Best Glamping near Wappapello Lake, MO

Not a huge campground but, Its a really simple beautiful place to enjoy Missouri's rolling hills. It is located 1 hour from St. Louis and 30 ish min from Elephant Rock State park. If your in the area check out the other amazing Missouri state parks while staying here. The Missouri Mines state park is maybe a 5 min drive and a neat place to see. Tent sites, Bathroom and some hammock spots.

This park is so rich in Missouri and USA history - from buildings costructed by the African-American CCC stonemasons to Native American petroglyphs, there's some fascinating stuff here. The campgrounds are a bit rocky like, but each has a picnic table and fire pit, and they sit on the hills of a beautiful Missouri pineforest. Big River runs through this park, so there's some great swimming and fishing here, and there are three hiking trails of varying difficulty, so most people can do whatever. No supplies are available onsite, so bring everything you need!

Washington State Park is a hidden gem in Missouri! We camped in mid-March 2021 for 7 days and thoroughly enjoyed the area. They had just opened a new shower house which was clean and well kept. The campground hosts were especially helpful and friendly. The prehistoric Petroglyphs nearby are a must see.

We utilized the special use area of the campground for our Cub Scout family camp, but visited the main loop during our trip.

Best campground hosts we ever encountered! Knowledgeable and friendly. The park has a pool, river access, canoe & kayak rentals and miles of great trails. Great program for kids on staying out of they get lost presented by hosts. This is a great park for organized groups, with lots to do!

Shower house was clean and convenient. Hands down one of Missouri’s best!

Tip- check out the petroglyph site.

St. Francis is a beautiful Missouri state park, not to mention campground.  It features many access points to its anchor, the BIg River, picnic areas, multiple pavilions and some fantastic trails.  I grew up here, and I am biased toward it, but we camped many places, and it remains one of my favorites then, and now.  The campground has more of a communal vibe, for better or worse, depending on your perspective.  If privacy is your main concern, you may be better served looking elsewhere, but I have always enjoyed the friends I have made there, both young and old due to the proximity of the campsites and the many programs offered there by the Conservation Department.

Hawn State Park is a park like no other. Nowhere else in the state of Missouri have I been able to camp and feel like I'm in the middle of the Rocky Mountains.  The car camping area is nestled in the middle of a pine filled valley.  There's nothing more refreshing than sitting in the evening and hearing the wind whistle through the pines.  The trails are amazing with big boulders and beautiful creeks.  If you're car camping take the extra walk to the walk-in camping sites. It's like a micro backpacking trip. And if you like backpacking, Hawn state park is the place to do it!

I have been to Hawn State Park many times! It is a very clean campground with a newer shower house. The campground is smaller and has amazing views. I love electric site 17 best because it has the perfect view of the cliffs. There is 3 trails with the longest having two loop options with connectors from the other two trails. There are also walk in sites here and hike in sites. This park will not disappoint. It is also close to Ste. Genevieve which is a great town to visit for a history lesson on the settlement of Missouri. Pickle Springs Nature Area is also a few minutes away which is another fantastic area to hike. It is beautiful any season but I love the views in autumn best!

Campground Review Hawn State Park is beautiful! It is one of my favorite state parks. It offers a variety of hiking trails, a nice play ground, plentiful picnic tables, and is some of the best scenery in Missouri. The pine trees that surround the parking lot give you a sense of the grandeur of this place before you ever leave your car. Then you walk to the beginning of the Whispering Pines trail and see the creek flowing, and know this place is going to be worth it. Don't get me wrong, this trail is rated as rugged, and they aren't joking around with that. If you are backpacking give yourself plenty of time to make it to camp, there are some big hills involved. Big, rocky hills. Once you get to one of the three established backcountry sites you find a generally flat area to sleep, a good amount of cleared land for activities, and a fire ring (although techincally no fires are allowed in the backcountry there). The camping is serene. I stayed at campsite 2 this time and got to listen to the trickle of a small waterfall near my site all evening, I mean, until it started raining. The hike is always worth it. This is an extremely popular trail in Missouri because of its beauty and promiximty to St. Louis (about 1.25hrs), so expect to make some new friends at your campsite. All backcountry sites are first come, first serve and free! No permit is needed, just sign in at the trail head. If you are not a fan of ruffin’ it, there are basic ($13/night) and electric ($21-23/night) drive up campsites with a showerhouse nearby. These are reservable in advanced for an additional fee. I would recommend advanced reservation on weekends in peak season. The campground is well maintained with fire rings, parking pads, and picnic tables at each site. Outside of the shower house, all other restrooms are vault toilets in the front country area (no privies in the backcountry, bring your shovel). This campground is worth a stay and hike around, even if it is on one of the shorter, easier trails.

Product Review I’ve always wanted to be a Park Ranger, exploring the wilderness for a living. I guess being a Dyrt Ranger is a pretty good substitute, especially since I got the opportunity to review the Gregory Maven Backpack recently. I have to admit, I was a little reticent to try out a new backpack. My my current pack was trusty, familiar and had been with me on so many adventures. It had seen me through my longest hikes, to the most interesting places, and mostly, it was my first. It was going to take a pretty amazing pack to get me to forsake my good ol, patch-covered Kelty. I can safely say I will never use that Kelty again. Not only is the Gregory about 100xs lighter (obviously that's a literal, scientific calculation), but it has so many features that set it apart. The first I noticed and loved was the horizontal water bottle holder. Trying to reach behind you and pull a bottle upward while walking is on par with an Olympic event, especially after you've spent 10 sweaty hours out on the trail. This pocket makes it so much easier and less of a gymnastics routine to get a drink. This alone would sell me on the pack. But let me sing more of its praises. The sunglasses wrangler on the shoulder strap is so flipping handy, I can't believe I haven't seen one before! The water bladder holder doubles as a day pack, which I love because, duh, it'll hold your water when you go off on an adventure. The material on the pack all seemed nice and durable. The padding was comfortable and it was so easy to adjust to fit me. The pockets on the hip belt are always welcome! I had to hand-craft one for my old pack, I was glad to see them on this pack ready to go. The only thing with them is if you are a little bigger in the hips, you do have to use awkward t-rex arms to reach over/back to zip them up. Also some of the label on the adjustment tab for one started coming off. Not that it's the end of the world, you just expect new things to stay new for a little while. The included rain cover was PHENOMENAL! Normally when a pack comes with a rain cover it will only cover your pack. Anything you have attached to the outside is screwed. This cover was spacious! My camp shoes, ground pad, etc. did not have to worry about the rain. Things I do miss from my old pack: A few more pockets so that it's easier to keep your gear organized and find items in a hurry. I understand this lack of pockets helps keep the pack weight down and I would rather have my pack lighter than pocket-y. I also missed my front zipper so I didn't have to pull everything out of my pack to find something. A few other less awesome things: The sizing on the website was a little confusing, it was hard to know if the sx/sm, sm/md sizes were for the hip belt or back panel. Honestly, I'm still not sure, but I'm leaning toward back panel. I did view this through a mobile platform, so it may be better on PC. Also, the bigger volume size packs are only offered in blue or gray. The colors are nice looking, but I wish an aqua, pink, or purple was available too. I can hike long distances and be feminine too, but maybe I'm the only one that feels that way though. These misses are small and I'm honestly thinking of using this pack as my luggage for vacation in a few weeks. If I do, I'll post pictures. And I will definitely be using it on future trips.

https://backcountrymara.wordpress.com/2018/03/29/gregory-maven-backpack/

Lots of animals on this farm sanctuary to keep you entertained. 4 beautiful, big rustic sites! I'll be back...

Ashley here with The Dyrt. I want to extend a warm welcome to Susan, your host. We're so excited to have this property on The Dyrt! Come camp under the stars with her sweet farm animals, including Nikki the goat! Enjoy your personal fire-pit. Campsites are spaced far enough apart to feel private. Give them a visit and leave your review here. Don't forget the photos!

Clean and peaceful, very few campers when I was here maybe because it was before school was out & during the week. Cave makes for a nice cool break from the heat.

This was our first trip in our camper and a first camp at Meramec Caverns.

The staff is friendly and helpful. Security patrols around the clock and doesn't put up with any ridiculousness.

Campsites available on pavement, gravel for campers and RVs and grass for tents. Our site had 30/50 amp service and water on a gravel site facing the Meramec River. It waa a beautiful view!

Shower house and restroom facilities are clean and maintained.

A dump station is located just outsIde the main gate of the campgrounds.

Because of the location, there is no wifi and we had no cell service for the majority of our stay. Once in a while it would get a signal but it was very brief.

Campsites are separated from the Meramec Caverns tourist attractions so there is not constant traffic coming through the campsite.

Most campsites had a stone fire ring, bbq grill, and picnic table.

The cave tour, zipline, boat ride, canoe and float trips and motel are all within short walking distance from the campgrounds.

The campground store has ice, firewood and basics available. The gift shop at the cave has typical tourist items available. The restaurant is more of a snack bar and not a full service restaurant, so don't rely on it for your meals during your stay!

The cave tour is interesting and informative and on a hot day the 60 degree temp of the cave is the perfect place to hang out for a while!

Overall, a very nice place to camp and enjoy the outdoors without being too far from home.

We will definitely be back for another stay!

I enjoyed the cave, but the tour was much more cheesy than Onondaga cave. I also thought the zip line was a cool thing to have. Thankfully, everything from the flood a couple years back has been cleaned up!

The area as a whole is neat. The primitive sites are spacious and lovely. We have an rv with 50amp service and essentially, we were on a converted parking lot next to a pavilion. The sites facing the river were a bit nicer.

There is security that drives around to check on everyone which is nice and the camp store was super convenient.

Additionally, the river was amazing. We got down early to ensure we had a spot for our chairs and umbrella. Our kiddos played (with life vests) for 8 hours straight. The river can be dangerous there but if you respect it and have life vests, it makes for an amazing day.

Stayed here two nights mid Labor Day weekend, so it was quite busy, crowded and noisy. The Caverns themselves are a very cool experience but the campground itself isn’t ideal. It’s first come first serve, no designated spots, so some people do end up close to each other.