. Several hiking trails in the area will get you in touch with nature and an abundance of deer. Large playgrounds in the camping area's as well as visitor center areas. All loops in this park have electric and basic sites. No water hookups aside from host sites. Best part is all shower houses fairly new. We never located any vault toilets but found all three loops had their own shower house.
Park has a boat ramp with ample parking and if you have better luck than I did a fish cleaning station. While having a boat ramp close may be a deterrent it was rare to have much boat noise with the tall trees surrounding these large private sites.
We stayed in site 76 in puma loop which was a sloping site but it was massive. The lots on either side of ours were similar in layout but much more level. 76 also has a path to the waterfront which we utilized daily.
It rained on us for most of our stay we found Mark twain state park to be well worth the trip.
Product Review:
As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time- today I am testing the GCI Outdoors Master Cook Station.
While looking at GCIOutdoors.com for the right item for my family to try out we were amazed at the function of their site. We were able to compare multiple items flawlessly and despite much debate locate an item we believed may reduce our overall need to pack everything including the kitchen sink. The cook station didn't immediately jump off the page for my wife. She had her heart set on a new rocker chair of which GCI Outdoors has an amazing selection. However, I was able to win her over after pointing out the endless options the Master Cook Station (AKA My Kitchen) Offers.
My Kitchen provides functionality as a table, a cook top, a drying rack, food storage, and does so taking up the same amount of space as a folding chair. Our first night in camp the dreaded dinner bell began ringing and my loving wife walked over to our new kitchen. After cooking, plating, and eating from this beast she looked at me and said, "Never again will I doubt your decision making about anything." (or at least thats how I remember it.) She actual was really impressed how this cook station had taking the stress out of meal time. With a built in sink we were able to cook, eat, and clean from a singular location and when done we could either fold it up and tuck it away or use it for evening activities.
As a pop up camper space is always limited and at a premium. The GCI Outdoor Master Cook Station not only met our expectations it surpassed them. This swiss army table will be a must have among all of our friends and the high quality of this product tells me that we will get to show it off for quite some time.
GuideCampground consists of open grassy areas with picnic tables and fire grates. Very nice lake, but some industrial type structures interfere with the view from the campground. The campground slopes toward the lake, so finding level ground is a challenge. We stayed Saturday night and there were several open spots. The rules about quiet time are not enforced and some idjit ran his loud generator until 1 am. We ended up moving away from him at 11:30.
TravelerThis site was so much better than what I was expecting! My friend, Kari, her 3 Doodles, my Beagle, and I camped out the first night in the group section, because there's hardly anyone there and we got there too late in the day to actually start hiking. In the morning, we loaded up our packs, put the little packs on the dogs (they have to carry their own food and water), and headed up the Red Oak Backpacking Trail. I don't know if we started at the beginning or not, but we parked by a little wooden bridge and the hill to start off our adventure kinda kicked my ass a little bit. After we made it up the initial incline, the landscape was beautiful and varied from flat areas to valleys and some creeks (which I was very thankful for after a few hours in 90° and 25 lbs on my back). We ended up setting up camp at a spot we thought was nice just before it got dark, because we didn't know where or how much further the primitive hike-in campsites were. The next day, we figured it out, but we wouldn't have made it there before dark. Towards the end, there were stairs built into the earth that were way too difficult to manage when your legs are jelly and your pack is heavy, so it was almost easier trying to take the side of the stairs and make your own little path, so just a heads up there. We had so much fun the whole time and I can't wait to go back for some snow camping later this year (they are open year round)!!!
Tent camping near Perry, Missouri offers a fantastic opportunity to immerse yourself in nature while enjoying a variety of amenities and activities. With several well-reviewed spots nearby, campers can find the perfect setting for their outdoor adventures.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Perry, MO?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Perry, MO is Vandalia Community Lake with a 4.5-star rating from 4 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Perry, MO?
TheDyrt.com has all 14 tent camping locations near Perry, MO, with real photos and reviews from campers.
Keep Exploring
