Roam With Friends

Category: Campground Review

Indian Springs Family Resort

“Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” -Angela Blount

We never planned to stumble onto Indian Springs Family Resort. We never planned that the state park we were in route to visiting would call and cancel our reservations due to flooding. But they did and as a direct result we stumbled into Indian Springs Family Resort.

Midwest summers tend to either have too much or too little rain. At the time of visiting Indian Springs Family Resort we were having too much. Everything around us was wet and squishy. The skies threatened every day to open up and provide more but that was not the real threat. Anyone who lives on a river knows that not only do you have to watch what is happening around you, you also have to be aware of what is going on upstream from you.

On Memorial Weekend 2016, upstream was getting a lot of rain and was threatening flooding. When we checked in to Indian Springs, it was obvious the river was at max capacity and the staff told us upfront it was expected to crest by 2:00 a.m. They were diligently watching the conditions and they would let us know if we had to leave quickly. We kept the trailer hitched to the truck just in case Thankfully we were not flooded out. In fact, the second morning, we got a call that our original destination was back open so we only stayed here one night and moved over to our original destination.

Indian Springs Family Resort is located in Steelville, MO literally right on the Meramec River. The new owners, transplanted Texans, took over the ownership/management a few years ago and have been working very hard to bring their vision of a family resort to fruition. During our impromptu visit, it was easy to see how much work is going into this resort.

As the name suggest, there are two springs on the property. The resort has a multi-unit motel, a two-unit cabin with a shared screen porch, a four-unit cabin, a seven-unit cabin, a two bedroom house, as well as tent and RV sites for camping. Currently some of the RV sites are under construction. The sites we were in were all grass and virtually level and needed minimal leveling. The owners were in the process of adding gravel pads to the sites we were in. The RV sites currently only have 30 amp service but I would expect this to be upgraded soon as well.

This resort offers something for everyone. As it is located on the Meramec River there is canoeing, kayaking , or rafting trips available. The owner of the resort explained to us that all float trips originate upstream and end right at the campground. If the river is not calling your name, you can still enjoy water in the resort pool. Our girls enjoyed splashing around in the spring. There is sand volleyball and hiking available as well.

The general store has been completely redone and offers your basics. They even a frozen ice cream case but be warned you might find other things besides ice cream in the case! Behind the general store is a large area that is unfinished. The owner has plans for a coffee bar and gathering place in the back of the store.

Camping fees at Indian Springs are: adults are $10.00 per person per night with an additional $15.00 per night fee for electricity and water (children under 7 are free but kids ages 8-15 are $5.00 per person per night).

I like to keep it real here so I want to put out there that this resort has its fair share of negative reviews on the internet. We experienced none of the things I read about. The bathrooms were clean. Our 30 amp service was sufficient. The owners and staff were super nice and honestly bent over backwards to fit us in. This might not be a gem of the Ozarks just yet but we think the potential is there and we look forward to watching this resort, under new ownership, come into it’s own.

We will be forever thankful that Indian Springs took us in on a holiday weekend when we found ourselves without reservations. Our Memorial Day Weekend party of 13 unanimously agreed we would love to come back and do a float trip.

June 15, 2016
Spelunking at Onondaga Cave State Park

Occasionally all the parts come together in the right order and the right amounts and make something next to wonderful. Just one little alteration would change the composition and you would have a different outcome. I am not sure how, we certainly experienced more than our fair share of challenges, but our trip to Onondaga Cave State Park came together and will go down in history as one of our most favorite camping trips. We had a steady supply of laughter to balance out the frustration. We were just far enough from home that we felt like we were on a real adventure but close enough to make it home within a few hours. We had just the right mix of friends. We balanced a good dose of adventure out with some rest and relaxation. What more could you ask for in a camping trip?

Onondaga Cave State Park is located just southeast corner of the central region of Missouri. It is right off I-44 south of St. Louis and North of Rolla. From Kansas City it is 275 miles one way. We first heard about Onondaga Cave State Park from a RV friend, Jenni, who showed us breathtaking photos of Onondaga Cave. The state park has a campground with 68 camping spots (less than 50 with water and electric). We secured our reservations for this trip a long while ago, when most of you were out taking advantage of Black Friday shopping.

The camping pads were concrete. We had water and electricity for $22.00 a night. We had sites 61-64 and in our opinion they were the best sites in the entire park. We had a wooded ridge on one side of us and behind our sites was a lovely tree lined creek. Our girls spent hours splashing in the creek. On the opposite side of the creek was a large greenway that made a perfect dog-walking area. Except the traffic on the road in front of us, it felt like we were secluded in our private area of the campground. There was no cell service in the park but they did have wifi. I will not say it was the best wifi available but we were able to connect and be connected for periods of time.

We have continued to teach ourselves how to geocache and by late Saturday afternoon we were ready to try and find one of the five geocaches located within the park. Out of the thirteen of us only four had even heard about this activity and half of those are still traumatized by the first attempt at geocaching. We set out to find the cache in the park amphitheater. Finding the first cache was challenging but once we found it several members of our group were immediately determined to go out and search for the next cache, even if it meant hiking steep hills and navigating some rocky terrain. We never did find the second cache but we sure did put in the effort. We talked about that hike for the rest of the weekend!

We originally desired to come to this park for one thing: spelunking or the exploration of caves. Missouri has over 6,000 caves and easily earns the title as The Cave State (hum, maybe we should be changing our tag line from The Show Me State to The Cave State). On our second full day in the park, we made plans to tour both; Cathedral Cave and Onondaga Cave. Due to the size of our group, we were able to arrange group discounts to each cave; bringing the price down to $10.00 per adult for Onondaga and $6.00 per adult for Cathedral. I should mention that if you scoff at the cave tours and desire for something wilder, you can do that at Cathedral Cave. A group called Onondaga Friends Association offers Off Trail Wild Caving a few times a year to small groups. If this interest you, be prepared to get wet and crawl around in parts of the cave not normally open to the public.I love spelunking but I am going to stick with the organized tours.

Park staff lead flashlight tours of Cathedral Cave on the weekends; the tours require a short 1/3 mile hike to the cave. We had the most amazing tour guide who was informative as well as entertaining. Our guide checked for “critters” before allowing us into the cave; I did not realize at the time she was looking for snakes. Ignorance really is bliss! As we entered the cave, we were ushered into an air lock room, a large concrete room that allowed us to close the door to the outside before opening the door to the cave. This minimizes the amount of air allowed into the cave, therefore protecting the delicate ecosystem of the cave. We were greeted by “locals” in the air lock room; three rather large wolf spiders! Thankfully for us, they were skittish and kept their distance during our short time in the room.

As we climbed the stairs down into the cave, another cave dweller waited to greet us, a cave salamander. Using flashlights, because the cave is not lit, you will see stalagmites, stalactites, columns, soda straws, Stromatolites (fossilized algal beds), and great amounts of cave coral. We were lucky enough to spot two grotto salamanders in the creek that runs through the cave. Unlike cave salamanders, grotto salamanders never leave the cave. They are born sited and with pigment but as they age, their eyes seal shut and they lose their skin pigment (who needs skin color or eye site in a dark cave?). By the time they are adults they are blind and colorless almost translucent.

Deep into Cathedral Cave is a Seismic Station that is constantly gathering earthquake measurements and sending them to the Earthquake Center in Colorado.. Right after the Seismic Station, we went down a 65 foot switchback taking us to the curtain the cave is named after Cathedral Curtain. We traveled approximately 260 feet below the surface during our tour of Cathedral Cave. My overall impressions of this cave is just how big it is. I never felt confined during any part of this tour. During the tour, the guide had us turn our lights off to experience the darkness of the cave. The depth of darkness is beyond any words I can find to describe it. If I had not been touching my daughters shoulders I would never have known she was standing right in front of me.

After touring Cathedral Cave a lunch break was needed. It is down right amazing how hungry you can get hiking around in the Ozarks! I also needed time to recharge my camera battery as I ran out of camera juice in the first thirty minutes of being in the cave.

The entrance to Onondaga Cave is located at the Visitor Center. Out of the two cave systems in this park, Onondaga is the more visited, more commercial cave. Flashlights are not needed when visiting as the pathways are lit. I also noticed baby strollers on the paths, so I would say there is some accessibility but I also noticed part of the tour the path gets tight and involves a large incline/decline. There is a waiting area for those who do not want to go onto this part of the path, so I would say you could make your own decisions about accessibility. We had a 90 something year old man on our tour (he had previously visited the cave in the early 1940’s when he was a young teen) , walking the entire time.

Just like Cathedral Cave, you have to enter an air lock room before entering the cave. The one at Onondaga is much cleaner than Cathedral (we were not greeted by wolf spiders) and it is equipped with red lights to help our eyes get use to the dimmer light conditions. Onondaga Cave is beautiful, you will still see the same cave features as Cathedral, but our overall impression is we enjoyed our time in Cathedral Cave more so than Onondaga. Onondaga does have a lost river running through out it. The 90 year old gentleman on our tour told us he remembers his first visit (around 1942) he entered the cave by boat. At times the water seems stagnate but it is in fact running; a former cave owner even built a small waterfall to prove to the public that it was indeed running.

Onondaga Cave has a few mentionable features: The Twins are duo stalagmites, The Rock of Ages, the King’s Canopy, The Queen’s Canopy, and the Big Room. Just in case you wondered we did learn some cave lingo: Stalagmites grow from the ground and might reach the ceiling one day where Stalactites hang tight from the ceiling. When the two of those meet they create a column. Our favorite mentionable feature of Onondaga Cave was the Lily Pad Room; a room full of speleothems and water.

During our tour of Onondaga Cave, we met a very nice lady from Rhode Island who was visiting Missouri with her husband. Their 21 year old son is currently stationed here and they came to celebrate his 21st birthday with him. We invited them back to our campsite after the cave tour to celebrate his birthday with an adult beverage and ended up getting a great lesson in how to play Bocci Ball from some folks who were really good. It was great to meet new friends while we travel and I do believe we are all addicted to the game of Bocci.
In a recent study it was found that in the last year campers preferred public campgrounds to private campgrounds two to one (this has increased from the previous year). Onondaga Cave State Park is a perfect example of why state parks are becoming more popular. Besides hiking, visitors to this park can explore two cave systems, or spend their time playing in the Merrimac River either fishing, floating, splashing, or swimming. The camping pads are top notch and you get water and electric for $22.00 a night. If you are needing a summer weekend get away, we would highly recommend giving Onondaga State Park a try.

Want some more, check out our video!

June 10, 2016
Smith’s Fork Campground

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the sibling or even first cousin to a famous celebrity? On the surface, you assume it might stink to be in the shadow of someone who is successful and crazy recognizable? Under the surface you may very well find a very successful person in the own right who does not desire the limelight.

This is Smith’s Fork Campground at Smithville Lake. Smithville Lake is a beautiful 7,200 acre lake operated by Clay County that has two different campgrounds that offer stunning lake views just north of Kansas City, MO. . Smith’s Fork Campground is the first cousin to Smithville Lake. It is located below the dam, no lake views, quiet, no limelight, but yet a wonderful little campground that should not be overlooked.

Smith’s Fork Campground has 79 spacious full service sites; a total steal at $25.00 a night. The reservation system is so easy….it is a quick phone call to the campground host who puts your name down on a list. The campground has 30 and 50 amp service and some sites are fitted with both. a few sites are asphalted, most are gravel. We were in sites 45 and 47, which were both pretty level and needed no level jacks.

The campground is sandwiched on a dead-end road between a sports complex and a city park with a campground and a football field. Near the campground is the dam’s spillway which is a popular spot with locals to fish. The campground itself does not have a playground for kids but the city park is easily accessible and about a football field’s distance away. Just beyond the spillway and the city park, we found a nice hiking trail that lead us on a long hike past a secluded pond.

Of course, the lake is a short drive from Smith’s Fork Campground. Smithville Lake has a marina, is great for boating, swimming, hiking or even biking. They have skeet shooting, an RA Airfield, and disc golf.

During our stay here the weather was beautiful; slightly chilly Friday night and a warm sunny day on Saturday. We enjoyed many guest at our campsite over the weekend. My in-laws joined us Friday for a bon fire and Saturday our good friends brought their family out to the campground for a Mother’s Day dinner. I think they would become campers if we could just figure out a way for their Prius to pull a camper!

May 10, 2016
Bennett Spring State Park
Bennett Spring State Park is one of our most favorite camping spots in the state of Missouri and we tend to make a yearly pilgrimage to visit the river stocked with fresh trout. Trout fishing season opens March 1 and goes until October 31 and fish are stocked daily throughout the season.

Bennett Spring State Park has a total of five campgrounds with a grand total of 189 camping sites available. The majority of their sites are basic, or electric sites but they do have 48 sites with full service hookups. This year we opted to stay in Campground 1, the full service campground located closest to the river. We selected our campsite and made our reservations online through the Missouri State Park Camping Reservation System six months ago.

Campground Basic/Review:

The last time we stayed in Loop 1 was approximately 8 years ago in our vintage Argosy. The loop had more and bigger trees than I remembered. I did notice that the row we selected had our campers facing North, with the doors and awnings facing West and the slides to the East. I thought to myself, in the heat of the summer, the long hot afternoon and evening hours would effectively render our shade producing awnings useless. Luckily, spring is upon us and the temperature highs were in the mid-seventies and the lows in the upper forties. I did make a mental note to look at the orientation of the map the next time we select a campsite online. Each site came with a completely level concrete pad, a fire ring, a picnic table, and a post with a hook. Some of you might think that is for trash or even a lantern but we fisherman know that post is for our wet waders.

Fishing Report:

Our four night stay at Bennett was primary to let the trout fishermen release some stored up cabin fever. The river was slightly low due to the lack of rain in the area so far this spring, but was a welcome relief from the damaging floods that occurred this past Christmas season. The fishing was great! We had no problems meeting our daily limit. My dad, Allen and I all noticed that the average trout seemed much bigger this trip than in the past and most of them when caught, had some seriously full bellies. No doubt the trout were eating well this season. We discussed theories on why the trout were bigger and we were able to track down a hatchery employee who did confirm for us that in fact the trout are bigger this spring than normal. He informed us that three things were contributing to the larger trout:
1. They had a surplus supply of trout that they held over from last year. This means there were fed in the beds all winter long.
2. The superintendent of the park made the decision to feed the river all winter. In years past the fish left in the river at the conclusion of the season were left to fiend for themselves. This resulted in skinny, “snake” like trout.
3. The fish are always a little bigger in the spring than the late summer/fall when we normally visit.
Local Community:

We did have a couple of interactions with the larger community during our stay. Allen had a small issue with his hot water and received quick and efficient service from Glynn’s Mobile RV Repair. Glynn came to our campsite and resolved his problem super fast. If you need emergency RV service while at Bennett, give Glynn a call.

We also visited our friends at Hidden Valley Outfitters, they are a full service campground literally right across the highway from the state park. Besides camping you can book float trips from HVO and they will take you up stream and you raft or canoe your way right back to the campsite. We stayed with them and took a canoe trip with them last summer. They also have a wedding chapel on sight.

We had a “quick” lunch at Hillbilly Burger which is located in the park. We had cheeseburgers, french fries, and their fried mushrooms. The fries are hand cut. Their mushrooms were good. The service was the slowest thing imaginable. We would have entertained the idea of ice cream but honestly we had to wait so long to order and for our food that by the time we were done with our meal, we were really done. I would also say it would have been nice for them to have at least given us our drinks while we waited for food.

Park Services:

Since Allen, my father, and I went down before our wives and daughters showed up, we visited The Lodge, a restaurant in the state park for several of our meals. As soon as you walk through the door, you’ll be greeted with a friendly face and we’ve always had great service. We visited The Lodge for breakfast once and supper a couple of times. The food off the menu is served hot and plenty of it. They always have a small fresh salad bar available as well. On the weekends they set up a buffet with more than enough choices including baked and fried chicken, catfish, baked pasta, fresh veggies, and mashed potatoes. Of course they have a selection of home made pies if you save some room.

The epicenter of the park is the general store. You can buy everything from daily fishing tags and waders to pork rinds and wind chimes. There is a full service fly shop, bait and tackle store as well. They sell Bennett Spring souvenir coffee cups and giant stuffed snakes. If you need it, they probably have it, if you don’t need it, they probably have it anyway. As always in the park you’ll get friendly service with a smile.

CAMERA

Be sure to walk around the rearing ponds at the hatchery. You can even take a tour, or do what we did, asked one of the park employees a bunch of questions. They seem more than happy to share their knowledge about the park with you. And brings some quarters with you so that you can buy some fish chow to feed the fish.

There also a Nature Center and several hiking tails you can visit as well. There is other lodging available in the form of cabins and hotel room and a swimming pool that’s open during the summer months.

Hopefully it is easy to see why Bennett Spring State Park is one of our favorites. We did enjoy our time at Campground 1 and will be making advanced plans to visit it again. I will leave you with this short video. The flat roads at Campground 1 allowed the girls to practice their bicycling skills, I am happy to say that soon both the girls will be wheelin’ around a campground near you!
May 3, 2016
Kansas City’s Best Little Secret
We kicked off our camping season last weekend. I have been itching to go out since the beginning of March but the weather has remained unpredictable and uncooperative. Just accepting the fact that we are not likely to be handed perfect camping weather we just made a decision to go.

We were booked to travel to Tuttle Creek State Park in Manhattan, Kansas to see our son for his fraternities “Mom’s Weekend.” However, he had to cancel so he could attend a life guarding course. With a heavy heart, we made the decision to cancel those reservations and just made a last minute decision to stay local and try out a new (new to us) campground very close to our camper storage.

We booked ourselves at the Blue Springs Campground near Blue Springs Lake. This is a Jackson County Parks and Rec park. The campground has 39 electric sites, 13 sites with water and electricity, and 30 full hook up sites (some 30 amp and some 50 amp). The camping fees are very reasonable: $23 a night for electric only, $26 for water and electricity, and $30 a night for full hook ups. The campground has several “family sites” throughout the park. All of the sites are gravel pads and come with a picnic table and a fire pit.

We booked ourselves into space #30 as it was close to the playground that we knew our daughter would want to spend her time at. When we arrived, we learned that spots #28 and #30 were a “family site.” Family sites are great if you are indeed camping with family or even close friends, but we were not. The very polite and kind campground host offered to move us to a new site (#32) to give all of us some space. Since the park was not nearly full, we all appreciated his efforts. Next time, I will make sure to exercise care when reading the map, although I will say, it was not marked as a family site.

Our weekend at Blue Springs Campground was very low key. Our goals for the weekend consisted of organizing for the year, un-winterizing the camper, and generally just cleaning. We spent a lot of time indoors watching movies and actually just relaxing. Saturday we had several friends come to the campsite and we were able to enjoy a dutch oven meal and a campfire.

In talking to the campground host they described this campground as a hidden gem in Kansas City. The campground is so close to many Kansas City area attractions:
- 10 miles to Harry S. Truman’s Library and Museum
- 11 miles to Kauffman Stadium (home to the World Champions Kansas City Royals)
- 17 miles to Union Station, Liberty Memorial, National World War I Museum, Crown Center, Hallmark’s Kaleidoscope or LegoLand.
- 19 miles to Westport, the Plaza, Nelson Adkins Museum of Art, or Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.
- 26 miles to IKEA
You kinda get the idea. The park is in a good location, a few miles south of Interstate 70, right off of 291 Highway making it very accessible. We decided even if the girls had sporting events we could go camping and still make the games. We even learned that the campground has a “frequent camper” reward program (which by now you might know I am a sucker for! If you buy six bundles of firewood and four bags of ice you earn yourself a free night of camping. I should note here that this is the first campground we have visited that does not allow any outside wood to be brought in.

We made a few observations worthy of noting so if you plan to visit here you go into it ahead of the game. While we had cell service the entire weekend we did not have any access to WiFi. Each site was allowed two vehicles per site and all other guest had to pay a $5.00 fee to enter and have to leave by 10 p.m. I also mention that their website did not have family sites clearly marked. this could be such an easy fix. The only other criticism is just how unlevel the sites were. It appears the sites were designed to accommodate rain runoff and over time water and wind has exaggerated the crown making the sites unlevel.

Overall, we enjoyed our weekend and will be returning. We are excited to have officially kicked off our 2016 camping season!
April 10, 2016
Fly Fishing At Montauk State Park

When most think of trout fishing they think of exciting places like Colorado, Montana, or maybe even Tennessee. I am pretty sure Missouri is one of the last places people would think of. I am here to assure you, there is amazing trout fishing right here in the great state of Missouri.

Missouri State Parks operates three trout parks in the state: Roaring River State Park, Bennett Spring State Park, and Montauk State Park. This post is about our time at Montauk State Park.

Montauk State Park is located just outside of Licking, Missouri. From Kansas City, that is a 245 mile drive southeast, from Springfield it is a 110 miles east and slightly north, and from St. Louis it is 140 miles southwest. The drive is longer than we would make for a two day weekend so we usually add a few vacation days and stay for at least three-four nights on trips to this park.

The park is a state park so camping fees are very reasonable (approx $25 per night). There were no full hookups so we camped in an electric only site. Missouri State Parks offer an online reservation system that allows you to see photos of each site. When we camp in an electric only site, we always try to select a site close to the water source in case we need to refill during our stay.

Setting up and settling in was relatively easy. We took a tour of the park and hiked around exploring the spring that feeds into the river. The Park stocks this river each night with trout. The fishermen like this river for fishing because they say there is more space to fish in, which means a less crowded fishing environment, and larger fish to catch.

The women judge the campgrounds by the campsite and the activities available to keep the young non-fishermen kids entertained while the Dad’s, brother, and papa spend hours each day fishing.

The Campground:

I wish we had brought our bicycles. We opted not to bring them as we were visiting the Ozark Mountains and honestly felt we would be required to bike up and down hills all day long. On the contrary, the park is relatively flat. At first inspection, it seemed that the shower rooms were really far from our campsite, but in actuality they were only a short walk away.

We lost all cell reception a mile or so before we reached the entrance to the park. We noticed there was wi-fi available in the park but we could not connect to it. We had no TV reception but that was not a big deal. Our electric box kept blowing the circuit but a quick call to the camp office and someone came out and replaced it for us. (We learned later it was not just a maintenance man but actually the park superintendent!) On Day 3 of vacation the superintendent came back to our site to fix the “broken wi-fi” which we had no idea was located between our two sites. As soon as he fixed it, we could once again interact with the outside world (still no cell service).

Our camp space was huge! The staff were nice host. They even came by and cleaned out our fire ring while we were visiting. My only complaint is that the trash dumpster was located right in our site and since the fish cleaning station was closed for repairs, there was a lot of fish parts going into the trash dumpster. Unfortunately, that made for some pretty foul smelling air. Our buddy, The Superintendent, did tell us that the dumpsters get emptied and washed out three times a week. That did help the later part of our stay but there was two days of unpleasantness to get through!

Camp Activities:

Each night of our stay the park had a scheduled event. One of the events, a candle-lit bat tour, looked like a lot of fun to us. However, we never managed to make it there. I do wonder, are we the only people who lose track of time when camping?

Hiking:

There are hiking trails at Montauk State Park. There was a short hike to the spring as well as a Lake Trail. Both of these hikes were easy and the short people in our party loved hiking them. We passed the hatchery, the lake, and we saw a variety of wildlife even during the short hikes.

We did convince the kids to hike the Pine Ridge Trail despite it having a rugged label. The Pine Ridge Trail is listed as a 1.5 loop trail. I think our girls were finished before we even hit the 1/4 mile point. That is when the complaining started. By the time we were 1/2 of a mile into it, the girls’ complaints were getting more desperate:

Short Person #1: “Mom, I think there are ticks on my socks!”

Mom #1: “No, honey, those are not ticks, that is dirt. You are fine, let’s just keep going!”

Short Person #2: “Mom, there are ticks on my legs and they are crawling all over!”

Mom #2: “There are no ticks, you are fine, stop complaining!”

Big Brother #1: “Those are not ticks, you are sweating and it is tickling your legs.”

By the time we reached the 3/4 mile point, it was obvious to all of us adults that in fact we had walked through a nest of seed ticks and they were hungrily crawling up our bodies at a very fast pace! We could no longer brush the short chic’s (aka our daughters) complaints off as just whining! We rushed through the hike as fast as possible, went straight to the showers to wash as many off of us as possible.

In case you have never seen seed ticks before, I found this photo online. Those might look like oil spots on the jeans but in fact they are seed ticks. It took us hours to remove all we could find. And if that were not enough of a vacation time commitment, it also required a trip into Licking the next morning to visit a laundry mat so we could wash all clothing (including our shoes) to really make sure we had eliminated them.

And as if this were not enough, I should also say that we not only were eaten alive by the seed ticks but we also encountered more than our share of spiders, spider webs, and apparently mosquito and chiggers. Our bodies were covered in bites and required weeks to recover from being the main course at the human buffet table.

Swimming:

There is no swimming allowed at Montauk State Park. Or wading for any purpose other than fishing. Or canoeing. The sole purpose of the river at Montauk State Park is for trout fishing.

However, with that said, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways is very near to the state park. A short drive outside the park will lead you to Tam Vat, or other areas on the river perfect for swimming. I should warn you, the water at Tam Vat is near to the spring and therefore it is cold. Very cold. That of course, did not stop our short people from playing in the water.

Sight-Seeing:

My mother has a first cousin that lives in Licking, Missouri just a few miles from Montauk State Park. He invited us to go exploring with him and his family on our second day of vacation. We arrived early and the girls were able to assist in doing chores of their animals before we headed out of a day long trip.

The first part of our tour was a very personal one for me. The first place my second cousin took us to was my Great Grandparents grave sites. My mother has longed to re-visit this place as I think the last time she was not yet in kindergarten. In addition to the cemetery, we also drove past their former property. Some of the land has been redeveloped into a shooting range, so maybe the landscape has been altered but I can say it is not at all what my four year old brain remembered.

After we chased my Mendenhall family roots, the cousins took us to Alley Spring and Alley Mill. The mill is a 100 year old grist mill near a natural spring that pumps out 81 million gallons of beautiful turquoise water a day. The water feeds into Jack’s Fork River and Current Rivers.

The Mill is not functionable but many of the tools used to grind flour 100 years ago are still located inside the mill and are available not just for viewing purposes but we were able to open them and explore how they actually operated. What is funny about Alley Spring is that as I am standing looking at the beauty of this bright red building surrounded by turquoise water, I got the largest sense of de ja vue. I knew I had never been there before so it took me a few moments to realize, I had seen this building before; on an old calendar hanging in my growing up home!

A nice hiking trail surrounds the spring and leads you along the river’s edge. The rocky bluff to the right of the river is full of small caves that our short people enjoyed poking their noses (as well as whole bodies into).

After Alley Spring, we headed to a public access area on the Jack’s Fork for a mid-day swim. The water was perfect! Clear as you can imagine, crisp and cool but not cold and frigid! The short people had so much fun jumping off the log embedded in the river. We watched people cliff dive into a deep pool right across the river from where we were. What a wonderful day to spend a summer day!

After our swim, we headed in another direction from Eminence, Missouri to visit Rocky Falls. Rocky Falls is a shut-in, a narrow passage way or a constriction in a waterway. Rocky Falls is on the Current River and has a steep cascading waterfall that empties into a deep pool of water. People from all over flock to the area to sit in the water, slide down the rocks and just enjoy this geological space.

The short people loved it! The mommies were very disappointed that we did not bring our swimsuits! Instead we settled for cooling our toes, our feet, ankles, and maybe even calves in the water. If Rocky Falls had not been 2 plus hours away (one direction) from our campsite we might have returned to play another day!

Alley Spring, Rocky Falls, as well as Round Spring, Big Spring, Blue Spring, and Welch Spring are all located within minutes of Eminence, Missouri and are all part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. They are surrounded by National Park Services and have many campgrounds. This area is also part of the United States Bicycle Route System (Highway 76) so watch out for bicyclist as you visit this part of the state!

The Fishing:

Despite the fun we had exploring a part of the state we had never visited, the men folk never left the state park. They came all this way to fish and fish is what they did!

They got up early, they fished until the bell rang in the evening. They caught large fish. They caught small fish. They kept some fish. They threw back some others. Lines got tangled. Daily limits were met.

Other odd things happen when you least expect them to. The Husband ran into baseball friends of ours at the lodge one day. They were down to enjoy the canoeing on the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers and happen to come to the lodge for dinner one night. The Husband invited them to try trout fishing and they did. (Is it harder than it looks? I promise you should keep trying!)

We caught enough fish during our four days of fishing to host a fish fry on our last night. Threat of storm did not prevent us from enjoying the freshly caught trout.

To summarize, fathers taught sons a few lessons. Students might have out-fished their teachers. Best friends shared more than a few frustrations and developed a deeper appreciate for how tough it is to get the fish with a little mouth to open up and bite the tiny fly. But as our time at Montauk State Park came to an end, everyone agreed that the any vacation that includes trout fishing is a good vacation!

March 9, 2016
Favorite Destination of 2015: Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park
Unanimously, The Taylor’s and The Todd’s agree that Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park was our favorite 2015 destination. Johnson’s Shut-Ins is located near Lesterville, Missouri which is just over 100 miles south of St Louis, under 200 miles east of Springfield, and 295 miles southeast of Kansas City, MO, which is where we are based.

Park Details:
- Johnson’s Shut-Ins is a state park.
- Senior Citizens receive a discount.
- Special sites are designated ADA and can’t be used by the general population.
- There are 5 different loops with a total of 85 sites.
- There is designated sites for camping, hike-in camping, camper cabins, electric only, electric/water, and electric/water/sewer sites.
- Due to the 2005 Taum Sauk Reservoir breach, the campground was relocated to a new location in the state park and is brand new.
- There are ample pull-through and back in sites.
- Each site in loop 1, 2, 3 and 4 have concrete pads.
Camping Fee’s

Basic camping (non-improved site) is $13.00 a night. Electric Premium sites (50 amp service) is $23.00 a night.. Electric/Water Premium site is $25.00 a night and full service (sewer/electric/water) is $28.00.

Booking:

Missouri State Parks uses an online registration system. The site is relatively easy to research and select a site. We use the campground map as well as the online photos. There is also a toll free number if you prefer to speak to a person instead of the online registration. Missouri State Parks allows advance registration six months prior to your trip.

Size of the Campground:

The entire state park is over 6,000 acres. The campground is large. The sites are spacious. There are five camping loops at Johnson’s Shut-Ins. The first loop is designated for Equestrian and has ten water and electricity sites. Loops 2 and 3 have a total of forty, 50 amp service some with electricity and others have full hook-ups. Loop 2 also has six camper cabins. Loops 4 is designated for walk-in camping and has 14 sites, and Loop 5 is designated basic for tent campers and also has 14 sites.

Campground Details:

Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park became a state park in 1955 but people have been enjoying the Shut-Ins longer than this park has been in existence. What is a Shut-In? Well, simply put it is a constriction in a waterway. In this case, granite boulders from the St Francois Mountains have jutted up to the surface in the Black River. The Black River is constricted with these boulders and the erosion has made pools of water, water falls, and chutes in this canyon-like gorge. People love to come and spend time cooling off and playing in the Shut-Ins.

In December 2005, the Taum Sauk Reservour that is housed high above the Shut-Ins breached and sent 1.3 billion gallons of water rushing down Proffit Mountain. The water brought down boulders, trees and other debris with it and literally almost destroyed Johnson Shut-Ins. The campground, then located near the Shut-Ins was destroyed. The campground host and his family barely survived. The ecosystem at Johnson Shut-Ins was severely damaged. Since 2005 this park has been under restoration. Cutting edge technology has been used to try and save the ecosystem and the campground area was relocated to higher ground as a safety precaution.

We expected to find very little shade at Johnson’s Shut-Ins due to how new the campground is. Instead, we found the exact opposite. Sites 2, 3, and 4 had great tree coverage.

Amenities:

There are a total of three stores in Johnson’s Shut-Ins. One inside the Visitor Center, one by the Shut-Ins and a large general store in the campground. The Campground General Store does have wi-fi available but you do have to go and visit the store in order to get the wi-fi. Our teenage boy spent a lot of time sitting outside the general store!

The general store also has a coin laundry room. There is a changing room outside the store at the Shut-Ins.

Each camping loop has one showerhouse with a separate restroom. We visited the showers during our stay and found them to be very clean and nice. Due to our too close encounter with some of the parks wildlife, we took early showers so that we were not walking around the park in the dark.

There is no pool. Visitors/guest of the state park have access to the Shut-Ins. Parking is limited at the Shut-Ins. I am told that day visitors line up for parking spots. The good news, registered campers are given passes to special parking that we found to be easily accessible.

The Visitor Center is a nice amenity that should not be overlooked.There is so much history and science alive in this area and the videos and displays do a great job of helping to educate the public, young and old. New history has been added as well. The entire 2005 reservoir breach and subsequent efforts to recover have been documented and are available for viewing. We found the visitor center to be informative, entertaining, and a cool place to hangout on a hot day!

Overall Thoughts/Feelings about the Campground/Visit:

We loved this campground and this park. We went into our trip expecting to love the Shut-Ins but not loving the campground. As I indicated earlier in this post, knowing this was a “new” campground we expected to find a stark campground with no shade or trees. I can’t even express how happy we were to find the exact opposite. The campground sites were concrete and spacious. We honestly felt like we were at a private campground with the extra space of a state park. We had a fire ring and a picnic table. We had a pole with a hook that allowed us to hang both a lantern or our trash.

Going into the vacation, our research taught us that hundreds of people visit the Shut-Ins each weekend so we made plans to visit them during the week. Swimming in the Shut-Ins was fun. It was a new adventure. The water is cool and clear and the force of the water create the most spectacular water park you can imagine. The only thing to remember is; this water park is not made from tubes or pipes. This water park is made of rocks; and some are sharp and jagged. I am glad our children had life jackets and we all had water shoes on. In the end, we only played in the Shut-Ins once. Perhaps if we were staying a full week at this park we would have gone another day but due to our limited four days we had other exciting things to pack into our trip. We like camping at state parks and enjoy our contact with nature. We have been fishing, caught crawdads, observed birds, gotten close to deer, spied lizards , and maybe even inadvertently feed a raccoon or two. During this trip, we learned our limitations….snakes. On our first night, as the kids were busy riding their scooters around our loop and the adults were sitting by a campfire talking about our travels to the park, the Park Ranger stopped by. He pointed out to us that a copperhead snake was right in front of our campsite heading in our direction. Of course the majority of us had flip flops or sandals on our feet at the time. Thankfully the Park Ranger used a stick and safely scared the copperhead away from us but we decided to call it a night and go to bed early. Interestingly enough, the snake appeared again but never bothered us.

Daily, the camp rangers came by and invited all the kids and adults to the educational program of the night that was held at the parks amphitheater. Ironically, the first show was about snakes! The kids went and learned a lot of information. The second night the show was about comets. The show was high energy and involved glow sticks and again, the kids came back talking about the stars all night long.

Regional Activities:

We found so many activities in the surrounding Arcadia Valley that we honestly were busy every day during our stay. Other than stopping by a few convenience stores for drinks, we did not eat out on this trip so we did not visit any local restaurants. Here are a few of the things we found and highly recommend:
- Float Trip: Nothing says summer in Missouri like a float trip down a river. The Black River is perfect for floating; cool and clear water. The Shut-Ins prevent canoes from passing through the part of the river that runs through the state park, you actually need to go into Lesterville to find a canoe outfitter.
- Taum Sauk Mountain: Taum Sauk Mountain was approximately forty-five minutes from Johnson’s Shut-Ins. We packed a picnic lunch and spend the afternoon hiking one of the trails to the highest elevated waterfall in Missouri. Taum Sauk Mountain also has the highest elevation point in Missouri and you can access it easily from a parking lot near the elevation point.
- The Ozark Trail runs through Johnson’s Shut-Ins in continues through the region. Wayne has actually added hiking from Taum Sauk Mountain to Johnson’s Shut-Ins to his bucket list.
- Elephant Rock State Park: Another short drive from Johnson’s Shut-Ins (25 minutes) is another state park that is for day use only. Elephant Rock State Park is scattered with giant red granite boulder. There is an ADA braille trail that winds throughout the park. Children and adults have enjoyed climbing all over rocks that look like elephants from a distance. All of us loved visiting this park. When we ran our of steam from climbing and exploring we found ample picnic tables for our midday meal.
What we did not like:

Our main complaint was with the dump stations. There was no spigot of water to flush the black tanks. Luckily for us, there were openings in the full hook up sites and we were able to pull into one of them and empty and clean our tanks. It does baffle me that this campground and park that is so newly rebuilt and amazing for a state park does not have water at their dump station.

The playground is a secondary concern of ours. There is a playground and it was nice but it is near the campground store and not near any of the camping loops. The distance was far too far for us to feel comfortable sending the girls to play there.

We did have a near close encounter with a poisonous snake, a copperhead. We drove 300 miles (clear across the state) to visit this park. That is important because copperheads are just not that common in Kansas City and they were not even on our radar. Thankfully, nothing happened and a very nice Park Ranger educated us in the nick of time. I wish we had been warned about the copperheads at the time of our check in. I would really have like a brochure on the types of animals we might encounter and safety precautions to avoid contact or minimize contact. I know during my visit to Yellowstone National Park we were given ample brochures explaining how to interact with the animals in the park and how to keep ourselves and the animals safe.

In closing, this was our favorite trip of the year. It is high on our return list. If you are planning a trip to Missouri, or if you are a Missourian, we encourage you to get out and head to this state park.
February 18, 2016