The best WALK IN camping near
Salem , MISSOURI

We stayed here on a Tuesday evening in early November. It was election night so we were happy to not have a cell signal for the night. 😊 The sites are all walk in but it’s a short walk from your car to the site. Very rocky ground so be careful where you put your tent. Pit toilets are located at the entrance to the campground. We didn’t see where the water was but it was supposed to be off for the season anyway so we were prepared. We did the hike to the highest point in Missouri and then to a small waterfall. We were racing the sunset so we didn’t get to spend as much time as we would have liked. There were only two other campers and all was quiet.

The area was closed when we arrived. But from the looks of it, lots of good camping sites right along the river. Saw lots of grills and plenty of space between each site.

Camped for a couple days during fall. The scenery was gorgeous!

Good camping, it was very quiet since it was only 1 other tent there. Nice clear spots for the tents.

Very nice campground with nice showers and clean bathrooms. Camp sites were somewhat close together so hope you like neighbors. We didn’t check the nearby trails to the shut-ins before coming. The shut-ins trail DOES NOT allow dogs so that’s a bummer. Found some other local hiking trails so overall it wasn’t too bad.

We loved our waterfront campsite.  We had a section of the river to ourselves and it was a large private spot.  

The site was rocky, so mats would be hard (but we had an air mattress, so we were fine).  

The water is spring-fed and very clear and beautiful.

Be sure to visit the nearby springs and sites of the recreational area.  The springs are so deep blue and dramatic against the rocky cliffs.

Hearing the sounds of the river and the chirping birds at night was amazing.

It was a bit buggy but we were prepared.

Likes: Onondaga state park campground is one of my favorite camping spots in central Mo. The campground is very nice and clean and pads are level and all concrete with 50amp service and water hook ups. Very peaceful and friendly people. Dislikes: I’ve camped in a dozen sites at least there and never had a problem when it rained a little bit (rains ever time I go camping seams like!!) last week I stayed in site #65 and it sucked!!! The site has no run off and all the water collects on the concrete pad so there we sat. Walked out of camper and at least 2-3” inches of water stood on concrete pad with mud everywhere!! Finally after a day are so I couldn’t take it. ( I have 2 boys that wanted outside as well as myself) I went and bought shovel and started digging little ditiches so water would run way from camper.. With it being October it didn’t get real warm so the water was there for three days.. The one day it did get nice and sunny the yellow jackets and lady bugs where so bad that you had to watch every move you made.. The next day the camper was covered on the inside with lady bugs everywhere.

I will definitely return camping there but will avoid site #65

We loved this clean and beautiful campground! We stayed in the fall and the colors were amazing. Our kids loved climbing all over the shut-ins. We have already planned to return in the summer to swim! Well maintained facilities and the store had everything you could need. Nice paved sites that have picnic tables & fire pits.

Well kept up place, good spacing between sites. I didn’t get a chance to go on any trails but there were a couple that looked good, including the Ozark Trail.

I've been here many times and it's always a blast! Especially the floating on the beautiful Courtois river!