Best Tent Camping near Strafford, MO

Beautiful views from many of the sites. I noticed several of the tent sites do not have level areas for your tent. T01 site does not have close parking unless you are able to park in the handcap parking. It is a quite park in the evening. Camp host is polite and shower house is kept clean. Vault toilet by the boat ramp is sketchy (where tent camping is located). Will stay here again.

This is one of the largest KOAs I've stayed at and the kampground itself is very nice. The staff were great ands check in was super quick. Also, there's a rugged little trail that goes behind the kampground. It was a great little walk for the dog and I to stretch our legs after our long drive. 

The tent sites are all located at the back of the kampground around a circular pavillion. Each tent site has its own water facet, electricity, and fair internet which are somewhat redeeming for the negatives below. It's nice to have a covered picnic table and the lattice provides some privacy from the picnic tables of the other campers. Other than the traffic is very quiet in by 7:30 or so. Everyone seems respectful of each other. 

The tent sites are disappointing to me. They're small, close together, and nearer to the highway than makes for a good night's sleep in a tent. That makes them kind of pricey for what you get.

I'm tent camping because I want to be distanced from other people. I put mine up as far to the side as I can go, but I'm  still literally only 10 feet from the next tent. Other users mentioned grass on the sites. I haven't seen any grass around and site 5 has only stones on the tent pad. This site also has probably the worst view. It faces out toward one of the kampground roads and is in full view of the street light. The back sites seem darker.

I'd highly recommend this KOA if you're visiting Branson in a trailer or RV. The kabins also look really cute (and there are lots of them!). If I visited here again in a tent, I'd pick one of the two sites that face the woods.

This was our first tent camping trip in Missouri State Parks. Visiting in March meant there weren’t many things to do. This parks main focus is Lake Pomme de Terra, so if you’re not into being on the water - this campground may not be for you. We had a vault toilet near our site which was nice for middle of the night trips. The site was on quite an incline & there were lots of rocks under our tent. I would not recommend this site.

Went here for a Jeep Jamboree and had a great time. There are several areas to tent camp and have great amenities as well. Toilets, showers, food, etc. The hosts are very hospitable and treat you great!

Wife and I decided to start camping again after a 10 yr layoff, So after a few equipment upgrades we made our reservation and we went last week. Tent site was nice and shower rooms are clean and nice as well.

The camping areas are pretty but there’s no water access from camp sites. Also plan to walk to the bathrooms or plan to hear people walking by all night headed to the bathrooms. Lots of tree coverage so every site is shaded almost entirely, but that means lots of sticks that have to be cleared before tent camping.

I’ve camped here 2x for Jeepstock in September. Brandon, the owners closes the park for the event but it’s still maxes the facilities capacity. The tent camping is questionable, but lots of great electric sites. Generator camping is far away from everyone else so that’s nice.

There’s limited bathrooms and showers but I think that’s going to change soon with additions to the grounds. Nice new cabins are being added yearly. If you ha e a chance to visit SMORR, I would recommend it!

Decided to try out Pomme de Terre this weekend. We are not disappointed! Beautiful views form the campsite— tent camping on a peninsula in surrounded by Pomme de Terre lake. Check in was a little confusing, and we later found out the shop is closed for the season. We’ve been having to head to town to purchase wood and ice which is slightly inconvenient. Facilities are average— I’m not amazing but not disgusted, they are what you’d expect! Nice and quiet this weekend, beautiful clear water waiting to be canoed in. If only we had one! We’ll be back!

I have been floating on the James River many times. Always a great experience on the river.

Campsite PROS- Very large grassy sites for tent camping with RV sites also available. On site general store for various floating items, alcohol, food etc

Campsite CONS- VERY STRICT camping rules when camping with minors... We were all well over the age of 21 ( 30 years old +) with the exception of my brother who was 20 at the time. He was DENIED an overnight site due to his age and the alcohol sold on the premises. Even with my father present . Also their shower/ bath room is poorly maintained and always dirty. They have one bath and toilet for men and one for women for the entire campground, which has well over 40 sites. They are unorganized when it comes to drop offs and pick ups and could use more staff to help get on and off the river for floating.

My boyfriend and I stayed here for one night at the beginning of may for our first camping trip together. It was at one of 2 basic tent sites. Ours was just a short walk on a (likely camper-made trail) down to the water. The water seemed clean enough to swim but there was a lot of floating moss and seaweed right along the shore. So we opted to just fish even though we were unsuccessful. There were plenty of trees to hang out hammock, a grill grate over the fire, and a decent amount of shade. There were two flat sites for a tent. We chose one that was slightly more on a slope because it was less rocky. Spotted a few poison ivy plants and 2-3 brown recluses but we’re in their habitat so that is to be expected. Not ideal but not unexpected lol we definitely plan to return!

Camped in Loop B on Oct 4, 2023. Camping was free at this Corp of Engineer campground since off season began on Oct 1st. The Loop B campground has several RV/tent sites arranged in sub-loops in an open field; some trees for shade. Sites are close to each other; no privacy between sites. Sites appear to be level. Each site has a metal fire ring, table and lamp pole. The loop road is paved and the sites were gravel. There were no hookups in Loop B. The water station was shut off, but the vault toilet, which wasn't very clean, was open. No camp host on duty during our stay. There is access to Stockton Lake from the loop road. There was nothing special about this campground, but has good lake access for boats.  Otherwise this campgrund is suitable for an overnight stay.

This campground offers RV camping with full hookups or tent camping. The RV sites are a little small and close to each other, and you can tell some people are long time campers. That being said, it’s a very nice area by the river with lots of fishing, floating, and swimming opportunities. A few things to keep in mind-if it’s been raining a lot it does tend to get muddy, we don’t have 4WD and got stuck, luckily some others there did and helped us out. Once it dried up it was no problem. (It had been over for over a week, so it was out of the norm) The exit to get out is a hill with gravel so again not having 4WD that was a little tricky, the visibility is also not great because of curves so you just have to hope people aren’t going too fast. The last thing is this place is also a canoe rental so there are vans/buses with canoes going back and forth all day so it can be noisy.

My family stayed in the African Treehouse Lodge. It was a great weekend getaway. The kids loved that the upstairs was up a ladder and running across the swinging rope bridge. The playground has a zipline that all the kiddos had a blast using. We were able to "rent" for free a couple of movies from the office and the staff was really friendly and helpful. The trails made for a good afternoon family walk. Some trails were more cleared out than other but the variety is a plus in my book. They are not overly long trails but still very enjoyable. They have plenty of RV sites and some cabins and treehouses. Me and my wife will be coming back to one of the couples only treehouses for sure! There are not a lot of tent sites and they are all in one crowded area with little seclusion or cover but this place is clearly more geared to the RV's and Cabin getaways. Would be great for family reunions or family trips to the Branson area.

Don't go there on a Monday or Tuesday!!!! We camp here all the time and enjoy it. We went on Monday and it was the first time meeting the new part time camp host. We pulled up and there was a grumpy old man sitting on the bench would not wave or smile, the lady inside the both opened the window and just looked at us. We asked if there was any tent camping and she said in a short snippy voice for how many night. No welcome to Crabtree or great day!  So the only site was 29 we pull in and look around  put a few things on the table to hold that site and down comes grumpy ( Ray Millard) told us all the things we couldn't do. That he was the host and we were not following his rules .  We drove on the road pass the cones to turn around and we would have to pay if we did any damage.  We were on the road !!!! There was no water or damage to anything.  He was just being a jerk!  We left and will not go back until The regular camp host Terry is there. She really makes the place nice  and relaxing to go to

When it comes to this location I liked the overall spacing of sites and the shaded tent area.  This was so appealing when I pulled in.  At first I had eyed just a site by the water but when I saw these they were a bit further away but seemed to be just what I was looking for in the midst of the heat.

Many people come to this area to put a kayak in the water and enjoy, and while I wanted to do that it seemed a bit crowded for my liking as a novice.   You wouldn't expect that from the water but I get turned around easily and I didn't want to be out there in the way.   Instead I enjoyed the other activities and just being at camp itself.

A bit more about the options for water recreation.   They do have rentals and a shuttle service to accommodate you returning following a paddle, that seemed very reasonably priced.

Camp was very nice with lush green grass, access to fire rings and picnic tables.    It wasn't to loud although you could hear the sounds of campers around you pretty easily.    

They also had cabin options here, I didn't explore them this time around but they looked nice and the placement wasn't to close to one another.  The RV area was well spaced and had great areas for leveling out with ease, shade coverings for the exposed sites and similar amenities to the tent camping.

This state park is one worth a stop when near Springfield. I drove north toward this park to enjoy something a bit different and found it to be very peaceful during a weekday. 

I had traveled here following a busy time and expected to still have some of that lingering noise which hangs out after a big event. But by the time I reached the location it had dwindled out. Leaving behind in the peaceful outdoors were shaded sites that were well placed but slightly trashed. That isn’t the fault of the park but rather of the people who did not pick up after themselves. 

After a little tidying of my site, I was home for the night in a nice tent site. I took a tour of the grounds and noticed that the showers were nice, the water was great in pressure and hot!! Restrooms were well maintained and even after the weekend they had already done their maintenance and had them looking very nice!! 

Something else to note when traveling is cell service. With AT&T I had 3 bars of service, something which I was very uncertain of after driving to the location had been spotty in some areas. 

The campground runs alongside a waterway and it was nice to enjoy around dusk the sounds of the water. I would have taken a dip in it had I not arrived so late in the evening, it looked so perfect for just dipping the toes in. Also I could see this being a great place to launch a small boat or kayak. 

Nearby camp is one of the larger hatcheries in the state which you can visit during certain hours and see how they work to diligently populate the waterways and lakes in Missouri, pretty cool process and information. Definitely recommend!!

Family style theme campgrounds are always fun.   Not really so much about the hiking and outdoors as many other camps in the area but the amenities and attraction of the campgrounds are usually the selling point.  

I have seen many Jellystone Parks in the past, and I will say this one is a bit less themed than others.  However what it lacks in theming it does make up for in charm as the cast and staff are extra friendly and involved.   They ensure that children have interactions with Yogi and that there are plenty of fun activities for the entire family to enjoy!!

They host daily activity times for foam parties, scavenger hunts, interactions and crafts which is really fun and makes for a great family style outing especially for the younger kiddos.   Additionally they have a splash pad, swimming pool, hiking areas which are a bit less challenging, playground and ranger station.    

Though they do have an all inclusive style approach to entertainment they also have show tickets available for purchase for venturing into Branson itself, a great touch for additional entertainment as there are many things the entire family will enjoy.

Tent camping along with RV camping and Cabins is available but something unique to the park is the RV rental service where you can rent an RV to stay in, something not to many parks in Branson offer.

When I visited the park, some of the amenities and special attractions were currently closed due to the conditions going on in the world, but they still made sure to make it an exciting experience for all staying there.