Loggers Lake campground runs along the 22 acre Loggers Lake near Bunker, MO in the Mark Twain National Forest.

Be prepared for a decent amount of driving on gravel county roads. The route from bunker itself has a bit less while the route to Salem is longer on gravel with a handful of water crossings.

There are 14 sites which all have parking, picnic table, and fire ring. Most have lantern poles. Most back right up to the lake. Most have back in parking which can accommodate a vehicle with trailer. The first few sites have split parking, which can house your trailer in one spot and vehicle next to it, but not long enough to back in without disconnecting. At the beginning of the campground there is a swimming area with picnic tables, grills, and a vault toilet. After this, there are the sites mentioned above with split parking. Tent sites and tables are down a hill from the parking spots here. There is a small fork with a parking lot and a handful of sites - while we were here there was an RV in this area. I believe this would be the only place a full RV could park in the campground. Finally is the main campground loop. There is another vault toilet at the beginning of the loop. Both vault toilets were relatively clean. One had air fresheners in it. There is water access near the vault toilet. On the loop, all exterior sites back up to the lake. There are two sites on the center of the loop which would be very nice for a large group. The lake itself is beautiful and easy to access. There is a boat ramp at the campground loop and a spot at almost every site to put in a kayak or canoe.

There is a 1.5 mile trail along the lake which begins at the campground loop. There is a spur to the spillway. The trail does not seem to be very heavily traveled, expect to walk through brush and spider webs!

We hiked this loop with one night of backpacking in August 2019. The area has many backroads but the directions from usda site took us right to the trailhead. We chose the trailhead to the north rather than the trailhead off the Ozark Trail. From other reviews we weren’t sure if there would be water available and packed a nice full cube in addition to our bladders but found that there were multiple options to filter from due to recent rain of a small pond and a creek. The trail is well traveled and easy to follow. It is easy to find a spot with a great view over the bluff. We brought our dog and she had a great time! I could see the edge of Taum Sauk reservoir from where we camped, which I thought was cool!

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 <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.

My one regret is that we didn't get to take a cave tour. Definitely going back!

The facilities and campsite were all really clean. Our neighbors left all of their food items on their picnic table, and had a justifiable raccoon encounter overnight. I would think any responsible camper would have no issues with critters here otherwise!

The park is very easy to get to. Like other MO State Park campsites they all have picnic tables, fire pit, and area for a tent. The basic loop, sites 1-13, are not very private, but would be ideal for a group of people sharing space and adjacent sites! We stayed in site 16, which backed to the woods but was at the beginning of the long road toward the rest of the campground, so there was comparatively high traffic to other campgrounds with separated loops.

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!

We camped here over Memorial Day weekend in 2017 - the campgrounds were fairly empty! The area was grassy and open and well maintained. The campground host was incredibly nice and helpful, as this was our fist camping experience in the MO State Park system and we had no idea what we were doing!

The visitors center has some great information and interesting displays about American Indian heritage.

Before leaving, we took the short .10 mile Missouri River Overlook Trail.

We had intended to fish in Lake Woolridge, but the gate was closed already for the night when we arrived.

This is a campground that I have high intentions of returning to.

Beautiful secluded campsite - amenities were clean. Kayak rentals were available for Lake Buteo - kayakers were out on the lake, and the lake has a trail all around it. Nice trail. The other lake, Clearfork Lake, was great for fishing for us! We did have a problem with Raccoons, but with our site being on the very edge of the sites I think that may be inevitable.

We camped at Mark Twain State Park for one night. We didn't go out on the lake, but agreed that we would love to come back here with a boat. The lake is huge - probably not a lake I personally would love to kayak in. The campgrounds were well kept and fairly secluded. Be sure to check out Mark Twain's Birthplace!

Camping at Graham Cave was a very nice time. We walked the Loutre River Trail and fished in Loutre River - it was a beautiful hike and the river scenery was beautiful. Before leaving, we parked near the picnic area and walked the Graham Cave and Fern Ridge Trails. The cave itself is underwhelming if you are expecting something like Fisher Cave at Meremec State Park, but it has an interesting story and I love rock formations of all kinds!

This trip was the HOTTEST of the entire year. River access was nice. Lots of well marked trails. The campsite itself was incredibly dry so we had dirt and dust all over everything. Not much grass on the ground in the campsite area. Campsite was at entrance to one of the trails, which was nice. Brought the dogs, great time.

We visited this as stop on MO centennial passport challenge. We are not much for trout fishing. The campsites were all along the river, so you had AMAZING river access if you wanted to trout fish. The sites are all out in the open next to each other. No shade at all. Nice facilities.

Self-service campsites, the closest you can get to backpacking with access to a toilet! (Vault toilet) The sites are all secluded from each other by trees and are very beautiful. The overlook to the valley is beautiful, especially for sunrise, and another short walk will take you to the marker for MO highest point.

The campgrounds have two loops, electric and basic. The electric loop sites are close together, and is mainly RV camping. The loop has great river access. Further from the river is the basic loop - these sites are nicely spaced, most back to the woods, and all were grassy.

All sites are within reasonable walking distance to the very nice shower house, bathrooms, it even had laundry. All facilities were well maintained and clean. Campground host sells wood and ice. Nice playground next to shower house.

Big River is great for many water activities - kayak, float, fish, etc. I gave a try at fishing and caught a couple small bluegills. If you'd rather get away from the people, there are a number of beautiful trails to hike, many providing bluff river views or are along creeks (I prefer hikes with water views!) I hiked the swimming deer trail, which is 3.15 miles and a combination of forested areas and bluff riverside terrain. The trailhead is at the campgrounds, which made it very easy to access.

While we were there, we encountered a lot of wildlife! We passed by a momma (we assumed) raccoon in a tree, a few snakes on the trail, a few turtles on the trail, an abundance of squirrels, and even had some deer spend time right behind our campsite. It was amazing!