Best Tent Camping near Perryville, MO

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.

Gave this campground a 5-star rating, but it probably should only be a 4 star. It only has about 12 basic tent campsites, no water or electrical at the sites. The campsites were nicely spaced, most have a lot of shade, each has a picnic table and a place to make a fire. No trailers allowed at camp sites, just tents. There is one or two special-use camping areas that can be used for groups such as boy scouts, etc. It appears you can pay in advance and reserve some campsites, so that you be sure to get one for your trip. I went in late May on the Mon-Tue of-after Memorial Day weekend and was able to find an available campsite even though I did not have a reservation. Camping fees/rates were posted on a board near the restroom building by the honor system camping fee pay station.
The restroom bldg only has pit toilets, not flush toilets. But they were cleaned very well by the workers on the 2nd day I was there. Also worth noting is that there is water faucet an a drinking fountain next to the restroom bldg, so you can get fresh water if needed. OK, so this sounds normal to average, so why give this campground a good rating? Because of location to the great stuff near-by on this mountain.
Missouri's High Point is here on this mountain. There is a very nice overlook w/ viewing platform w/ handrails very close to the campground. Some awesome hiking trails are worth checking out, although they are a bit rugged in places where you could twist an ankle. One of the trails will take you to a nice waterfall, which is Missouri's highest falls. Note that I would not call it MO's largest waterfall. Further to all of this great stuff is that the birds were plentiful and quite active when I was there. Easy to watch and listen to them at the camping area, and at the overlook viewing platform. Birds were pretty much everywhere. There is also a look-out tower up on the mountain, which is probably used as a fire watch tower. A few pictures attached.

This camp site has RV hook-ups and tent camping. There are trees throughout the campground if you're looking to set up a hammock. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table and is a mix of grass and light gravel. Pit toilets, no showers. Water spigots throughout the camp ground. Keep an eye out for snakes though! I nearly stepped on a copper head in the outhouse! Camp sites are a 2 minute walk to the St. Francois River. Great hiking along the river and good fishing, swimming and kayaking in the river! Also not to far from the Castor River Shut-ins if you're looking to pack two rivers into one trip. We just celebrated my husband's birthday here last weekend, though we have been a few times before. Always a blast!

PRO 

Senior discount saving $6 

Able to reserve on-line 365 days prior to arriving 

Very friendly and helpful camp host 

Unobstructed view of the Mississippi River 

Great dark sky viewing 

No highway/road noise, but... 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded by grass 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

One hook lantern pole 

Moveable wooden picnic table in the grass 

Toilet/shower building.35 miles from campground very nice and very clean with ample TP and hand soap 

Firewood for sale by camp host $5 

Mississippi River Scenic Overlook was very nice V

Visitor Center has small museum (no admission fee) on the Trail of Tears Native American tribal migration 

Coin-operated laundromat on South Hope Street Jackson after the roundabout 12 miles from campground 

Tractors Restaurant Main Street Jackson very good diner type restaurant 

CONS

$8.50 reservation fee for online self made reservation 

Sites that back to the river very close to each other. We stepped out our door onto the neighbors stinky slinky. Insufficient space to deploy awning. 

Electrical utility connection is on passenger side of the campsite#6 

Sewer connection was high above ground so drainage was up hill. Camp host warned us upon arrival we may need to use dump station to get tanks totally drained. 

Site 6 not level side-to-side 

Lots of trains, day and night with train horn blaring due to road crossing at campground Lots of river barge noise 

Only one single unisex pit toilet in campground 

No park headquarters or entrance gate office for check-in. Sign in campground informing how to conduct virtual check in. 

No security gate closed overnight 

No ranger patrolling campground

No WiFi 

2 bars Verizon LTE

I’ve camped at both campgrounds offered at St. Joe. In the fall of 2018, we stayed at CG#1, the spot has a nice gravel tent pad with border, picnic table, and a fire pit. The spot also offered a concrete section for a camper and cars. We had a pop-up and one tent and it was very spacious. A great spot with a minute walk to a very well kept shower house and bathroom. We really liked this spot at CG#1.

CG#2 is located about 2-3 away from the main campground, this includes the shower house and main bathrooms. There is no shower house at CG#2. I stayed at CG#2 about a week ago. Very similar in design to the sites at CG#1, it also offers amenities for those with horses. We had a spot with electric and no water, water is located close by the vault toilets. The site has a gravel parking area rather than the concrete one at CG#1. We had two tents, two cars, and five people, just as spacious. If you want more seclusion and don’t really care about being right next to the showers, I would suggest CG#2.

Also, there was a trail located right by our spot at CG#2, it’s a good hike!!

Two clean and well kept swimming areas, great trails, good camp sites, and great bathrooms/showers!

I had a great time at Taum Sauk Mountain. I came down to check out the area to see if it would be a good place to do a Boy Scout High Adventure for my son's troop. It is only tent sites, no RV's, campers or pop ups. I prefer setting up my tent and sleeping under the stars so I loved camping here.

There are not a lot of campsites and they are reserved on a first come first served basis. There are only pit toilets and no showers but if you are in a pinch you can power your phones from the outlet outside of the pit toilets and there is a water fountain with a spigot right next to the pit toilets as well.

Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest point in Missouri with a beautiful overlook. It also has a tower if you are not afraid of heights and can make it up the 91 steps to the top. There is a lot of wildlife. I saw several deer myself and my neighbors had a pack of raccoons who terrorized the food they left out on their picnic table. Be sure to keep your food and belongings in your car or hung up in a tree or on one of the posts set up in the camp site.

This is a great park for scenery, wildlife, and solitude.

Really great campground. Good mix of tents and RVs. Bath house was very well kept and clean. Showers ran cold at first but after a few mins it gets warmer! There were plenty of pit toliets through out the campground and trash cans. My tent site was clean, good flat spot for tent, picnic table and fire pit with attached grill.

The Concession building in the park is closing. No boat rentals, selling everything he has on the shelf.

Caught a few bass and and good amount of hiking. Large trail around the whole lake, smaller trails lead to sites around the different campgrounds.

Took the youngest kids for their first camping trip, and it could not have been better. Plenty of space, site was level for our tents and had a nice, soft carpet of pine needles, facilities in great shape (didn't use the showers, but they looked decent and were fairly popular), nice sink in the laundry room we used to fill our dish-washing tubs, good neighbors, nobody too noisy and folks generally kind and friendly. Really enjoyed being on the tents-only side of the campground--allowed for a clear, wide view of the landscape and the fall colors. Hiking is some of the best in Missouri.

I will say that the "walk-in" sites didn't seem to have much privacy and weren't very far from the parking lot, if that matters to you.

All in all, you can't get much better for tent camping.