Lake of the Ozarks State Park

Lake of the Ozarks State Park is the largest state park in Missouri. The park has many miles of shoreline as well as many trails for hiking, biking or horseback riding. It rained during our stay and our hopes of hiking were rained out. We camped here in October during the off season and there were many empty sites in the campground. We camped here in a 35 foot fifth wheel.

We camped in site 25 in section 1 of the campground. The site was a large pull through with a paved pad, water and electric, and plenty of space between sites. We enjoyed watching deer from our campsite and seeing the beautiful fall colors around the lake.

The campground has 3 other sections with some waterfront sites. However, getting to the waterfront sites require driving on a narrow, twisting road with many trees next to the road. I spoke to someone in the park before making reservations and she recommended getting a site in section 1 because of the size of our rig. Great advice! After driving through the other sections of the campground we were glad we called ahead! I would not recommend taking a big rig through sections 2, 3, or 4.

There is a marina and swimming beach in the park. Nearby Osage Beach as restaurants, shopping and other attractions. Overall, a great place to camp.

We stayed at this park for two nights, right on the lake. We had a non-reservable basic site (no hookups) for $13. Hookup sites were available for $21-23.

There are four sections to the park. We were in section four which I felt was the most picturesque because of the lake views (although not all sites are on the lake). We were here the week after Memorial Day and there were plenty of open sites, even along the lake. I thought it was a nice touch to not have the lake front stacked with campsites instead they left a few large areas open for others in the park to access the lakefront too instead of having to go to the separate beach area.

Roads in the park are tight. We took it slow with our 30' (short at 10' high) trailer and were fine. It wasn't busy but I still didn't see any Class A's and only one 5th wheel down in section four.

There is a marina in the campground which rents kayaks and canoes and a separate camp store with basic items. There are hikes within the park and also a nearby (20 minutes) day use state park (Ha Ha Tonka) with awesome hikes. Town is within four miles.

It was very quiet when we were there but I imagine this is quite a busy place in the summer.

The only downside to camping here was our site was totally trashed when we arrived. Trash and plastic half burned in the fire ring, slices of pizza and bones strewn all over in the grass and broken glass all around (inside and outside) the fire ring. Boo.

With Verizon, we had no usable service during the day at our site but could check emails/Facebook later at night. Service improved once we drove up near Section 1, variable 4G service with 2-3 bars.

We had an awesome couple of days with our three year old twin boys. The view from our campsite was incredible. Clean sites, right on the lake (section 4!), and only a short walk or bike ride to the beach everyday. The beach had shade in the morningspring but was so warm for swimming. We went mid-week and there was barely anyone in the park. Great place!

Very nice camp ground right on the lake. There are a few prime spots right next to the lake (section 4) but I wasn't able to reserve one of those so I picked section 1 on the other side. After the weekend I was only one of a few campers left in that section. The bathrooms were somewhat clean but overall the park looks to be well maintained and regularly saw park employees making rounds and were very friendly. Lots of deer and seems like a shooting range close by but not obnoxiously loud. Off season the camp store is only open Fri-Sun. The lot I picked was gravel but most were paved. It's close by to Osage Beach with plenty of shopping and restaurants.

This was our first time at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. We have always loved hiking the Ozarks, but had never stayed here. I think we have found a new favorite camping spot! My wife and I love to hike and the trails we have hiked here have been beautiful. The campground is very well laid out with good size sites and some with stunning views. Our site is on a bluff looking directly out over the lake. There are other sites in the lower section that are directly on the lake. That's where we will be next time around! I advise first timers to call the park and discuss your rig and site options.

Check-in was easy and the camp hosts were friendly and helpful. Most sites are level, but some have rises or dips that would be difficult for longer rigs. There are a number of pull-through sites, but the radius or tree placement on some would challenge longer rigs. The water is good, but the electric at our site was not grounded. Never tripped the power conditioner though. Didn't use the shower house, but I took a quick look and it appeared old but clean. Verizon cell signal was adequate for working.

Nice state park with lots of lake views from section 4. Number 178 to us is a prime spot but no electric. Our site 89 looked out to the lake, albeit a bit of a distance. It was however very private facing away from the road and no one nearby. Restrooms were closed this time of year, but we never do use them anyway. Nice paved sites. Definitely would stay here again although I am sure it is full during peak season. Convenient to Osage Beach for supplies.

Great little state park. Nice people and lots of deer.

* CELL COVERAGE NOTE: 2 bars of Verizon 4G is because we were all the way down by the lake and have a weboost; coverage father up the hill (sections 1-3) and anywhere else in the park is non-existent.
* Twisty (welcome to the Ozarks) and sometimes tight but easy drive into the park and down to the sites
* Easy and friendly check in process
* Electric only; water tank fill station just past check-in; water stations throughout park; convenient dump station at exit
* Bathroom & shower houses were okay; pretty much what you'd expect for a state park (buggy, but not terrible)
* Paved and mostly level site; lots of tree coverage
* Beautiful lake view; extremely quiet park (at least when we were there just after schools had started)
* Farther from "town" than expected, plus once in the park the campground itself is 5+ miles in

We had an extended stay here with friends. The sites are electric only but have water spigots around the park to fill up. We were able to stay in place and run hoses to a spigot to fill up. There is a dump station as well. I would caution big rigs on really paying attention to the slope of sites. We had a long pull thru site but the slope was soo extreme that is was nearly impossible to level completely front to back. Park is very popular on the weekends with lots of folks having boats in their sites.During the week it was not as full and a bit quieter.

The only draw back is that my husband needed to work while we were in our road trip and there was no wi-fi signal and zero to little cell service. Otherwise, the park is beautiful and a great deal!
One thing to note... we bought our wood from the camp store as you are told to buy wood locally and it was very damp and would not work the first night, the second night was much better.