Best Tent Camping near St. Peters, MO

We loved our stay at Babler, aside from the snow & wind - the park is great! Review below ⬇️

⛺️ S I T E R E V I E W ⛺️

📍 Dr. Edmund A. Babler State Park Wildwood, MO

💰 $12-$21/night

🗓 Feb 19-21, 2022

Site 48 ⚡️💧

🦮 Pets Welcome (on leash at all times)

➕Concrete Pads, Quiet, Close to Interstate 40, Paved Roads, Easy to Access, Gated Overnight with access code

➖Small/Close Sites, No Water in Off Season, Only Vault Toilets - No Showers in Off Season

📶 AT&T Service 4 out of 5

🚮 Dump Station located behind bathhouse. NO WATER during off season!

🚻AMENITIES •Playground •Hiking, Biking & Equestrian Trails •Wood & Ice •Interpretive Programs •Visitor Center •Special Use Area •Laundry, Flush Toilets & Showers ON SEASON ONLY!

🏕SITES Reservable 12 Months-FCFS in off season 72 Reservable 8 Accessible sites Basic - Electric Concrete Back In Lantern Hook, Picnic Table & Fire Ring

⏰ HOURS/DATES April - October 7:am - 9:pm Nov - March 7:am - 6:pm

🔺Park Office 8:30am - 4:pm M-F

🔺Visitor Center April - Oct 9:am - 4:30pm W - Sun Nov - March 9:am - 4:pm - Sat-Sun Dec - Feb CLOSED

I spent a night here camping while on a road trip. The check-in was quick and easy. The host showed me the tent campsites, which are secluded and private from the RV sites. The sites are outfitted with a picnic table and brick fire rings. Some have water spickets. There's a central covered picnic area. Lots of shade and tall trees. You'll want to check them for dead limbs before setting up your site. I didn't ask if hammock camping is allowed. There are at least two sites that would work nicely for a hammock. A portable toilet is available to keep the area sanitary for urgent needs; the flush toilets, laundry, and fitness center at the main entrance are also available for a longer walk or short drive.

There 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.

There are single campsites on both the north and south ends of the conservation area, and none of them have any amenities- no water, no vault toilet or outhouse, no firewood for sale. But what the sites are lacking is made up for with scenery and hiking, and it is free. The conservation area is closed to camping during various hunting seasons(I ran into a hunter scoping out his turkey hunting spot for the following week’s hunt). There is a great hike down into a valley with the actual Lost Creek at the bottom, completely worth the hard hike back up out of the valley. The campsite has room for a couple tents(no RV’s here), some great trees for hammocks, a primitive fire ring, and a picnic table. Since you are right next to the parking lot, you will see some traffic during the day with hikers, birders, and others, and there is no privacy for your campsite. Bring everything, including a cat hole shovel, and pack everything out.

Beaver Dam State Park, Il

We did an overnighter here. We arrived in time to get a hike in before dinner meal.

The trail map is very basic and not totally accurate. The trails are poorly marked but with basic knowledge of your compass points you can figure them out. Staff may be limited due to Corona , so the trail maintenance may have suffered, it is overgrown in several areas. The overlook to the marsh is pretty cool. I found no mileage for the trails , there may be a purchasable map with more information or of course a trail App. The lake is picturesque and busy. Lotsa fisher people here. The trail goes all the way around the lake with several fishing spots. Theres a boat ramp near the parking area and several docks to use across the lake. A nice feature is located next to the boat ramp, a fish cleaning pavilion complete with pull down hoses.

The campground had an interesting set up. The sites in the loops are gravel and you have room but not a lot of privacy. I was in site 26 and you have to back between the two other sites into this one. Not difficult in my van but it could get interesting with a camper. I don’t think you would have the room to pull in and circle out. Electric at these sites , no water. There were hydrants spaces throughout for your water needs. The fire “rings” were interesting, with a flat “platform” to set your coals/fire on. Nice campground, I felt like somewhat of an outsider here, the occupants were possibly locals who obviously use the entire 14 day stay limit. Otherwise nice, basic, water activity centered campground. I did not see any swimming areas.

I wanted to escape the house and go camping while on the work from home order (Covid-19 happening at the time of this review), so I headed to a very local park and campground to pitch my tent. I've been to 370 Lakeside Park many times to walk around the huge lake and to hear concerts in the summer, but I had never camped there. Still haven't. I'll explain. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were not so keen on having tent campers. But they were very nice and gave me the general lowdown on this "in the city" campground. Since they opened the campground, most of their campers have been RV owners, and so it is really designed for the RV camper. There is a small primitive section for group tent camping, but the majority of the sites are full hookups for RVs. Some sites are pull through and some are back in. All have picnic tables and fire pits. The park has planted some trees, but they are really just saplings, so there is no shade yet. There is a nice bathhouse with free showers for the campers and pay laundry. If you are lucky, you can get a site close to the water, but it means the walking trail is right next to your unit. Trade offs, I suppose. One couple I talked to was camping long term (I think they are permanent RV'ers) and they got a free membership to the St Peter's RecPlex recreation center with their long term spot (they said something about having to book a least a month out to get this perk). One of the downsides to this location is that it is prone to flooding. It was out of commission for most of the summer of 2019 as the entire area was flooded. But the City of St Peters did a great job getting this place back to usable with new sod, a new bathhouse, and some general sprucing up. The lake is great to walk around, about a 3 mile walk or bike on a paved trail. You can see all kinds of wildlife in and around the lake- deer, bald eagles, pelicans, ducks, snakes. In the summers they have live music in the large pavilion, and you can rent kayaks and other small boats to take out on the lake as well as bikes to ride around on. The office told me that they have 24 hour on site security also. If I really wanted to tent camp, I could rent a section of the group camping area, but $30 seemed pricey for just me, and it was very soggy to boot. Or I  could rent an RV spot, but $45 was silly when I don' t need hookups.

This campground, a City of St Peters park and campground, is as excellent as a campground comes.  The campsites are "state-park-size", especially the back-in sites which all have plenty of lawns behind them.  All sites have a view of the small lake. The park/campground rents paddleboats, kayaks, and canoes in addition to different kinds of bikes.  There is a walking trail around the lake (4+ miles).  There is fish in the lake and you are allowed to fish.  The ATT cell phone signal is good.  The staff is SUPER NICE AND CARING.  Example 1:  There was some rough springtime weather expected one day.  A park ranger went around to every site and notified every camper of where the shelters were (the restrooms/showers) and gave out a flyer about the specific weather forecast!  This is in addition to all campers getting an email.  Example 2:  We were checking out right before a weekend.  Our site, previously not available that weekend, had opened up.  The staff called to tell us that the site had opened up over the weekend and wanted to check with us before giving it to someone else.