Reviews

Shreenivas Patil

Located about two hours from St. Louis, this park is absolutely stunning—especially during the fall season in the 3rd or 4th week of October. It offers a scenic walking trail, a nice camping area, and plenty of parking space. You can even step onto the shallow streams that flow gently over the rocks. Elephant Rocks State Park is just a 15-minute drive away, making it easy to visit both in one trip. A must-visit spot to relax, enjoy nature, and soak in the peaceful countryside vibe. Highly recommend!

Brandy Holtsclaw

Always a wonderful stop, even on a rainy October day. Seeing all the upgrades that have been done are wonderful. It was our first trip since right after it flooded. Truly appreciate the Missouri State Park system.

Annette Allen

This is a very nice park! The Visitor Center is huge with bathrooms and displays. There is plenty of parking! You then drive down the road to the shop and there is another large parking lot to walk down the paved trail to the shut ins. Very cool spot! Lots of people even when the weather is a bit chilly so maybe come early in the morning for less crowds. Overall a very nice and clean park!

Grant Erickson

Neat park that was free entry when I visited in Late Oct. Walking trails including a well made boardwalk that runs along the river. Access points along it in which one can go explore or swim. Wifi at the visitors center (I had no signal with Verizon). Seating along the trail for those who just want to sit and take in the sights and sounds. Trails that I saw indicates no dogs... though I did see one couple emerge from the trail with one. Picnic areas marked out on the way in.

Bethany LeBlanc

Theirs not many places I’d give a 10/10 review but this really is such a great place to swim. It’s packed most of the summer although, a lot of people swimming and enjoying the water. It’s pretty deep, and doesn’t have lifeguards, so caution to anyone who doesn’t know how to swim or has small children. It’s very rough terrain, a little bit of climbing the rocks to find the best spots. But it’s so worth it. So many places to swim and chill. THE WATER IS Crystal clear, lots of small fish to watch. GREAT PLACE TO Snorkel!!🤿 If you want some adventure and to deep dive into clear waters. This is a great place. A lot of the rocks can be slippery, so be careful. Make sure to wear good nonslip shoes. Pretty safe place to go, no one will bother your stuff if you place it nearly anywhere. A lot of trust, and overall a good community!! The food is amazing here as well, amazing ice cream, I got 2 waffle cones, both with 2 scoops of ice cream for $13! The ice cream is great. They also have a lot of snacks and drinks if you didn’t pack any. Or just ran out. A great place to hike as well. This is my number one go to! Just remember you’re in nature! So snakes and lots of bugs are common. Be prepared!!

Rachel

This camp was really nice and each spot in loop 4 was mostly surrounded by trees so it felt a bit private. Each spot had a concrete pad to park and was pretty open with a good amout of space. There are a lot of ticks so bring your bug spray! Everyone around us was friendly but stayed to themselves. There is a camp store -open in the later evenings on the weekends- that houses a large shack where you can buy wood using the honor system ($7 each bundle), and also at the camp store are restrooms with AC & a laundry mat open 24/7. Loop 5 has campgrounds that are secluded and you have to hike a ways to reach them (check out 502, 507, or 509). They are set back in the forest. Super cool. Go check out the Shut-ins. They are beautiful but dangerous so please be careful. We walked through the river and climbed the rocks. Had a BLAST! There are leeches in the water so be watchful. They were very small and didn't hurt. The water was really cold but that didn't stop people from swimming in it. There are fish in it with you and they are neat to watch. Elephants Rocks State Park is within 20 minutes and was AMAZING. Go in the morning though because it gets incredibly busy in the afternoon and you will not be able to find a parking spot. There is Mal's Snack Shack there for "carnival like" food (hotdogs, nachos, shaved ice) and is reasonably priced and good. Don't forget to leave them a tip! They take cash or card. Both the Shut-ins and Elephant Rocks have picnic tables and grills. The bathrooms are better at the Shut-ins. I would recommend you bring your own TP and hand sanitizer for Elephant Rocks. You will probably need it. Overall my family and I had a great time and we were sad to leave such beauty and peace to return to the the hustle and bustle of daily life. We will probably go again within the next few years! Hope you enjoy your trip here as much as we did 😊 PS... if your wood here is damp, charcoal and lighter fluid will be your best friend. That is the only way we could get our fire going. It rained the day before we got there and the humidity held on. It was almost impossible to get our fire going both nights without it. We got a huge bag of charcoal and went through it and 1 1/2 bottles of lighter fluid. There was no cell service for me (T-Mobile) but my sister's phone (AT&T) worked just fine.

Gibbons Fam

We visited this park for the first time. They have been recovering from a reservoir break in 2005 but the renovations are very well done. The cabins we stayed in were pristine and comfortable and BEAUTIFUL. The trails are well marked and the shut-ins themselves are worth the trip. We definitely will be going out of our way to visit other MO state parks in the future.

Rex Pippenger

This was by far the nicest state/national park campground that we have stayed in. The toilet/shower houses were an unexpected surprise. They were amazing. The sites were concrete and well maintained. The Shut-ins are a hike of about 3.5 miles, and the trails are well maintained. There's no cell service which can be unnerving during a severe thunderstorm, so take precautions. We will be back.

TornButterfly

We hiked the Scour trail during late winter/early spring. You're able to see the water through the tree at this time of year. The path is chilly and rocky, but isn't too difficult to walk.

Safa Hasan

I gave this a 3 rating as it was challenging to navigate and find the beautiful scenery the park had. My phone service was completely gone so it took a while to navigate out of the park. I ended up hiking on scour trail which was nice. Park also included a decent size building as a rest stop and to provide information for visitors. Bathrooms were clean. I would recommend visiting if your cellphone service can work. Park closes at 6 PM from the signs so planning ahead is needed.