Best Tent Camping near University City, MO

Recent Tent Reviews in University City

289 Reviews of 9 University City Campgrounds

• 

  Angela

  Scout

  

  Nov. 3, 2024

  Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Resort At Six Flags

  Nice parks

  Had a great fishing trip and swimming trip

• 

  Joel R.

  Legend

  

  Sep. 27, 2024

  Pin Oak RV Park

  Old and shows wear

  This is an older RV park and campground, and the age shows. We spent several nights here due to engine problems with our tow vehicle. The sites are level, and there is plenty of shade. (One advantage of being an older park.) But everything is just a little run down. The sites are gravel and close together do not much privacy. They come with water, sewer & electric. There is a pool (closed when we were there), playground, mini golf, a lake, game room, laundry and a small store with basics. The bathroom and showers were clean, but dated. Not all facilities were in working order. Two of 6 washers were out of service, one bathroom stall was out of order, pot holes in the road. There are also cabins, and RVs available to rent. There is quite a bit of traffic noise from I-44 and there are a lot of excess lights kept on all night long. The staff was friendly and check in was easy. Many of the sites are occupied be semi-permanent residents. They have internet, but it is weak and spotty. Saturday night they had a band making noise for 3 hours!

• 

  Tammie

  Scout

  

  Sep. 6, 2024

  Arapaho Campground, Canoe, Raft Rental

  Labor Day

  Great place for the price. The staff is very helpful and welcoming! We will be visiting again in the future!

• 

  Nathaniel B.

  Traveler

  

  Aug. 8, 2024

  St. Peters' 370 Lakeside Park

  Best campsite we've found to explore STL

  Well maintained and well managed park. Staff on duty at all hours is awesome! We called ahead but didn't need a reservation. It is a city park and had that feel... not many trees for shade but the lake was pretty and the playground was good for the kiddos. Five minutes from food and stores. 30 minutes from downtown Saint Louis. I'll

• 

  Helge Vandel J.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 6, 2024

  Kampsville River Park

  Nice place near the river

  Good value. 25$ for an RV site with water, dump and power. Payment at the village hall.

  Still vacant sites in July.

• 

  Helge Vandel J.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 6, 2024

  Horseshoe Lake State Park Campground

  Nice spot and great value

  Great spot in a beautiful area close to St. Louis. No power but access to drinking water and waste water dump for just 8$.

• R

  Rick I.

  Traveler

  

  Jun. 30, 2024

  Cherokee Lakes Campground

  Secluded and spacious tent camping sites

  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.

• K

  Ken P.

  Scout

  

  May. 18, 2024

  Hillbillie Ranch

  Hillbillie Ranch is not there anymore

  They are no longer a campground. Bought out now private property.

• 

  Denni G.

  Traveler

  

  May. 9, 2024

  Washington State Park Campground

  Washington state park

  Very secluded!!! Hiking was great!

• 

  dana D.

  Scout

  

  Apr. 22, 2024

  Arapaho Campground, Canoe, Raft Rental

  Would love a brochure with price and map

  My email is Ddavis91165@gmail.com

• S

  Suzie S.

  Traveler

  

  Apr. 19, 2024

  St. Peters' 370 Lakeside Park

  Good now, and will be really nice when the trees get bigger

  Stayed here most of the several weeks we needed to be in St. Louis for family matters. Definitely our favorite place in the area. The grounds are clean and pleasant, if a bit sparse with little shade. This will change over the subsequent years, however, as there are many relatively newly planted trees. The nicest spots are the ones by the lake, with only one neighbor and a better view of the lake. The staff are kind and helpful. Water and electric worked fine. Each site has a fire pit and picnic table. Trash and recycling receptacles are huge and convenient. My only complaint is the poorly thought out sink situation in the bathrooms which make it impossible to wash in a sanitary way as you must hold the tap to keep the water flowing and there are no paper towels to that with, only hand dryers. There is boating and archery on site, a dog run, and a small playground.

• 

  David T.

  Guide

  

  Mar. 13, 2024

  Washington State Park Campground

  December Camp

  Loved the campground! However, lesson learned to reserve a campsite further from the road. Great hiking trails. Fishing not so much. Scenic views. Easy plug n play electric on a 30 amp box, no issues with blowing fuses like I have at other big state parks. Clean vault toilets (I didn't like how people would drive into the park from the highway just to use the bathroom).. overall good stay though. I'll definitely go back!

• 

  Heather N Q.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 10, 2024

  Pin Oak RV Park

  Pin oak nice spot

  Great Quiet Fair priced.

• 

  Tony S.

  Scout

  

  Mar. 1, 2024

  Robertsville State Park Campground

  Nice and secluded

  Not much to do here, it's just a place for me to camp 15 minutes from home. I has a nice loop trail behind the camp ground that goes down to the river.

• 

  Mike L.

  Traveler

  

  Jan. 10, 2024

  St. Charles County Klondike Park

  Fantastic Camping Just Off The Katy Trail

  I have bike-packed along the Katy and this is an excellent spot for an overnight(s) stay. It is a tough, but short, climb from the trail. You may have to walk up the hill - challenge made :-) . This is a St. Charles County Park and it is well maintained. They also have small cabins though pretty basic. Make sure to store your food securely overnight - the racoons are pretty thick and hungry at night. I have also done short bike-packing trips from Chesterfield and St. Charles for an overnight(s) stay. If you need it, grab food in Augusta or Defiance before arriving. There are no services in the park.

• C

  Craig H.

  Scout

  

  Oct. 10, 2023

  Beyond the Trail RV Park

  Convenient Location

  The location of the campground is ideal being located adjacent to the Katy bike trail and within walking distance from restaurants, a brewery and wineries.  The sites are mostly open, small and tight for larger RVs. The roads are all gravel as are the sites and there is limited grassy areas. The site services, electric, water and sewer, are located to the front of the site and extensions were needed for both the electric and sewer. The park has no onsite laundry and there are none in town. If it wasn't for the location I would probably give the park 2 stars.

• 

  Tim H.

  Scout

  

  Sep. 17, 2023

  Meramec Caverns

  Nice place, clean

  We stayed there for a scout event. They had hot showers and bathroom which is always a plus. There was a little trash at the site but nothing bad. 

  We had a ton of room between us and others. We could choose our site. I appreciate that quiet hours were enforced.

• 

  Tami G.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 27, 2023

  St. Louis NE-Granite City KOA

  No pets allowed in camping area

  Wild pads are allowed in the RV area. They are not allowed in the camping area.

• 

  Ryan L.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 6, 2023

  Arapaho Campground, Canoe, Raft Rental

  Death Trap

  I took a good bit of time to cool off and make sure I was okay with putting this out. Now about 2 weeks after my trip, I am still very irritated with my experience and decided I would try and prevent others from having the cluster-splat of a trip as my party did. I will not be coming back.

  Thankfully, I did not bring my kids to experience this kind of trip because I try to shield them from the terrible things in this world, and this would be one of them.

  1. Do not offer powered pavilions if you cannot keep your power on. Those who pay for their weekend home away from home expect to have the same type of service as their home, and you cannot provide, even if you offer, powered pavilions. Thankfully other camp-goers brought generators and were generous enough to share with us. I had a feeling at that time they they'd been here before and this was a common occurrence. (First Fail)

  2. Get your plan together."We need your party leader to come to the front office to discuss the float plan". We were originally under the impression that we were setting off on the river from our campsite, as it was very close to the river. This was not the case when our party leader was told that we would be shuttled to the launch site, and we would pull out at our camp site(which is what we did at other locations on my previous float trips). Our party met at the front office to join the shuttle(which was 30 minutes later than they told us to be ready for departure), at which point they shuttled us about 30 yards from our camp site to set off on the river from the bank. (Second Fail)

  3. You should not send guests out onto a river with faulty equipment. You take the hit, refund some of their money and offer them safer alternatives."Your raft has a very small leak and should be able to make the 4 mile float". We made it approximately 3 miles, and swam to a competitors pull out point after swimming the last 1/4 mile to it. My group also had at least 4 inner tubes that had no retention of air, and thankfully one member of our party brought their own tube which came with a pump. Every bank that we could stop at, we were constantly handing that pump to one another refilling our devices. I understand that it was a busy weekend for Arapaho, but you need to know your limits and capacity and not just look at the$$. We had raft number 1 as I was informed when we returned to the camp, and this is likely the very first raft the location ever acquired. If you are unwilling to part with faulty equipment and replace it with something newer/safer, eventually, you may have a lawsuit on your hands in the terms of"wrongful death". (Third Fail)

  4. Learn how to talk to people. When a customer is voicing their complaints with a situation, do not interject at their argument at every breath they take in order to openly prove that you are a narcissist and spin your problems onto them. You probably had plenty of good feedback from the other float-goers on this day, because they had no troubles. When you scraped the bottom of the barrel, however, and brought your terrible equipment to my group, do not take a stab at my group for being"a bunch of pricks"(direct quote from the owner of this camp ground) when we have a complaint with our situation. There was no need for you lay your hands on other float-goers, either.(Fourth Fail)

  In closing. I hope this location doesn't close. I hope new ownership takes over and makes this place a great place. We had a decent camp the night before our float, and we even paid for a second night for plenty of our group to stay again. After being treated terribly and listening to the staff talk about how they were openly racist, on meth staying awake for days in a row, and ESPECIALLY the owner being a terrible person that I expect to see in hell when I get there, my party simply called the weekend a wash and decided we would never return. I'm sorry, but you can take your$180 cash back and 1/2 off next float and smoke them away. They will likely be going along with your profits before long.

• 

  Brooklyn G.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 2, 2023

  Beyond the Trail RV Park

  Safe, convenient, last minute

  Easy to book online even the day of. Choose your spot ahead of time and pull in, easy as that! There are RV & tent sites, bathrooms with hot showers. Had no problem booking around 7pm the day of and arrived around 1 am quietly set up in my previously reserved spot. Check out is at 2 pm

• 

  Chelsea G.

  Scout

  

  Aug. 1, 2023

  Arapaho Campground, Canoe, Raft Rental

  The Absolute Worst

  The absolute worst float trip of mine and my friend’s life. Started out with the staff being rude and incompetent. Our electricity that we paid for didn’t work until the day we left. 9 of our inner tubes were leaking air and went flat. Our 4 man raft completely went flat. They took 2 hours to even get us our equipment we paid for and brought back the same raft that was leaking twice. We made it 3 miles into our 4 hour float when it started storming& thunder and lightening. One person overheated and had a seizure, another person’s leg got cut by a speeding boat. When we called our campsite to pick us up it took them over an hour and the owner refused to call for help for the girl who got hurt. Once we got back to the campsite we asked for our money back for our rafts. The owner pushed a girl and took her phone out of her hands. He was screaming in everybody’s faces. The sheriff’s were called and the owner gave us$180 back of almost$900. He also said if we left a negative review he’d charge us$180. So yeah, there’s that. Also note they have extremely racist workers. One of them said they went to prison for killing a“n-word” and he hates“n-word’s.” Beware: this place sucks. Their staff sucks. They only care about money, your life doesn’t matter. Please go somewhere else, it’s not worth it. I’d give this 0 stars if I could.

• S

  Suzy

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 26, 2023

  Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park Campground

  If I Could Leave Zero Stars I Would

  I have stayed in hundreds of places and hiked many miles and have never experienced a tick infestation like I did at this park. I stopped counting at 20(!!!) pulled off my dogs(yes, they are on prevention meds), myself(yes, I was wearing DEET), and inside my camper in just two days. 0/10 do NOT recommend

• 

  Greg E.

  Traveler

  

  Jul. 22, 2023

  St. Charles County Klondike Park

  Awesome Experience

  Did a 2 night tent camp with my family and it was awesome. We had a great time on the trails and near the Mighty Missouri River.

• 

  Angelo L.

  Scout

  

  Jul. 9, 2023

  MGM Campground

  MGM lakeside

  Great place , but difficult to make reservation.

• R

  Ransom J.

  Guide

  

  Jul. 6, 2023

  Washington State Park Campground

  Beautiful out of the way park

  Getting here is an adventure but the park is nice. I only had 30 amp electric and no water or sewer hookup. Didn’t see any sites with water but there were ample water spigots to fill our tank.

• B

  Brittany F.

  Scout

  

  Jun. 30, 2023

  Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park Campground

  Good and Simple

  Good spot for a St.Louis stop. Sites are paved and relatively level. $25 for electric only but with a dump and fresh water fill up stations. Hot water showers in bathrooms. Reservations on the website are until 7pm day-of or first-come first-served need to arrive by 9pm before gate closes. Little tags on each site to say which is still available for that night. No pay station so if office is closed can pay in the a.m.

• N

  Natalie M.

  Guide

  

  Jun. 22, 2023

  Dr. Edmund A. Babler Memorial State Park Campground

  Huge Spaces- Very Private and Clean!

  We booked this campground because we were spending time in St Louis. It only took about 35 minutes to get from here to downtown. The campground is close to grocery stores and lots of shopping! The sites themselves are very clean and well kept. Our site, 32, was huge and grassy! If you want to be close to the playground and bathrooms, this site was perfect.