Puma — Mark Twain State Park

We rented cabin A for 4 days for our summer vacation. We couldn’t have been happier. The cabin is simple and clean. It has air conditioning, which is needed in Missouri in August (it was sooo hot). Cabin is private with fire pit and picnic table at the front which faces near the woods. Bathrooms and shower houses were clean and a short walk.

I stayed in one of the cabins which are very nice. They are basic but I loved the front porch. Tge cabins ha e electricity and a fridge but no bathroom. The hiking was great and I loved the rocks.

    We stopped here on our way home & stayed 2 nights. Friday & Saturday. It was busy & most sites were full in the Puma loop. This is the electric loop with the very nice, clean bathrooms & showers. There's no water at each site, but there's water scattered throughout the campground. 

    There are good sites scattered all over. 74 & 76 had a small view of the lake through the vegetation. There are no sites on the lake. Site 70 was pretty nice. Shady, with a wooded view in back. Close to the bathrooms, secluded from the neighbors but of course you can still hear them!

  Aside from the elderly couple in the handicapped site across the road leaving their LED lights on all night everyone was respectful.

    The other 2 loops are more separated. They share a bathroom/shower that's on the main road. There was no one at the gatehouse around 5pm, which I would have thought was odd before covid. State park camping has changed since then. The camp host came around & checked us in. She was pretty busy the whole weekend. I never did see any employees at the gatehouse at any time of day.

    So, this is a very nice state park, but aside from the campground, boating & fishing is the main draw. There's a swimming beach we didn't check out. There's only 3 trails. Buzzards Roost is a picnic area with a shelter & a scenic overlook.

     Florida isn't far if you wanted to check out the birthplace museum (free on a Saturday morning)  & Hannibal is about a 1/2 hour away with tons of things to do. Lots of restaurants & shops.

Very few campers in late April. Drove down from Minnesota to find some spring weather. Success. Choice of sites. Sat in our chairs and watched a nice sunset over the water. It was snowing when we left Minnesota 2 days earlier.

I felt like we were in the deep woods. Not much grassy areas. Electric sites only. I felt there were not enough Shower houses or toilets for amount of camping spaces. Now for the great things about this camping are. Camping spots divided into three areas. Puma, Coyote and Badger. The Badger area was closed. I found the site 98 in the Puma area quite nice with a little more grassy area. The shower hose was very nice and clean. There were a few sites with semi view of the water. I recommend 77 and 82. Wonderful boat ramp off the beach. Great for kayaks. Nice fishing area. All in all a pretty good camp.

Campground Review:

Mark Twain state Park is an absolute blast. approximately 30 minutes from Hannibal MO this park sits on Mark Twain Lake. Several hiking trails in the area will get you in touch with nature and an abundance of deer. Large playgrounds in the camping area's as well as visitor center areas. All loops in this park have electric and basic sites. No water hookups aside from host sites. Best part is all shower houses fairly new. We never located any vault toilets but found all three loops had their own shower house.

Park has a boat ramp with ample parking and if you have better luck than I did a fish cleaning station. While having a boat ramp close may be a deterrent it was rare to have much boat noise with the tall trees surrounding these large private sites. 

We stayed in site 76 in puma loop which was a sloping site but it was massive. The lots on either side of ours were similar in layout but much more level. 76 also has a path to the waterfront which we utilized daily.

It rained on us for most of our stay we found Mark twain state park to be well worth the trip. 

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time- today I am testing the GCI Outdoors Master Cook Station. 

While looking at GCIOutdoors.com for the right item for my family to try out we were amazed at the function of their site.  We were able to compare multiple items flawlessly and despite  much debate locate an item we believed may reduce our overall need to pack everything including the kitchen sink. The cook station didn't immediately jump off the page for my wife. She had her heart set on a new rocker chair of which GCI Outdoors has an amazing selection. However, I was able to win her over after pointing out the endless options the Master Cook Station (AKA My Kitchen) Offers.

My Kitchen provides functionality as a table, a cook top, a drying rack, food storage, and does so taking up the same amount of space as a folding chair. Our first night in camp the dreaded dinner bell began ringing and my loving wife walked over to our new kitchen. After cooking, plating, and eating from this beast she looked at me and said, "Never again will I doubt your decision making about anything." (or at least thats how I remember it.) She actual was really impressed how this cook station had taking the stress out of meal time. With a built in sink we were able to cook, eat, and clean from a singular location and when done we could either fold it up and tuck it away or use it for evening activities. 

As a pop up camper space is always limited and at a premium. The GCI Outdoor Master Cook Station not only met our expectations it surpassed them. This swiss army table will be a must have among all of our friends and the high quality of this product tells me that we will get to show it off for quite some time.

Great people.

There is something really magical about the campground we stayed at in Mark Twain! The designated spots feel secluded since they are bordered by forest. We got a spot right off the water and woke up to the sound of it in the morning. The hiking trails near by are also really beautiful and right along the river. Definitely recommend!

The sites are well spaced and clean. Our site was pretty unlevel and it took some work and levelers to get it straight. We rode around the campgrounds on our bikes and most of the other sites seemed level and more even. The bonus to our site was there are no sites directly adjacent so it is probably one of the quite spots. The restrooms and showers are very clean and well maintained. We met both hosts and they were friendly and accommodating. The closest store for provisions is about 15 miles away, but ice and firewood is available on site from both hosts. Overall, we are happy with the site and would stay here again.

This park surprised us! It is spread out along the lake. The campground is separated from most of the parks features. The spots were spread out and level. The facilities were modern and clean . The trails were well marked and fun.

Met up for a family reunion at Mark Twain, adults loved the boat accesses and the kids loved the swimming! Something for everyone!

Pure, pristine, well maintained. Easy access to the lake. The campsites were level, clean, and spacious. I didn't think I'd like the gravel pad or concrete block for trailer & picnic tables, but they made the set up & tear downs easy. The screen room fit perfectly around the picnic table block. The campground bathrooms were clean and the shower temperature & water pressure were phenomenal. The park featured a playground, boat ramp, and a fish cleaning station. Everything we hoped it would be & more. Wished we had booked a longer stay!