Trail of Tears State Park Campground

Trail of Tears is a decent place to go on weekend trip with your family. They have a small swimming area in the Lake, hiking trails, fishing spots, and if you head up to the top of the Park a beautiful view of the Mississippi River. Also you can find a tiny eatery down the road so that’s a nice treat.

Great place for a family camping trip.

We've camped here a couple of times.  It's so convenient to our town for a getaway night.  The primitive sites are nice and feel secluded.  The park attendant is always friendly and great!  We love the hiking trails, and the convenience of the lake.  The last time we stayed, we were worried about something that sounded big in the woods just past our tent...we're still not sure what it was!  An added bonus...there are some really great geocaches in the park!!

Trail of Tears

My site was very nice, it was tucked into the trees so although the sites are not very far apart, they feel private.

The weekend we were here there was a large party of young adults who were very loud and fought all night. However, I can't really judge the campgrounds itself on this. It did make me feel that the current campground host was less attentive than I have experienced at the other MO State Parks.

There were great trails and overlooks of the Mississippi, as well as decent fishing in Lake Boutin. On our way out, we parked and fished from a rocky area and I caught my first catfish - I literally didn't know what to do!

Nice Campground with Many Activities

Great for hiking! If you want an easy hike it's available but there are an abundance of intermediate trail and a beautiful quarry! Be sure to pay attention to trails because lack of trail markers.

Hike, hike, hike!

So, there are two separate campgrounds at this park: one with electric sites and one primitive campground. The campground with electric sites is right on an active railroad. While my kids loved watching the train come through, it was extremely loud and went night and day. The camp sites are generously spaced. One thing we love doing at this park is hiking. There are lots of trails. Our favorite (with our smallest kids) is the trail that goes around the lake! It's so easy to miss, but a nice little easy hike. We also love to play on the beach and in the water. There isn't much here outside of a little visitor center, but it's also not too far from the city if you forget something. Cell service is spotty, but have definitely had worse in our MO State Parks. Bathrooms were very clean.

It's ok

Hammock camping allowed 👍

not far off the interstate

beautiful views of Ol’ Man River !

Overnight Stay

My husband and I recently returned to Trail of Tears State park for a weekend of camping - I have reviewed this campground before and still believe that it is 5 stars. 

My main take away for this trip was incredible appreciation for the campground host. During the pandemic, Missouri State Parks have transitioned to reservation only camping with 24 hour notice. This has reduced the number of visitors to some of the parks drastically. This park has two campground loops, one electric and one basic. There is typically a host in each loop. Due to the pandemic, only one host has volunteered for Trail of Tears. The gentleman (I forgot his name) was very attentive to all campers and although he was located at the electric loop (3 miles away) he was very present through the entire park. 

The electric loop was almost fully booked. This loop is directly next to the Mississippi River, and there is a playground and a brand new showerhouse down the road from the main loop. The railroad does pass right between the campground and the river, which could be distracting/disturbing. I personally enjoy watching the trains and feeling them shake the earth! At the river there is a boat launch with a nice dike structure providing a calmer channel at the ramp. We fished along the bank here and caught a number of small catfish, one was big enough to fry up for dinner!

The basic loop is up the hill from the lake and is heavily wooded. The sites are spaced fairly nicely and most have trees separating you from the neighbors. The facilities were very well maintained. We stayed at site 43 which was close to the vault toilet but not so close that other visitors using it would disturb you, not that it mattered this weekend, there were only 4 other sites with campers while we were there and we could not see any of them from our site. It was one of the most peaceful weekends I've had in a MO state park. 

The lake's swimming area was very popular, as were other parts of the day use sections of the park. There are many places for picnics and bbq overlooking the river, a boat lauch (electric motors only, we saw only  kayaks during our visit), and a nice trail that hugs one side of the lake. 

Being &lt;2 hours from St Louis City, this is a good choice for anyone in the area who wants to get away. The park is about 15 minutes from the closest convenience store and Cape Girardeau for any grocery, shopping, or emergency needs. 

Nice Camping on the River

This park has 2 campgrounds one of which is right by river.  The campground was great and had lots of woods for exploring and nearby playground and the barges came up and down river all night. It was soothing to listen to and fun for my son to watch. Downside is there is also a train track and yes my son loved those too but at night they are loud. Thankfully we didn't hear any after 10p and none before 6a. 

Made for a unique experience 

Pros:
Right on the Mississippi River.
Full hook ups.
Beautiful state park with awesome trails and visitor center.
Cons:
Sites are tight along the river.
Train goes right behind the campground, be warned!

This is really an under developed campground. There are only about a dozen campsites even though there is room for at least 3 times that many.
The views of the river are great and my boys loved the trains going right by the camper. But just be warned that you will be woken up a couple of times a night due to them. But the rest of the pros greatly outweigh the cons. 

Neat campground 

PRO 

Senior discount saving $6 

Able to reserve on-line 365 days prior to arriving 

Very friendly and helpful camp host 

Unobstructed view of the Mississippi River 

Great dark sky viewing 

No highway/road noise, but... 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded by grass 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

One hook lantern pole 

Moveable wooden picnic table in the grass 

Toilet/shower building.35 miles from campground very nice and very clean with ample TP and hand soap 

Firewood for sale by camp host $5 

Mississippi River Scenic Overlook was very nice V

Visitor Center has small museum (no admission fee) on the Trail of Tears Native American tribal migration 

Coin-operated laundromat on South Hope Street Jackson after the roundabout 12 miles from campground 

Tractors Restaurant Main Street Jackson very good diner type restaurant 

  

CONS

$8.50 reservation fee for online self made reservation 

Sites that back to the river very close to each other. We stepped out our door onto the neighbors stinky slinky. Insufficient space to deploy awning. 

Electrical utility connection is on passenger side of the campsite#6 

Sewer connection was high above ground so drainage was up hill. Camp host warned us upon arrival we may need to use dump station to get tanks totally drained. 

Site 6 not level side-to-side 

Lots of trains, day and night with train horn blaring due to road crossing at campground Lots of river barge noise 

Only one single unisex pit toilet in campground 

No park headquarters or entrance gate office for check-in. Sign in campground informing how to conduct virtual check in. 

No security gate closed overnight 

No ranger patrolling campground

No WiFi 

2 bars Verizon LTE