Best Campgrounds near Sturgeon, MO

Very small parking lot that is supposed to be a designated camping area, not ideal unless car camping. Has nice lakes with boat ramps but that’s about it.

Park was closed but had parking in the lot outside of the gate. Good enough to crash over night. Did a daylight walk through and discovered a well maintained camp site. Talked with park staff who was cleaning and cutting up downed trees. He was friendly and knowledgeable. Bad timing for me, and I was looking for free camp sites. Otherwise this would be a great go to location for me.

Stayed for two nights. Beautiful lake and being it was the end of February I was the only one there. Highly recommend

We stopped here while on a cross country RV trip. We were pleasantly surprised with a nice quiet clean campsite. The hookups were easily accessed and the shower facilities were great after a long day on the road. The only real downfall was the bugs but it’s the outdoors so it happens! The small town of Arrow Rock is as beautiful as it is charming with all the things you could need.

The campground has large campsites and is quiet.  The bathrooms are clean and a short walk from most campsites.  

There is a dock close to the campground for canoeing and kayaking.

Heavily forested with a lake. Trails and camping areas in woods are setup for equestrian with good trails for hikers, bikers and horses. Camping at lake is open gravel or grass. Nice fishing lake with docks, boat ramp and vault toilet and the only one provided. Parked lakeside. Quite night with one fishing boat late morning. Get a brochure with park map at entrance as roads pass through park and private property.

Basic tent site, potable water was right near our site. Bathrooms were clean. There were some families staying nearby but overall was a quiet stay.

Check-in was quick and easy and we proceeded to pull through site 83 with FHUs. The gravel pad was very long and we had plenty of room for our 40’ rig and F450. The utilities were in the middle of the pad and water pressure was decent at about 40 psi. As we were on the end of a row, we had a lot of front yard space. The sites here are very close together, but long-term guests kept their sites nice and well organized, and overall this CG was very clean. There are mature trees so satellite placement could be challenging. We were able to place our Starlink in the yard area for a good shot to the north sky. We got 4 bars on Verizon and their WiFi worked well for a campground of this size. At the office, they have a nice store and gift shop with one of the best selections of camping shirts etc. that we have seen.

Nice new concrete sites with fire pit, full hookup. Great trails and fishing lake, with concrete sidewalk and benches around it to make fishing easily accessible.

Stayed here overnight and the camphor was very friendly and helped us out. Bathrooms and showers were open, super clean. Peaceful and would definitely stay again to venture into the town

This was my first time out on Bee Trace Trail and I had a great time. Both the hike into the campsite and out the next morning were pretty easy; the back half of the brown loop, specifically the stretch between the backpack camping site and the kayak camping sites, was sometimes frustratingly difficult to follow. I had to pull out my phone several times to get reoriented. That being said, that stretch isn't very long and the rest of the trail presented zero issues for navigation. 

The campsite for backpacking is located at the very tip of the peninsula and it's a great spot. There is a camper-made fire ring here, but the regulations(and posted signs) state no fires, so I would be cautious with what you choose to do. The kayak sites are a little more developed, with picnic tables, trash hooks, and iron fire pits/grills, but I'm not sure how they feel about backpackers using those. On the day(s) I went through, I saw only two other people on the blue loop and nobody on the brown. However, I saw tons of boats out on the lake going by and they all had full view of the campsite(I think it would be pretty clear even once the trees are full); something to be aware of if you're looking for a super isolated camp. There is plenty of space to pitch a tent and many trees to choose from for hanging a hammock. 

If you're looking to get your feet wet with backpacking(as I was), this is a great spot to do it. If you're a seasoned backpacker and are just looking for a quick out-and-back, I think you would be equally pleased.

The walk-in campgrounds (it's about a 50 foot walk from the parking lot to each site) at Long Branch are located off in their own little area at the shore of the lake that offers some pretty good isolation. Although we went at a time when the water was still shut off, there are bathrooms and water available via a very short walk from the walk-in sites April 1-Oct 31. The sites are each very spacious with flat areas and material already laid out for pitching a tent and plenty of trees for throwing up a hammock. Although firewood was stated to be available year round from the vending machine, it was locked up when we went through, but there is a convenience store right across the highway from the lake that sells wood bundles and anything else you might need.

We really enjoyed our time here and we'll definitely be coming back in the warmer months to enjoy some swimming and boating.