The best EQUESTRIAN camping near
Perryville , MISSOURI

Very large, open place with the river close to most campers. I never floated here but I'm sure it's quite the party!

This campground offers no-services tent/RV and RV with electrical.  The electrical spots are all in cut grass areas, many with great shade trees.  The no-service sites are more wooded.  We did not visit the facilities (COVID) but the campground is well kept and nice.  The staff did not wear masks (hence the lower rating).

There are plenty of good walking trails along the river.  We are looking forward to coming back in the spring to walk these nice wooded trails.  We did not see any bike trails.

There is good cell service (ATT) at the campsites.  We did not detect any WiFi from our camping spot.

NOTE. The park is close to some motorsports arena which had loud events (drag racing?)  during the entire weekend we were there.  If you appreciate peaceful days and nights, check out the racing schedule first.

So first of all- I think it’s fair to state before I leave a review that my husband and I prefer primitive and private camping. The fewer people we see while we’re out, the better. We live in a city so when we camp, we want the opposite. If you enjoy RV camping or don’t mind not so Private spots, this is a decent spot to spend the night. If you like primitive/private camping- il fill you in below!

We do tent camping and Saw there were walk-in sites and hike in sites at this campground. Usually walk-in sites are pretty private and dispersed well - atleast where we’ve been before. The 14 “primitive” camping sites were right next to eachothwr with little to no privacy at all. Good tree cover for shade but otherwise you’re basically setting up your tent and area in an open field. That was a little disappointing to us because it wasn’t what we thought we would find. The RV spots also seem super close together but again- we like things spread out so maybe it would be an OK place for some.

The vault toilets near the tent sites were…as clean as vault toilets get! And we did not use tje shower facilities so can’t speak on that.

If we had been just the 2 of us, we would’ve hiked in to do our camping along one of the hiking paths but we were meeting two other friends and were unsure if they would want to hike miles to a spot so we opted for the tent spots just after the RV campground. If you want more privacy for an evening of camping, you’ll need to come with your gear packed up decently enough to hike it out atleast a mile onto the trails. There is camping allowed along the trails as long as you are 100 ft from the trail so that was an option, but in certain spots along the trail it’s challenging to find a clearing (hammocks would be great along the trail). There is also an official primitive camping site halfway through the 12 mile loop of the Red Ceder Trail. We day hiked almost the whole loop but made a Weird little detour so we didn’t get to check these spots out.

We were hoping to find a campsite that- as get as difficulty of accessibility level- was in between a 6 mile hike and the tent spots in the field but there isn’t any official spot like that even tho there’s tons of space and potential for it. Rant over about the campground. Let’s talk about the hiking! The hiking was truly awesome and felt like it balanced out my disappointment with the campground. Doing the whole 12 mile loop of tje Red Cedar Trail was a challenge for us! We really enjoyed it. In some spots, the trail markers are a little confusing, but overall it’s decently marked and the map is somewhat helpful just to kindve know vaguely where you are. The 2nd day, we went back and did about half rhe loop and also checked out the more popular section of the trails back there that include Giant City Nature Trail, Devils Stand Table, and a few others. Very cool rock formations. Pretty busy in the weekend over there but the test of the trails away from that area with those big landmarks was completely deserted and there are some super cool rock formations not on the map at all.

Over all, this was a fun 4 days. We would return and plan on hiking out into the trails to camp for our evenings. If you like privacy around your campfire at night, I can’t recommend the campground.

This is a quiet family campground, most spots are lake side. Very spacious and lots of trees. First come first serve, and the park was full most of the time we were here.

Just spent the weekend with my family at Sam A Baker (SAB). We stayed at campground 2. Spot 145 and had plenty of shade and space. There are two traditional camps and one equestrian. The park is crowded but that’s because of how great it is. Lots of paved walk/bike trails around the park. If you forget your bike no problem you can rent one for $5 a day! The visitors center was neat. The general store has everything you need and a restaurant attached where you can get breakfast, lunch and dinner. We spent some time on the gravel bar which was a short walk from our campsite. The water on Big Creek was clear, shallow, and not too cold. I would recommend this state park to any family looking to camp.

The state of missouri does an amazing job providing opportunities for families to enjoy the beauty of nature. Nature programs for kids and parents to learn. Well kept facilities. The ice cream is just a bonus. This is by far my favorite campsite for the kids.

We went with the whole fam to Sam A Baker. Shower houses were conveniently located in camping area. Big River was just a small walk away from the campsite. I know they had been flooded, but I am still cleaning rocks and dirt from the camper. They had a nice camp store and were very friendly. Mostly electric sites. A few full hookups close to the front of the campground. Nice paved roads and larger than normal sites. It was during a pandemic, but bathrooms were pretty clean. Will definitely go again.

We have camped here two nights and the area is quiet, scenic, but with a few surprises. Our first being all of the water is shut off and It appears that the dump station hasn’t worked in years. We had a pleasant day driving through the area. There is a lot to explore but it would take more than two days. The trails we were on were unclear and poorly maintained. We tried to go to the beach for a swim and it was inaccessible although there was a clear paved trail. We never found the swimming area as it overgrown and apparently unused for a long time. It could have been a beautiful area with maintenance and TLC. Being a National Forest area, it was disappointing.
The pit toilets were very clean but it’s a good thing they didn’t need water to keep them that way.

 Pros:

--Tons of swimming in the rivers and"shut-ins" throughout the park(just remember to wear water shoes if you can; it's VERY gravely)

--Lots of trails

--Nice, mellow bike path connecting the two main campgrounds and the very fun camp store(look up on the ceiling!)

--Tall pines(I love tall pines, that's all) 

Cons: DISCLAIMER-- We were here on a weekend in August, so I suspect our experience was very much shaped by that….

--Campground was PACKED and LOUD

--Campground was PACKED and LOUD

--Campground was PACKED and LOUD 

Okay, I think you get the picture with the campground itself. It was one of those things that made me feel like a cranky old man, saying,"man, why can't these people stop trying to show-off their lame-ass stereos???" That said, the park itself was beautiful. 

The main attraction is the water. The river twists and turns through the park. It's shallow, gently flowing, and VERY clear pretty much everywhere(except a few places where it was stagnant!). PRO TIP!!! Since the campground was PACKED and LOUD, most people seemed to not venture too far from the campground itself, so if you want your own private swimming spots, you can hike a relatively short distance and grab one. We did the short"shut-ins" trail and found a perfect one. 

BOTTOM LINE: If you want any peace and quiet, don't stay here on the weekend. I suspect the weekdays would be better, and if you managed to schedule mid-week, I suspect it would be an incredible place to stay.

So much to do here I’ll just have to keep coming back to get everything in.