Hiking

Jellystone Park™ Pittsfield

90 RV Sites, 52 Cabins, 5 Tent Sites, 4 Glamping Sites, 6 Cottages

Jellystone Park Pittsfield in Illinois offers 90 RV sites, 52 cabins, five tent sites, and four glamping sites on a private lake, with 30 and 50-amp full hookups and rigs accepted to 60 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year. Back-in and pull-through categories at both amperages join a splash pad, beach, jumping pillow, and boat rentals. Ninety sites run in back-in 30-amp, back-in 50/30-amp, and pull-through 50/30-amp categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi, sized to 60 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Fifty-two cabins, five tent sites, and four glamping sites make the lodging inventory unusually deep. A general store, boutique shop, laundry, propane fills and exchange, dump station, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. Day passes run 11am to 6pm and include the jumping pillow, wibit, pool, slide, splash pad, paddle boards, and kayaks. A splash pad and outdoor pool anchor the summer, with a private lake, beach, and boat rentals supporting swimming, boating, paddle boats, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, inflatable water toys, and fishing. A jumping pillow, arcade, game room, gem mining, sports courts, volleyball, gaga ball, horseshoes, golf cart rentals, walking trails, hiking, biking, a recreation center, playground, pavilion, dog park, bar, and snack bar fill the rest. Pike County sits where the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers define the western Illinois landscape. Summer is decisively the season. Reserve well ahead.

from $43/night

RJM Camping and RV

15 RV Sites

RJM Camping and RV in Wright City, MO, offers 15 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and back-in sites for rigs up to 50 feet. Sites are back-ins carrying water and electric — there's no sewer at the site, so plan on the on-site dump station. The property is gated and rated big rig friendly, with a community fire pit and walking trails. Pets are welcome. The lots are fully rocked, which matters more than it sounds after a wet week. The appeal is seclusion: private sites on a quiet rural property with a pond, a shared fire pit, picnicking, and the kind of dark sky that makes stargazing worth staying up for. Wright City sits in the gently rolling countryside of Warren County, 45 miles west of St. Louis via Interstate 70 — close enough to the highway to be practical, far enough off it to be quiet. Rates and availability are on the booking page. With 15 sites, calling ahead is worth the minute on a holiday weekend.

from $25/night

Starlight Trail RV Park

Starlight Trail RV Park in Kirksville, Missouri, offers oversized full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric, plus cabins, on a quiet country property minutes from town. A stocked fishing pond, billiards, and a general store serve guests staying a weekend or settling in for months. Full-hookup back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric with fire pits and site WiFi. The sites are generously oversized, which gives large rigs room to spread out rather than parking tight to a neighbor. Cabins serve guests without a rig. A general store, propane fills and exchange, laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The park suits weekend getaways, family vacations, hunting trips, business travel, and extended stays equally — that flexibility is much of what it offers. On-site recreation is calm by design. A stocked pond supports fishing, billiards fill indoor hours, and a campfire and the quiet of the surrounding countryside handle the evenings. A golf course, river, and boating are nearby. Pets are welcome. Kirksville sits in Adair County in northeast Missouri, home to Truman State University. The surrounding attractions are more varied than the location suggests: Thousand Hills State Park, the Kirksville Aquatic Center, West Winery at Jackson Stables, Jacob's Vineyard and Winery, the Sugar Creek Conservation Area, the Adair County Historical Society, and the Del and Norma Robison Planetarium are all close. The park operates through the northeast Missouri season, with summer travel and fall hunting both drawing steadily. University event weekends tighten Kirksville lodging — reserve ahead if your stay overlaps one.

from $45/night

Hickory Haven Campground

50 Tent Sites

Hickory Haven Campground near Keokuk, Iowa, offers full-hookup RV camping and 50 tent sites across 27 shaded acres, with EV charging, a general store, laundry, pond, walking trails, and pickleball. The property has built a devoted following since 1993 at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers. RV sites carry full hookups. Contact the campground to confirm amp service, length limits, and current category availability for your rig — the published site records are incomplete. Fifty tent sites make this substantially a tent property. A general store, laundry, dump station, restrooms, showers, firewood, and EV charging handle the practical side — charging is still uncommon at campgrounds this size and worth knowing about if you tow with an electric vehicle. Ask about the Loyalty Club discount when you arrive. A pond supports fishing, with walking trails, hiking, a playground, pavilion, community fire pit, dog park, pickleball, corn hole, and genuinely good stargazing filling the rest. Planned activities run through the season. Pets are welcome. Twenty-seven shaded acres and more than thirty years under the same devoted following is the kind of continuity that says more than a feature list. Keokuk sits at Iowa's southeastern tip where the Des Moines River meets the Mississippi — one of the most historically significant confluences on the inland waterway. The Keokuk Lock and Dam is among the largest on the river, the eagle watching each January draws crowds, and the George M. Verity River Museum and the National Cemetery are both in town. Nauvoo, Illinois, and Mark Twain's Hannibal are within reach. Summer drives demand, with the January eagle season a distinct second wave. Reserve ahead for holiday weekends.

from $25/night

Lakeroad Village RV Park

11 RV Sites

Lakeroad Village RV Park in Kirksville, MO, offers 11 RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 85 feet. Sites come in two types: full-hookup back-in 30/50-amp sites carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi and a picnic table, and dry back-in sites for guests who don't need hookups. At 85 feet the sites take a longer rig than nearly anything else in the region. Laundry and a bathhouse with showers are on the property, and pets are welcome. The grounds are quiet and well kept rather than programmed, with picnicking and genuinely dark rural sky for stargazing. Kirksville sits in Adair County in northeast Missouri's rolling farm country, near Thousand Hills State Park, the aquatic center, and West Winery at Jackson Stables, with Truman State University giving the town its rhythm. Rates for full-hookup and dry sites are on the booking page. Ask about extended-stay rates if you're in town for a semester or a project.

from $45/night

Pin Oak RV Resort

144 RV Sites, 5 Cabins

Pin Oak RV Resort in Villa Ridge, Missouri, is a full-hookup resort with cabin rentals, an outdoor pool, a lake with a beach, a recreation center and mini-golf, 40 miles west of St. Louis on the historic Route 66 corridor. Sites take rigs up to 65 feet, and each site allows a maximum of eight people. Full-hookup RV sites accommodate rigs to 65 feet. Cabin rentals serve guests traveling without an RV, and personal mailboxes and on-site laundry support the longer-stay and seasonal guests the resort draws. A general store stocks camp basics, propane fills and firewood are available, and bathrooms and showers are on site. WiFi reaches the property. No wristbands are required to use the amenities; visitors pay $10 per car and check in at the office, and they are welcome to use the pool and other facilities. On-site recreation is the resort's strength. An outdoor pool and a lake with its own beach cover the swimming season, and fishing is available on the property's lake and pond. Mini-golf, a ball field, sports courts, basketball, volleyball, horseshoes and shuffleboard spread across the grounds, with an arcade, ping pong and a craft room in the recreation center for indoor days. Walking and hiking trails run the property, a playground and a covered pavilion serve families and groups, and a fenced dog park is on site. Pets are welcome. Meramec Caverns is 10 miles east in Stanton — a 4.6-mile cave system with five stories of limestone formations and the barn-billboard advertising legacy that made it Route 66's most pre-advertised roadside stop. The Meramec River sustains one of Missouri's most actively paddled float corridors, and Hermann's German-heritage wineries are 35 miles west. Pin Oak operates year-round. Spring and fall are the most comfortable seasons for Route 66 driving, cave touring and Meramec floating, and the winter months carry steady snowbird traffic using I-44 south. Reserve ahead for summer peak and for the April-to-October float season.

from $40/night

Meramec Campground

30 RV Sites

Meramec Campground in Stanton, Missouri, offers 30 full-hookup pull-through RV sites along the Meramec River, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 87 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, open all year. Full-hookup and water-and-electric pull-through categories mean no backing at any site, with an outdoor pool, pond, and general store. Thirty sites span pull-thru, pull-thru water-and-electric 30/50-amp, and pull-thru water-and-electric 30-amp categories, carrying water, sewer, and electric where noted with site WiFi, sized to 87 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Confirm your tier, as the water-and-electric categories do not carry sewer at the site. An all-pull-through layout at 87 feet accommodates anything on the road. A general store, laundry, propane fills, dump station, and restrooms handle the practical side. If you arrive at night with a reservation, your name will be on an envelope by the front door with a map and your site details inside. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a pond for fishing, an arcade, playground, community fire pit, and dog park filling the rest. Canoeing, kayaking, hiking, biking, and swimming run on the river. Pets are welcome. Franklin County sits where the Meramec's spring-fed limestone clarity meets the forested Ozark foothills, and Meramec Caverns — Missouri's most famous cave system and a Route 66 landmark — is right here. Float trips, Meramec State Park, and St. Louis an hour east round it out. Summer float season drives demand. Reserve well ahead.

from $52/night

Ozark Outdoors Resort

Few Ozark destinations pack as much river adventure into a single address as Ozark Outdoors Resort, a sprawling riverfront property on the Meramec that has been welcoming families to Leasburg, Missouri, since 1960. The resort lines one and a half miles of the Meramec's scenic banks with more than 200 RV sites, motel rooms, cabins, and tent sites—enough variety to accommodate any travel style under the towering hardwoods and limestone bluffs that define this corner of Crawford County. A full roster of water-based recreation, aerial adventure, and evening dining ensures guests rarely need to leave the property once they've settled in. RV sites range from primitive to full hookup with 20/30/50-amp electrical service, water, and sewer, and a picnic table and fire ring accompany each site regardless of hookup level. Cabin options span rustic Country Log Cabins and Deluxe Kozy Cabins to motel rooms, condos, and group retreat lodging, giving the resort the flexibility to host family reunions, corporate outings, and church groups as easily as solo travelers. The Meramec Mercantile supplies camping essentials on-site, while the Paddlers Bar and Grill serves seasonal meals and cold drinks at the water's edge. Float trips on the Meramec, Courtois, and Huzzah Rivers form the beating heart of the Ozark Outdoors experience, with canoe, kayak, raft, and tube rentals available for half-day or multi-day journeys through crystalline Ozark spring-fed water. For those who prefer their adventure overhead, the Floating Treetops Aerial Park delivers 36 unique challenge elements across six ziplines suspended among the forest canopy—a course that engages first-time climbers and seasoned adventure seekers alike. Sand volleyball, horseshoes, and a swimming pool add land-based options when the river crowd thins in the late afternoon. The Meramec River corridor hosts some of Missouri's most spectacular cave country, with Onondaga Cave State Park just upstream offering guided boat and lantern tours through one of the Midwest's finest show caves. Meramec State Park, a few miles east on Highway 185, provides additional hiking trails, cave tours, and a family aquatic center popular with summer visitors. The resort's position between St. Louis—about 75 miles northeast—and the Missouri Ozarks interior makes it a natural launching point for exploring the Salem Plateau, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and the Current River corridor to the south. Float trip season runs April through October, with June and July delivering the warmest water and the most festive atmosphere on the Meramec, when the resort's campground fills with the laughter of families who have made the Ozark Outdoors float trip an annual tradition. Spring and fall bring lower crowds, quieter campsites, and a more contemplative Ozark experience for those who prefer their river adventure without holiday weekend energy. Reservations are strongly recommended for summer weekends and holiday blocks—the combination of riverfront camping and the Floating Treetops aerial park draws visitors from across the Midwest, and popular cabin styles book months in advance.

Candy Cane RV Park & Campground

9 RV Sites, 3 Tent Sites

Candy Cane RV Park & Campground in Steelville, Missouri, offers nine full-hookup RV sites and three tent sites three minutes from downtown, with 30 and 50-amp service and rigs accepted to 45 feet. An outdoor pool, mini-golf, and a family-owned operation that charges nothing extra for the shower house or dump station make this an intentionally small-scale Ozarks stop. Nine sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 30-amp back-in and 50-amp pull-through configurations, sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Three tent sites cover simpler camping. Laundry, restrooms, showers, a dump station, and WiFi handle the practical side — and the shower house and dump station carry no charge, which small family-owned Ozark campgrounds maintain as a point of hospitality. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with an 18-hole miniature golf course, sports courts, basketball, volleyball, and a pavilion filling the grounds. Swimming, fishing, hiking, and picnicking run from the area, with live music through the season and a state park nearby. Pets are welcome. Steelville sits in the Meramec River valley at the heart of the Missouri Ozarks, where spring-fed streams, float rivers, and karst geology of the Salem Plateau created Missouri's float-trip camping culture. The Meramec River is five miles away and Meramec Spring Park — with its natural spring, trout hatchery, and trail system — is ten minutes out. Downtown Steelville's restaurants, including Rich's Famous Burgers and the Spare Rib Inn, are three minutes from the sites. Float season drives summer demand. With nine sites, reserve well ahead for any warm-weather weekend.

from $25/night

Kaskaskia River Camping & RV Park

34 RV Sites, 7 Tent Sites

Kaskaskia River Camping and RV Park in New Athens, Illinois, offers 34 full-hookup RV sites and seven tent sites on the riverbank, with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 90 feet. Back-in categories at four amp combinations join pull-in and pull-through tiers, with a pavilion and direct river access. Thirty-four sites span back-in 20/30/50-amp, back-in 20/50-amp, back-in 30/50-amp, back-in 50-amp, pull-in 20/30/50-amp, and pull-through categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric, sized to 90 feet. Listing the exact amp combination in every category removes any doubt about what you are plugging into, and 90 feet accommodates anything on the road with room to spare. Seven tent sites round out the lodging. A pavilion handles the practical side. The river carries the recreation, with boating, fishing, hiking, and biking all from the property. The amenity set is deliberately spare, which keeps rates low and suits a park built around the water rather than on-site programming. Pets are welcome. St. Clair County sits in the rolling agricultural country between East St. Louis and the old river towns of the American Bottom. The Kaskaskia is Illinois's second-longest river and runs navigable here, with a lock and dam system and good catfish and bass water. St. Louis is about 40 minutes northwest, which makes this a quiet base for the metro without metro pricing. Summer drives the heaviest demand, with spring and fall fishing strong and considerably easier availability. Reserve ahead for holiday weekends.

from $18/night

Ted's RV Park

26 RV Sites

Ted's RV Park in Decatur, IA, offers 26 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 80 feet. Sites come as back-ins and pull-throughs, each carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi, a fire pit, and a picnic table. At 80 feet the pull-throughs take the longest coaches. The park is open all year, with laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, a boutique shop, a dump station, on-site dining, a bar, and a barn. Pets are welcome, with a dog park and a playground. A lake, creek frontage, and picnicking fill the grounds, with fishing and boating nearby. A state park and wineries are close. Decatur City sits at 308 Vine Street, half a mile from Interstate 35 at Exit 12, in the rolling prairie of southern Iowa. The nearest grocery, hardware, and services are in Leon, a few miles east. Rates and availability are on the booking page. Deer and turkey seasons fill this corner of Iowa — reserve ahead in the fall.

from $38/night

Sankoty Lakes

Sankoty Lakes Resort in East Peoria brings a genuinely exceptional resort experience to the Illinois River Valley — built on the crystal-clear waters of the Sankoty Aquifer, one of the deepest and cleanest natural water sources in the Midwest, where spring-fed lakes have the remarkable clarity of a mountain trout stream in the flatlands of central Illinois. Twenty minutes from Peoria and two and a half hours from Chicago, Sankoty Lakes offers resort-quality amenities and a natural setting that consistently surprises guests who didn't know this caliber of Illinois camping experience existed. Accommodations range from glamping safari tents and well-appointed RV sites to upscale lakeside cabins sleeping up to eight guests — each with fully equipped kitchens, decks, and outdoor fire pits — and the exclusive 1840 Ranch House, a private guest property suited for larger groups and special occasion gatherings. The Woolly Bugger, Sankoty's signature on-site restaurant and bar, provides full-service dining and evening atmosphere that sets this resort clearly apart from conventional campground food. A beach pavilion and bathhouse, outdoor fireplace, free bicycles for guest use, picnic spots, a 24-hour front desk, and a coffee shop deliver service quality alongside the outdoor recreation. Pets are welcome at Sankoty Lakes Resort. The Sankoty Aquifer lakes provide a water recreation environment of genuinely unusual quality — the kind of visibility that makes kayaking, canoeing, and swimming feel like engagement with a natural aquarium rather than typical Midwest lake recreation. A dedicated fly-fishing trout stream on the property adds a specialty fishing experience alongside the lakes' broader angling, birdwatching, and hiking trails that keep guests occupied from dawn into the evening hours. Peoria, 20 minutes from the resort, offers more cultural depth than its Midwest city reputation sometimes suggests. The Caterpillar Visitors Center chronicles the engineering achievements of one of the world's great manufacturing companies in an interactive exhibition that resonates well beyond industrial tourism. The Peoria Riverfront Museum combines natural history, art, and a giant-screen theater in a well-funded facility anchoring the riverfront. The Peoria Zoo and the Historic District's restaurants and live music venues fill an evening excursion with ease. Starved Rock State Park, roughly an hour east, provides the Illinois River's most dramatic canyon scenery with 18 canyons, waterfalls, and trails for a full day of hiking. Sankoty Lakes Resort operates through the Illinois camping and resort season, with summer representing peak demand for the lakes' swimming, kayaking, and fishing recreation. The Woolly Bugger restaurant and the resort's premium amenity level have created a devoted local following — Sankoty lakes guests often describe the resort as a destination in its own right rather than a base camp for elsewhere. Reserve early for summer weekends and cabins, which fill ahead of RV and glamping tent availability.