We stayed here when all the Redwood Nat’l/State Parks were fully booked, and I’m beyond pleased that we did! Truly fantastic, one-of-a-kind place to stay—with phenomenal hiking in old-growth groves, too!

Bathrooms were adequate, floors were often wet, but most had soap and lights, which you don’t always get. Showers coin-operated, hot and good pressure. Floors puddle a lot. You do get a whole room to yourself, though. Really nice dish station with two big utility tubs and hot and cold water in our area of the campground. Wood available at check-in station.

Site fairly clean, but several old tent stakes lying about. Lots of noisy crows overhead in the evenings. Tree canopy keeps things pretty dark all day, but we were never cold. Slept really well. Site was fairly level once we figured out how to configure our two tents. LOTS of poison oak but it’s mostly contained in fenced areas between sites. We were able to avoid it fairly easily. Sites are generous but you are pretty close to your neighbors, and the main road is very tight, believe what others have said about it.

Be sure to spend some time at the Visitor Center—it’s a nice one and the folks are very friendly.

We took an eight-day tour through Northern California and this was our first leg. Tent-camped three nights.

Trees help add privacy and make you feel like you’re not as close to your neighbor as you are. Campground was very quiet, even during the day, although we were there during the week, so I’m sure that helped. Stars were beautiful at night. Despite the blazing temps in other parts of the park we were always comfortable here, and even chilly at night! Bear box huge and all site amenities were in good shape. Couple bits of trash and a water bottle unfortunately littered about our spot.

We did have about a dozen anthills spread throughout our site, but were able to pitch our tents a bit away from them. Never had them bother us. We also saw yellow jacket traps in the trees, and they did their job well. Hardly any mosquitos.

Bathrooms mostly okay, except the last morning—strips of TP everywhere, 2/3 stalls not really clean enough to sit on, but I think that was more an issue of guest misuse than camp staff negligence. No dryers or paper towels, but there was soap. Nice dish-washing closet. Showers were hot and had good pressure, but one was broken and the shower head actually fell on one of us! They are no longer coin-op; you pay a $5 use fee at the camp store for the duration of your stay and receive a code to get into the shower room for when it’s locked at night. Otherwise it’s wide open (and I do mean wide—the ladies door is right next to the store entrance so make sure you do all your dressing/undressing behind your stall curtain, though there is a makeshift wall outside the door to help shield the room).

Camp store was a nice place to refill water bottles on our way out in the mornings as we never did find a water spigot near our site. They offer a smattering of groceries (eggs, premade sandwiches, drinks) and have a little cafe, some souvenirs and camp supplies. They ran out of wood our first day there and didn’t know when it would be resupplied (it never was while we were there) but directed us to a place 20 min away where we were able to get plenty. Store folks knowledgeable and friendly. Tiny gas pump out back very convenient and actually decently-priced.

There are a few hikes in the area but most of the main attractions are closer to Summit Lake campgrounds, however they don’t have all the amenities Manzanita does.

We tent camped at Campground 2 in a basic site. This campground has a lot going for it, but some things that could be better…

PROS Unlike the majority of MO state parks, this one opens before April, for those of us who like to camp the shoulder seasons. It has heated, relatively clean and well stocked restrooms, drinking fountains and water spigots, a great camp host who kept us informed about a minor partial water shutoff but otherwise let us do our thing, and the shower house looks very nice, though it was far too cold to use it. Walking distance to marina and access to the popular Lakeshore Trail. Sites very clean and cleared of brush. Recycling offered (and encouraged) at your site if you want it. Our site and the others on the same end of the campground backed up to private wooded area. Playground available for the kids right next to the shower house. Fifteen minute drive to Branson attractions (I recommend Talking Rocks Cavern, especially for families, but anyone can enjoy the cave tour). Campground was very quiet, though I’m sure being there on weekdays early in the season helped!

CONS Basic tent sites aren’t the best; the electric sites are nice and flat, but our site was hilly and very rocky. We were thankful we brought tarps to put under the tent footprints. Sites 237-239 are right on top of each other. The park doesn’t sell firewood or ice; a fellow camper told us the marina offers wood, but he also recommended we buy it somewhere else. We found a place right outside the entrance, but the wood was pretty wet due to rain the day before.

Just FYI expect the lake winds to keep temps lower than what’s forecasted; we expected 25 degree temps overnight and woke up to 19 degrees and frosted tents!

I would definitely return and try out different sites—we enjoyed our stay.

Took the youngest kids for their first camping trip, and it could not have been better. Plenty of space, site was level for our tents and had a nice, soft carpet of pine needles, facilities in great shape (didn't use the showers, but they looked decent and were fairly popular), nice sink in the laundry room we used to fill our dish-washing tubs, good neighbors, nobody too noisy and folks generally kind and friendly. Really enjoyed being on the tents-only side of the campground--allowed for a clear, wide view of the landscape and the fall colors. Hiking is some of the best in Missouri.

I will say that the "walk-in" sites didn't seem to have much privacy and weren't very far from the parking lot, if that matters to you.

All in all, you can't get much better for tent camping.