Best Cabin Camping near Schell City, MO

Our first camping adventure in the popup took us to Pomme de Terre State Park on Father’s Day of 2017. Pomme de Terre State Park is one State Park that is two completely separate campgrounds, split in half by Pomme de Terre lake. When booking pay attention to whether you are on the Hermitage side or the Pittsburgh side. Each campground has it’s own camp store, swim beach, boat launch, and sanitary disposal station.

We have camped three separate times at Pomme de Terre with all three campsites being in the 400 loop on the Pittsburgh side. This loop has been chosen due to its proximity to the bathrooms and the playground, these are key when having a 4-year-old. This loop is located in the woods with nice spacing between sites. Each site comes with a fire ring and covered picnic table. I will warn you that some of the sites on the left when you first pull into the loop are on an incline, so bring plenty of leveling pads with you if you have a trailer. If you are wanting to be close to the water this loop is not the one you will want to reserve. I would look more in the 300 loop, though those sites are gravel in case that is an issue for you, or look at the Hermitage side. The bathroom and shower house located at the entrance to loop 400 are some of the nicest that we have experience while staying in a state park. They are clean and well maintained. Located throughout the loops are vault toilets if you choose a site farther away from the main bathroom.

We enjoy the campground and marina on the Pittsburgh side. The marina is stocked with some camp essentials as well as a café for a quick bite. They also have boats, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards for rent, for a list a prices here is the Marina’s website www.mofunparks.com. This is one of our son’s favorite stops on the trip, they have a nice selection of ice cream. The size of the marina is not large, and if it is busy the inside can be very cramped. We do prefer the swim beach on the Hermitage side it is located along a peninsula with ample room on busy days, as opposed to the Pittsburgh swim beach that is located in a cove without as much space.

When traveling between the two state parks you will travel through Hermitage, Missouri. They have a Dollar General, gas station, and some restaurants. I cannot speak for the restaurants, but we have used the Dollar General for supplies that did not make the trip. Located at the junction of Hwy 64 and Hwy 64B, just outside of the Pittsburgh side of the park, you will find an old building directly across from White’s Marine Center that is selling camp wood. The person that sells the wood will be out there sometimes, but if they are not, there is drop box mounted to one of the poles to leave money in. I was able to purchase a wheelbarrow load for $8.00, which is a much better deal than the small bundle they sell in the park for $5.00.

Pomme de Terre State Park has become a family favorite campground. We will be making a voyage here every year to continue exploring.

We camped in campground 1 right next to the play ground. Super clean, had a view of the lake. Within walking distance of the marina. Everyone was very friendly. My only complaint is the first night we had super noisy neighbors. I'm all for music and a good time but past quiet hours I think one should tone it down a bit. I assumed the host would tell them to be quiet. It did take me complaining the next morning, and then the host went to talk to them. Rest of the trip was smooth as can be! Kayak trails on the lake...beautiful clean swimming beaches. Can't wait to go back :)

Campground Review:

We stayed at this beautiful Missouri State Park on memorial weekend in 2019. This park is park of Pomme De Terre lake and 1 of 2 state parks on the lake, Pittsburgh and Hermitage. There are several local private campgrounds in the area but non match what you'll find at these two campgrounds. Pittsburgh is described as the more secluded of the two and thats just the way we like it. 

We arrived to find that the normal lake level had risen from 830 ft to 860+. needless to say almost all lakeside camground were closed. We arrived at our site and identified that we had 13 inches until our site was to be claimed by the lake. The campground hosts actually informed us that over half of their sites were flooded or in immediate danger of flooding. They were able to offer us a different site as most people apparently decided to no show. We were relocated to site 323 in the Pittsburgh campground. A side note that almost every loop in this campground had empty sites and all those who were displaced were able to be relocated in the park at NO ADDITIONAL FEE for upgraded sites. 

Site 323 was simply amazing. A level concrete pad with enough wooded area around to fully eliminate view of neighbors on either side. We camp out of a 95 Coleman Pop up so it was perfect for us. It is on a significant slope so tent camping would be hard. This site is walking distance to vault toilets, and clean water. After an impromptu wiffleball game broke out with the multiple campers across from us we decided to explore the campground.

Loop 100 is tightly packed RV sites with no real privacy but all your creature comforts . Loop 200 is electric sites well spaced with lake access to most. This appeared to be the most tent and camper friendly loop.  Both 100 and 200 loops are close to shower house and main playground.

Loop 300 is electric with most sites of the lake side coming with elevated gravel pads for grilling and watching the water. Most sites are on decent grades so the state park pics on their site would be a good idea to look at.

Loop 400 is the basic loop and from what I could tell stays fairly level with large grassy areas to tent in. 

All loops have a vault toilet placed evenly on the loop and access to water from a spigot. They all utilize the same road in and the same plumbed bathroom / showerhouse. To my surprise these were all very clean and stayed that way all weekend. 

There is only 1 trail for hiking and at 3 miles is worth the trip. It goes out to a point overlooking all of the park and most of Pomme De Terre Lake. We got to see this but in a little different way than planned. Due to flooding the trail was almost completely underwater. 

A small marina with rentals and fishing docks is just across the street. They serve normal pub food and were very happy to serve. Lines there can be long as it is also a very busy boat ramp. 

The state park has its own swimming beach and due to flooding it was closed. So instead we utilized the parking lot, Playground, and Pavilion as a launch point for our kayaking adventures. All in all this trip went from possible disaster to an amazing adventure on the water. The lake is very clear and paddling through the tree tops normally 20 feet off the ground was surreal. Pittsburgh won us over with customer service and a unique experience we will all remember. 

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt I sometimes get to test and evaluate quality products from amazing sponsors today I am submitting a review of my new Icemule Pro X-Large Cooler.https://icemulecoolers.com/collections/pro-coolers/products/the-icemule-pro-x-large

So as I said before I didnt get to hike with this bad boy but it did spend everyday as our family take and use cooler. 

First and foremost I have to say upon receiving this thing I was shocked at the size. It is definitely extra large. My 7 year old would not be packing this thing around but Icemule has several size options so no real issue there. I chose the xl specifically to use while kayaking on this trip. I would be providing food and drink for up to 8 separate people and would be on the water for  long periods of time. I currently own a Yeti and Wally World Rotomold but cant use them due to their size on our boat.  Well this is where it gets good. I loaded all three coolers and set out with my Icemule in tow. I left the two hard coolers with family at the pavilion. Similar contents and each cooler received 1 bag of ice in the morning. The Icemule stood stride for stride with the yeti in fact I will attach photos to prove it.  The Icemule form fit itself into the storage space on my kayak and at the end of the day had just a little ice left. The Yeti had a little more ice but nothing significant. I will also note that the Icemule was in the open sun on the back of a kayak in 90 degree temps. I was ecstatic with the result. This thing is amazing. 

Now for the nitty gritty. My Icemule comes in several colors. I chose black as it matched my yak LOL. I can say the 24 can capacity is definitely modest but I wouldn't recommend exceeding it by much as all that weight adds up. Not heeding my own advice I topped this thing off and really put it and my back through the ringer. All the stitching and seam weld held up very well. Not a single issue even when over loaded. All clips and straps are high quality and very durable.

All in all I made room for 6 different coolers in my garage as they will all be resting comfortably there. The Icemule is now our families go to for all our cooler needs.

Located in east central Kansas on 2600 acre Lake LaCygne (cooling reservoir for KCPL coal-fired power plant). No swimming or skiing allowed, only fishing boats. We stayed on site 112 in View Point Loop next to some permanent residents. There’s no stay limit here so some sites are very messy. Paved roads with gravel sites having W/E, mostly 30A but a few 50A like ours. Check in at the Marina to see which ones are available at this all first come first serve cg. They even have a few FHU sites but I imagine they are all taken by the residents. Nice dump station located in the back of the park along with a few rustic cabins. We enjoyed a waterfront site but there were many 30A sites available in a more wooded setting in several different loops. There are about 113 sites here.