The Meramec State Park is one of my family's favorite Missouri State Parks. The park is just about a hour away from St Louis. So, it is close enough to reach before dark on a fall afternoon, but is far enough so that the stars shine like diamonds at night. We camped there over Sept 18-20, and boy was it nice!
I got home as quick as I could after work, and my wife, the CFO, already had everyone's bag packed and ready to go. That made packing up very easy, as the only thing I had to do was hitch the trailer. From there, the boys loaded the bags into the trailer, and then we left.
But, I have to tell you, not packing my own gear really goes against what my Scoutmaster taught me, and when I can't find my flashlight...I just stay quiet and think how wonderful it was not having to pack my gear. But I'm thinking next time, I'm going to pack my stuff ahead of time, so I know what I packed...I can't act like a spoiled 1st Lieutenant - it's just not right.
We stopped off at a McDonald's in House Springs, and rolled into Sullivan right at sundown. That put us in camp just in front of the Friday night rush. The host staff quickly welcomed us and gave us our check-in paperwork. When we checked in it was a three car line, but that quickly grew to twenty vehicles deep. The staff got them all checked-in, but I was glad that I wasn't behind one of those headlights still waiting to get a campsite.
We unhitched, leveled, and sacked-out. I was too tired and too hot to worry about putting out the awning, especially since we'd forgotten the step stool. It was a muggy 95 degrees F...even after the sun went down. The A/C in the camper felt good, and I was soon snoring...until 2am when nature called. Gents, if you are over 40, you know what I'm talking about. The days of sleeping all night are over, especially if you just finished off an extra large McDonald's soda for dinner. But, even at 2am, I found the shower house clean and well kept.
2:30am was when the weather changed. The wind came up strong, and the temperature dropped 40 degrees. The storm was thunderous. I was glad we had a hard top to the camper. A huge branch crashed and bounced off our top. My wife, who hates storms, snuggled in especially close (one of the benefits to being a husband). When the sun came up, the campsite was a disaster area. Branches were broken off and laid all over the campsite. Tents had been abandoned and left to blow in the wind. Campers had their awnings ripped off. I was glad I didn't put mine out...
But a little daylight, a little coffee, and the campers made quick work of the mess. By breakfast the tree branches were in the fire pits, and the awnings were repaired. The tents had been recovered. Everyone then set about enjoying one of the prettiest weekends there ever was.
The boys were in a least 10 different pick-up baseball games. They dug all the sand out of the playground five times. They found friends to draw with. There were friends to play tag with. The boys were busy. The CFO and I got to enjoy the day sitting in our chairs. It was very relaxing. I made acquaintances with a fellow who had made his own flag pole out of PVC pipe. It looked good. I took pictures so that I could copy it. The CFO discovered that our neighbors had come down camping as well, so the two ladies traded camper decorating secrets and discussed AVON. (By the way, your local Army wife AVON rep can be found at www.yourAVON.com/micheleweaver.) It was just a beautiful weekend.
My sons struggled to get a campfire lit. I think the previous night's rain was dampening their efforts, but I pulled out the magic fire water and helped them out. From there the warm bright fire was a great offset against the crisp fall air. Roasted marshmallows and my guitar was the evening's entertainment.
Sunday we packed up quickly and went home. I didn't want to go home, but the CFO said I had to...
Oh! Hey, one more thing: if you have a trailer that is over 11 feet in the air, don't go under the bur oak tree!! That oak tree is over 300 years old, and is made of iron. One of its lower branches sticks out over the road like a football player's elbow. Caution tape, orange cones, yellow road warning sign...people still hit this thing. Just don't do it...
Campground
Loops
There are three main sections to the camp. We've decided that we like the far left side of the camp best. But if you are a tent camper, then you would probably like the middle section best. And if you have a big diesel RV, you'll probably want the middle or right side.
Shower Houses
They were clean. This is an important thing at 2:30am. I can't understate this.
Playgrounds
There was one playground, but the kid's liked it. There was also a big open field for football and baseball.
Trails
There is a short half-mile trail near the camp. We didn't take it.
Campsites
Terrain
The main section of the campground is very level, and has good asphault road between the sites. The area is well mowed providing nice areas between the sites. This is probably the best tent-camper state park near St Louis.
Pad Space
The pads are generally all of a good length, and are pretty level. The pad are just pads; they don't cover the campsite. There was one handicap campsite with a wide pad big enough to hold the pinic table.
Amenities
Each campsite comes with one picnic table (chained down), one fire pit, and one lantern pole. The pits and poles have likely been in service since the late 80s, but are in good repair.
Camp Staff
Check-in Hosts
The check in staff was friendly and efficient. I couldn't ask for better.
Campsite Hosts
We had no interaction with any campsite hosts.
Rangers
We had no interaction with any Rangers.
Programs
The camp offers cave tours during a limited summer season, and nightly amphitheater programs. We didn't attend either.
