Buck Creek State Park Campground

Beautiful campground with lot's of room between sites. Decent bath houses. They have a nice lake with swimming beach and a camp store that sells firewood.

This is a state run park on Corp of Engineer land. The campground is very well maintained and the sites are spacious. Our site backed up to the reservoir. If you like to fish and have a small boat, this is your place. We had excellent Verizon cell service and could stream HD video. Our site had electric which is nice as this cuts out the "generator issue." There are potable water spigots spread out throughout the campground. The sites are paved and level from side to side. Front to back leveling will be needed in many sites. There is not much vegetation in between the sites for screening but the sites are far enough apart that this is not an issue. There are plenty of trees all around to provide shade.

This was a very pleasant and quiet campground (we were here during the week, I am sure that this place is busy and noisier on the weekends.)

This place is huge and is very well maintained. When we arrived, we stopped at the park office to speak with the staff. They gave us instructions on the first come first service process, which was very easy. You can self-check in, or choose your spot and come back to the office if you want to pay by credit card.

Our site was electric only and had a very nice view of the water. Tons of space, too! We had no T-mobile service at our spot, but other parts of the park had a bar or 2. However, ATT signal was very strong and we were able to stream, etc.

This location is very close to Springfield and a Walmart is just a few minutes away. I would stay here again in a heartbeat!

The park itself is huge, so it is a bit of a drive to the campgrounds. There are three loops, and when we made our reservation only the non-electric sites were still available. The area has a very large antique show which was being held the weekend we stayed.
That actually worked quite well, because the loop is smaller for non-electric sites and the sites are quite a bit larger than the sites which have services.
The restroom and shower areas are dated but serviceable. The part itself is extremely well-maintained and very clean.
The lake allows boats of unlimited horse power, and they are audible from the campgrounds. There is also a train in the distance, but that was not an issue for us.

Nice roads. Neat trails. Cute beach. Big playground.

Campground is well manicured. Lawns are mowed 50' back from road. Site was 30 amp only - no water but water was nearby. Bathrooms a little dated but clean. Lots of bicycle riders riding loops of the place. Campground surrounds a large lake or reservoir with a marina and several boat ramps. I saw a sign for a beach but didn't check it out.
Saw healthy raccoons at several locations checking out fishermen and campsites during the day. Also saw deer at dusk.
Staff was interested and helpful.
Food and fuel 7 miles away in Springfield.
Site was level stone, easy back in.

After reading the other 5 star reviews and choosing this place, we were surprised.

First, the good news:

ATT Hotspot: 65.2 DOWN, 4.23 UP

So at least we can work here.

CONS:

TMobile cell is mostly unusable.

Avoid Site 007. You roast in the afternoon. No shade.

If you have kids (we don't) and boats or other floating craft (we don't) or just want to camp together with lots of friends and their kids, this is a fun place. Kids run and bike around and around, cars are parked cheek by jowl, tents and motorhomes packed in everywhere. Lots of large family groups sitting around enjoying the weekend.

But if you are looking for space and tranquility and privacy, at least in August (what were we thinking), forget it.

I guess I just didn't read between the lines well enough with the other reviews. I'm sure in November you get your pick of the place, but not now. While out of the many (90+ and all very full) sites there are a small handful (maybe 5 or 6) that are situated so that they have shade, privacy big space and a couple with a lovely view of the water, many more are just adequate. Ours, Site 007, has zero shade and is at the junction where kids and bathroom seekers pass by.

Dump station well up the road. A few potable water spigots scattered about. Old,shaky looking electrical posts make me glad I have a surge protector.

Site is nearly level.

At the end of the day its better and more spacious than an RV park certainly, but for a state park the campground sprawl that occurs at least on weekends makes it not the oasis we were hoping for.

This is a spacious park; the electric loop was fairly packed with kids, and it was great! My children would swoop by occasionally to say hi or grab a bite to eat, but were on their bikes having an adventure in a large group for the majority of the weekend. That said, all of the kids were well-behaved and respectful. The playground was nice and well-kept. Movies after dark with popcorn, cotton candy, and root beer floats rounded out both days we were there.

The non-electric loop looked to be a world apart. It was serene, nearly silent. Far enough from the bustle of the electric loop that no kids ventured over there, it would’ve been the place to be for a peaceful stay.

The store was well-stocked and reasonably priced. The people working there were hit-or-miss. One was super-friendly and helpful, but the other scowled a lot and seemed suspicious of anyone in the store.

Water was readily accessible. The dump station was decent, but a bit awkward to use and fairly far from the loop.

Overall, a fun place to spend the weekend, particularly if you have kids or don’t mind watching lots of kids have a great time.

The park was fine. Restrooms were clean. The trouble we had was the basketball court next to our site.
It was being used by teens from the local town. They were well behaved but we didn’t expect the exposure and noise level.
Next time we will choose a site further down the loop.

We absolutely loved our stay at Buck Creek State Park. We were pleasantly surprised to find such a well-manicured road system and sites. The wildlife abound as we came across various birds, deer, baby fox, groundhogs, and a couple of ticks that wanted help us during our set up/tear-down process. We enjoyed walking the ADA trail and seeing all the wild spring blossoms in bloom. The disk golf course was very popular on a beautiful Friday evening and a lot of fun to play. It could use a little TLC and a map or two posted along the course. We stayed in the small non-electric loop, in site 117. It was very quiet as we were one of four sites filled over the course of two nights.