River Road Park Campground

The River Road Park campground is situated in southeastern Missouri, near Piedmont.  It is a US Army Corps of Engineers campground.  In typical Ozark fashion, the area is gorgeous.  The camp sits at the bend of Highway HH, just below the Clearwater Lake dam.

The Campground straddles the Black River, with the A, B, and C loops on the eastern bank, and the R loop on the western bank.  The two banks might as well be two different campgrounds. The A, B, and C loops are perfectly flat and access is easy from HH.  The campsites are well spaced, well shaded, and full of nicely kept grass.  Several sites are pull through.  The A, B, and C loops are well suited for all campers.  On the other hand, the R loop entrance is almost hidden, and the road is very steep.  The campsites are small and the ground is uneven.  Some sites are overgrown by vegetation.  The R loop is suited for tent campers and backpackers; or for RVers who are confident drivers,  The R loop was not well used while we were there, and seems to be overdue for improvements.

We stayed on the A loop.  The sites seemed especially large, and tended to have the bulk of the family campers.  The B and C loops were a bit closer together, and had more of the boating crowd. The two large latrine houses and two shower houses were kept clean by the campsite hosts.  The A loop water spigot was monopolized by some rude campers, but we could get our water from the shower house spigot.  (This makes two campsites in two months that the Army Corp of Engineers Rangers have allowed a single campsite to take over the public water supply.)  If we were to stay here again, I think we'll get a full hook-up site and have our own water supply.  The extra $4 is probably worth it.

The hosts at the River Road Park were top notch.  The pair we met was a husband and wife team. While one stayed at the entrance shack, the other would visit campers in a golf cart.  They were very friendly.  They even helped us get a refund when I decided that we didn't need both of the campsites that I had reserved.  They did state that they wished people would check in at the shack first (which I did), rather than attempting to go to the campsites first.  With the campground using the online reservation system, at recreation.gov, campers would save a lot of trouble by checking in properly.  For us, a big plus was not having any squatters this time (unlike Highway K).

Saturday morning, a fellow camper walked over and introduced himself.  He had noticed our boys, and invited them to play water guns with his boys.  He was also a pretty good wood carver, and he carved our boys names for them.  Pretty cool!

It was August and it was hot.  However, below the shade trees, next to the river, it was pretty nice. The view from the dam was pretty spectacular too.  Sunrises and sunsets were absolutely works of art.  The boys enjoyed the multiple playgrounds. Walking around, we could watch the fishermen along the river, enjoy the splash of the spillway, and count all the different types of boats.  Kids on bikes were plentiful too.

Saturday was pretty quiet, but Sunday morning, the place turned more lively.  Several groups of retiree bikers rumbled through the peaceful camp on their trikes, blaring golden oldies.  They were rebels without a cause.  There were also several sets of pontooners that drove through the camp: guys in the tuck with bikini-clad women up on the boat on the trailer. It was like being at a drunken red-neck parade. This campground is apparently used as a turn-around for the locals. If I was a Ranger, I'd charge a $5 cover charge for each vehicle in the event.

The Rangers did patrol the place, but did little to enforce good behavior.  Thankfully, most campers were excellent neighbors, and the ones that weren't were usually avoidable.  The hosts, on the other hand, worked hard to get campers to behave well, even calling in the local sheriff when needed.  For example, on Friday night, someone thought it would be fun to shoot a shotgun in the middle of the camp.  They got a ride in the back of the sheriff's car.

The U-Turn Cafe, just up the road, had great ice cream.  The owners were very friendly.  The cold ice cream was just what was needed on a hot August afternoon.  I definitely recommend stopping in there.

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves a lot.  The camp was very nice.  The hosts were great.  The local ice cream shop was a real bonus.