Best Glamping near Rolla, MO

I stayed the night here in late April, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The campground is in the middle of a forest with a large creek running around it. It was springtime and everything was so green, there were wildflowers popping up all over the place. The sound of the creek running right behind my camp site felt so soothing. I wish I could have stayed a few more nights; this place was a little bit of magic.

The campground: The road that loops through the campground is paved, and for most (if not all) campsites you park right at your site. My campsite included a large firepit with a grate that you could grill on, a picnic table, and a paved parking space to pull-in. Even though the place was over half full, it felt very quiet. I stayed towards the back of the loop, and the creek ran just below my site. There were clean vault toilets and a trash receptacle across the road from my site. The only downside: there are places where the creek runs over the road a little, so that might cause issues if there's heavy rain in the forecast.

The area: About a thirty minute drive from Rolla, where there are plenty of places to get food or supplies. I didn't have a lot of time to explore Lane Springs Recreation Area, but it looked nice.

Booking: I drove up to the sign at the front of the campground and put my payment in an envelope. I'm not sure if there are other options to book ahead of time.

Cell Service: Verizon worked fine.

Having experienced many rustic & gravel campsites, paved campsites are a welcome change of pace. It’s a new park (opened in 2016) with amenities like (excellent) WiFi in the campground, clean bathrooms/showers, and a fully stocked camp store at the lodge. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. While there is not much seating in the restaurant dining room, the patio area has plenty of space for the warmer months.

There is a large, modern playground for kids to enjoy and pavilions to grab some shade. The creek is a short walk from the most areas of the park.

As time goes by, programs would be a welcome addition to the park - maybe even some geocaching or scavenger hunts. A small band of wild horses roam the park, but all we saw was evidence that they had been there.

All in all, a great experience.

**Campground Review: **

We camped at Red Bluff at the beginning of the off season, so it was a lot quieter than I bet it can be in full swing. As everyone else will tell you, the sites on the bluff provide a fantastic view! Right now there are about 5 sites up there, but they are under construction for what appears to be adding an additional loop with a view and I heard rumor of electricity being added up there too. Because we wanted air conditioning, we opted for the lower sites near the river. We camped at site# 28 and it was just right. We were not on the river but close enough to hear it. With the camper parked to the left, we could not really see or hear the neighbors from that direction well. To the right we had a large and long site with a tree line and hill between us and the neighbors. We could see them through the trees but it was not like we were “hanging out together” close at all. Sites 27 and 28 faced the woods so another angle where you felt secluded. A few sites down was a little spot that you could walk right down into the water. It was a tad too cold for us but the heat of the day made us really want to wade in. It was crystal clear and you could see a gravel bar not far from there. I believe in another area of the grounds you can walk out onto one. They do have double sites, some of which were huge! The fire pit we had was awesome, it had a ring that lifted up or down onto a raised concrete circle and had a grill that you could turn out and away if not in use. We are actually going to look for a ring like that for our home. This site also had what we were calling a cooking station. It was a tall covered set of shelves. We put our cook stove on it. The site also had a lantern holder which we used to tie up the dog when we needed to too. While there were flood level signs everywhere and you coud see where flash floods had happened on the lowest level of camp, our site was high enough to not need to worry. One day while we were there we went to Dillard’s Mill- a nearby park with an old water powered grain mill on site. It was peaceful and pretty, no swimming there anymore though. Lots of picnic areas. There is no ATV use on the camp grounds, so we went up to an area of the forest that you can ride in. It was not far from camp. The camp host was very friendly. The only thing that could have made this ground better was a dump station. Maybe that is in the plan with the construction too. I was hesitant to try here at first because of all the raccoon complaints but we did not see even one the entire time. So don’t let those comments deter you! All in all a great site and we will be back with the kids, maybe hit the bluff next time.

**Product Review: **

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, sometimes we get products to test from their partners. This radio is a fun and handy addition to our now growing Midland collection. It does ALL the things. We liked and utilized the NOAA Weather Alert Radio to help us to decide when was a good time to take our ATV’s for a ride through the National Forest. We used the AM/FM radio at the site for some tunes around the fire and the flashlight to take the dog for a nightly walk. The handle and shoulder strap made it easy to carry. Since we are new ATV owners, we were especially looking to test the range for this radio (because separation and possible emergencies seem inevitable lol). My brother in law lives near the campground so we set him up on his porch with the base camp and headed away to the ATV trails at the National Forest entrance. Every so often we would stop and check in “breaker niner niner…John can you hear me?” Sure enough, clear as day we got back a “YUP that’s an affirmative over”. So we got to the end of our trail, which we had mapped as 1.5ish miles as the crow flies and home could hear us, we got a response, then we spoke again and no response back (though he was trying). Occasionally in our trek the responses from home were a tad crackly but we still clearly got what was being said. There were so many features on this thing that we were not able to test them all in our weekend getaway, but I would recommend it if you have multiple radios from Midland in use. It has 5 ways to charge it, one being hand crank so it can be used in an emergency and a USB connector to recharge your phone with. My husband was excited about the eVox Hands free operation option. This will be great for camping and emergencies! We give it 5/5 stars for our needs.

https://midlandusa.com/product/xt511-base-camp/

Echo Bluff State Park in Ozark National Scenic Riverways near Eminence, MO is a brand new “old camp”. 

Opened in 2016 the history is rather interesting. From 1929 until the 1980s, Camp Zoe was a children’s summer camp, founded by Russell S. and Margaret McMahan Louis County teachers. There is one of the structures still on site with plaques and information. More recently, it was home to music festivals — and an open-air drug market. I didn’t find any plaques in relation to that. However when the government gained control of the land in a court proceeding it was decided to bring more business into Shannon County by opening a very nice campground for people not wanting to rough it. 

And “BAM” you have very pricey accommodations from lodge rooms, to cabins and two story condos. The campground is pretty nice too but lacking in shade and privacy. There are walk-in (uphill) sites and nice wagons provided to transport your gear. Not my favorite style of camping. Completely full and busy, which is why it got a 4 instead of 5 star. This may be your type of camping and you would say a 5 star. Reserve ahead, I mean way ahead.

There is a huge pavilion that can be reserved that overlooks the area. It has a large fire pit and mega size grill, one of the trails meanders below the pavilion. This would be a nice venue for an extended family get together.

This is a very nice, new, recreation creation. The playground was given two thumbs up by my granddaughter. Then the river, which you can see from the lodge and playground was given 12 paws and 2 thumbs by dogs and grandkids alike. Crystal clear ice cold water that you can walk across to the sheer wall of rock. Bring your water shoes, the rocks aren’t fun to walk on.

A very cool feature , if you are lucky , you will see the wild horses that roam the area. They are not for petting, so use caution. 

Aside from the abundance of people we enjoyed Echo Bluff SP.

We really enjoyed this campground. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Check-in was very easy and we were met at the gate. They drove us over to our spot and brought us over a firepit. The electrical box was setup correctly and everything worked as expected. Water hookup was very close as well and water pressure was strong. As an FYI, we did have to use a regulator to reduce the water pressure. 

We were able to stay right along the river. We had arrived a little too early in the camping season and we happened to pick days where Missouri had a cold front (previous weekend was warm). Even with the cold weather, we were able to really enjoy the trip and get our RV ready for the upcoming season. 

The camping spots are basically just spots in a big parking lot layout. It is fully paved, but during busy season, you would be very close to other rigs. The park is beautiful and a very short walk over to the cave and ziplines. There is easy access to the river and you are able to easily put in your kayak or small boat. Restroom, showers and trash were a short walk as well.

We will return to this site.