Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Poplar Bluff, MO

20.00 a night. The spaces are big with fire pits and barbeques at every site. Trees cover every site so your in shade all day. The hosts were very friendly. Walk to the swimming beach and boat ramp. The showers are huge. But it's dark don't go out at night without a flashlight. I got lost looking for my rv, walked around and around. Nice motorcycle ride around the lake. The only stores are gas stations and 1 dollar general so stop before you come here. Poplar bluff is only 12 miles away.

We love it here. Sites that can accommodate tents and/or RVs. Its clean and well maintained. Multiple access points to the water. Educational programs and entertainment of some sort most every weekend. Pet friendly.

I totally recommend this place ! It’s really nice place and the owners were really nice. We had a whole entire camp area to ourselves ! It’s right on the river. They have a little store, running water, decent bathrooms with hot showers and a playground. It’s an affordable place and family/pet friendly and the have horse stables there for your use if needed.

The people of Missouri gave a wonderful gift to the people of the United States.  A gift I did not know about or had never heard of till we made the decision to camp in Missouri.

Big Springs was Missouri's first state park.  The CCC did a lot of construction on the park and so much of the buildings are still there.  In much need of repair and I do hope the federal government will restore.  Big Spring is off of Missouri Highway 160.  Turn onto State Route 103 to Big Spring.  The spring has a wheelchair accessible pathway that will lead right to the spring.

The campground is large and open.  Tent sites along with with RV sites but the RV sites are small and very close together.  Some RV sites had electric but no water or sewer.  There is a dump site.  During the summer I think I would get a reservation for the RV sites if you need electric.  If you have the ability to generate your own electric stay in the open tent site area.  The tent site area is large and open to the sun.  Big Springs has flush toilets and hot showers.

There are picnic areas with tables and grills scattered throughout the park along with two group shelters.

The Ranger programs are well worth checking out.  Take advantage.

The Current River makes a wonderful backdrop for nature lovers.  You have the options of hiking, biking, fishing, camping, floating, kayaking, and all sorts of boating with a ramp in the park.

Have Fun - Stay Safe

Leave No Trace

Better Than When You Found It

Stopped here while passing through Missouri on a Saturday on 4th of July weekend and there were only 3 other campers when we arrived late afternoon. The sites are nice and big with picnic tables and fire rings, even a few “doubles” that would fit two big rigs side by side. The trail around the lake makes for a nice short walk with the dogs and it was surprisingly not terribly buggy for July. No hook-ups, which was the only downside since it was so hot and my Husky demands AC in the summer!

Gorgeous quiet area by the river. Great easy hiking. We stayed at group camp and it was just my husband, me and our dog.

Came here for a solo winter camping trip with my dog. It was really nice. The spring was beautiful and the campsites and amenities were very well kept.

We Stayed in site  174. While this location was right next to dumpsters it was also adjacent to a gravel bar access for the entire park.  Our trip was amazing. Site 174 and most around it had quite a bit of shade and plenty of room for kids, dogs, and our 4 hammocks.

Our campground hosts were knowledgeable and on top of things with seeming overbearing. Campground is obviously hit and miss as far as neighbors but here you have enough room to make your own oasis. 

Clean Shower houses and historic visitor centers. We cant say enough about how much we love this campground. Do yourself a favor and book it early they fill fast.

Despite terrible storms during my stay, it was a wonderful place. The hosts and staff seemed a bit eager to have someone visit, it was rather empty for the middle of the summer. Firewood is a bit overpriced but thats to be expected. The non-electric sites in the first loop have the best view of the lake but zero shade. The next loop had great sites but no view of the lake. The pamphlets from the park are poor quality copies and out dated… they show things like a store that is not on the site. The showers and laundry were great. The staff were friendly. A little buggy, but I think that has more to do with the weather and time of year. Couple raccoons tried to make a move, but my dog had something to say about that.

Overall, great park!

There are 15 paved sites, each with a picnic table, fire ring and a pole to hang a lantern. Some sites are double width. There are two (nice & clean) vault toilets, one in the campground near the entrance and the other at the day use/boat launch site, no electric, water, dumpster or garbage. Pack it in and pack it out. There's a 1.3 mile paved trail along the lake and a dock. There is some noise from 60 but it's hardly noticeable. My time here has been quiet except for some drunken yahoos one night.

The only negative is there are a lot of ticks! They are easy to spot on my white dog but I have to do a tick check every time he goes outside, and I always find some. Avoid the vegetation and you'll see less. Make sure you check yourself.

Sam A Baker is really hard to beat. There are all the amenities (electric, showers, store, bike and watercraft rentals, etc) and plenty to do. We stay here 2-3 times a year depending on if we can get one of the sites we like. We normally stay in Campground 1. It's great for the kids to ride bikes. There are short and long hiking trails, good swimming and wading areas in the creek and river and mostly friendly people. The closeness of some sites along with the barking dogs and few loud partiers tend to get on my nerves when camp is full, but that can happen anywhere. I have bought firewood here twice and it was a waste. Overall this is a great family campground with attentive hosts. I also love the old-style CCC buildings and it's just a pretty area.

Campground review: As always, the staff at the campground are awesome and helpful. We had a site very close to the entrance/store/showers this time. It was wonderful coming off of the river and being just steps away from our tent! I've decided that while I love the Saturday karaoke, I really like camping here on Sundays when it's quieter and less crowded. ----------------------------------------------------------Gear Review: As a Dyrt Ranger, I also get products to review and test in the field. I tested the "Sleep Under the Stars Pack" by Lightspeed Outsoors. The pack included a queen size air mattress, two inflatable pillows, and a pump. The mattress inflated in just a couple of minutes. It is thinner than my air mattress that I usually use, so I was skeptical. It seems to have some support that normally isn't there. It's pretty firm! The two of us and our dog slept comfortably on it all night, although we preferred to use our actual pillows. Paw prints wiped off easily, and it deflated in a snap! I can't wait until we get to use it again!

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 booked online, from the photos of site 48 at the Ridge Campground loop, there was plenty of space for our tent & to enjoy our weekend camping. We could not have been more WRONG! This site is TINY! Not even enough room for our tent, the fire pit is nearly touching the picnic table & a drainage line runs right through the site. The grass was SO tall, leaves & Brush everywhere. The site & fire pit were full of trash! I pulled countless bottle caps out of my dogs mouth, and had to clean up broken glass as well. We spoke with the host & moved one site over, to #49. This site was bigger & looked more appealing. We were still WRONG! The ticks, ants & mosquitoes were thick (I know were outside, and I understand - but the amount of ticks I picked off ourselves, our tent, our chairs, table etc was more than normal.) when breaking down our tent we found a nest of black ants, millions of them, all through our tarps.

The bathrooms in this loop are large, but they are much older. They were dirty - constant trash on the floors, including sanitary pad wrappers & bloody tissues. The soap dispenser was broken, and someone had busted the lid off to get to the soap inside. There were dead bugs all over the counter & the showers didn’t drain, they had standing water. When we drove through the Asher loop it was like a different campground! I couldn’t believe the difference and was quite upset. Just because Ridge is the older part of the park doesn’t mean it should be maintained any different. We will NOT return to the Ridge campground, but would love to stay at Asher one day.

It is shaped by Marble Creek, from overhead it looks the piece to a puzzle, no matter where you are in the campground any direction takes you to the water. There is hiking, it is in a National Forest that allows Dispersed Camping outside designated areas and off roads. It is a pure delight natural water park, in the capital of natural water parks The St. Francois Mountains where creeks and rivers have "natural shut-ins" . The area around Black Mountain next door in the National Forest is a natural wilderness area, filled with geo features not marked on any maps and seldom ever photographed. Some of the largest gorges and canyons in Missouri are nearby, waterfalls (seasonal). Marble Creek flows into the St. Francois River a short distance away. 16 miles west of Fredericktown Missouri on Madison County Road E

State Park in Southeast Missouri along Big Creek. Well maintained campsites with electric hook ups. Water and dump stations, but no water hook up sites. Nice beach with easy access for swimming and kayaking. Very nice bike trail throughout park. Privately owned store and restaurant in park. Cabins also available for rent.