Best Cabin Camping near Westphalia, MO

The Katy Trail Turner Shelter Hostel is located in Tebbetts, Missouri at mile 131.2. The shelter is open for individuals and groups, including youth groups, using the trail. It is run by the Conservation Foundation of Missouri Charitable Trust. The shelter is two stories with 40 bunk style beds. Guests must bring their own bedding. There are showers, restrooms and a kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave. The cost is$6 per night per person. For groups of 10 or more the cost is$25 plus $2 for each member.

To make a reservation, please call the office at 573-634-2322. They will need your name and phone number for a reservation. For more information on the Katy Trail, visit bikekatytrail.com.

There are 10 or so primitive tent sites and an area that will accommodate about a dozen RV’s. There are no services here and no hook ups, but it’s free. The primitive tent sites are spread out along the main road through the conservation area, which means that in the daytime you will get road noise and dust, but its pretty quiet at night. Only a couple have picnic tables, but all seemed to have at least a level spot for the tent and a fire ring. I noticed some sites had a bit of trash in the fire rings, probably from day use or partiers. There is no trash service, so plan to pack out your trash. The best site (already taken, too bad) was set on the edge of the woods next to a fishing pond. The campers that were there let me take some pics of their site since it was so pretty. The only downside to that site was its proximity to the RV lot and their generators. There are some nice hiking trails here to explore.

The Lake of the Ozarks Recreation Area (LORA) is a great destination for camping, boating, swimming, water skiing, fishing and other outdoor activities. The lake is one of the Nation's largest man-made lakes, providing you with over 1150 miles of shoreline to enjoy. LORA welcomes Active Duty Military, Retired Military, members of the National Guard and Reserves, DoD employees with ID cards, family members and Fort Leonard Wood contract employees.  Plenty to do and see here.  Boat rentals, hiking, and others mentioned above.  The LORA Country Store carries ice, beverages, firewood and a small selection of food including snacks, milk, eggs and bread. The store also carries the basic necessities needed for camping and fishing, including fishing licenses.  Can rent a tent site, camper site with full or partial hook ups, cabins 1-3 bedroom, etc.  The marina has boat and jet-ski rentals (pontoons, wave runners, jet ski's, ski boats, fishing boats, pontoons, etc.) that are much more reasonable then other rental places in the area. Area is staffed by on-duty MP's out of Fort Leonard Wood.

Great staff and gift shop. We once camped in the late fall with our pop up camper and it was very quiet and green. We saw deer and my husband talked back and forth with an owl in the woods. We chose an electric site towards the back to avoid most people. I was pregnant and they had already winterized the back bathroom/shower house but opened up a room for me to use so I didn’t have to shlep my belly all the way across the grounds. Tent sites are very close together and this campground is very crowded in the summer with parties and floaters. I would not call this a family float trip personally but I do see many people bring their kids. Gift shop has basically everything but you pay a convenience price. I enjoy this float route a lot and I hear they have a kids tube loop but I have not experienced that. Multiple bath houses, as clean as you expect a campground bath house to be. Bring your own soap for hand washing. In the summer they have a restaurant with campsite delivery and sometimes live music. Last I saw the playground was not huge but my kids still enjoyed it. Rock beach for wading and swimming. They have small cabins and a pool but we use our camper or tent and swim in the river. Nearby is Onondaga Cave which is a nice experience especially when it is blazing hot outside.

We stayed here with a large group of family members for a floating weekend. The sites were close together and there wasn’t much privacy. They have tent sites, and RV sites with 50 amp hookups, water, and sewer. Some sites have river access and some river views. There wasn’t much grass, and few trees for shade. There is a swimming pool, playground and store/gift shop. They have pay showers. Onondaga Cave State Park is right across the river. This is primarily a campground for people floating the Meramec River and other area streams. They provide canoe rental, and transport to the put-in points. On summer weekends it is crowded and noisy.

Pool was closed (covid), Small dog park (which was nice), sites were crammed together with hardly any trees in the full hookup area. Your neighbors sewer sat right by your picnic table (nasty). Full hookups had no fire pit at the site (and this site was not cheap). There was a restaurant you could order from and get it brought to you. We stopped there on 4th of July and while no fireworks were allowed on site, they were go off all around the campground which terrified our dog. It was fine if you are passing through, but definitely not as a destination.

Asked for a lake view cabin. We were the only ones here since it was a weekday after labor day so all cabins were open. I go to check in and it's a long sidewalk between narrow rails. Not at all easy if you are disabled and with my COPD, I had to stop several times. 

I get cabin 6. If you go here DO NOT GET CABIN 6. It's the only one you can't park in front of as it's down the side of a hill. You must traverse several levels of steps down a steep grade. The office hours are over by now so I hauled what we needed down. 

The lake view was somewhere past the forest so I'll take their word on that.

The refrigerator was filthy and we had no hot water. Since it was after hours all we could do is clean the fridge, make supper and wait till 9 in the morning to call maintenance. 

Maintenance arrives and determine the elements are bad. At about 10:30am they started working. Spent most of our only full day watching them fix the water heater. The maintenance guys were very nice but I'm not leaving my stuff with strangers. 

So basically, I spent $200 to sit on a deck with acorns falling on us or on the world's most uncomfortable couch as they worked on getting me hot water. Early morning fishing was shot.

They did say we could now switch cabins but I would need to move our stuff back up Mt Fk-That just to move it again into the new cabin, then back out again tomorrow. 

It is a lovely area and the people are friendly but they need to do better. Also, warn people that cabin 6 is more cliff side than lake side.