What makes a great campground? 

When the camper is hitched, the cooler is drained, and it’s time to head home, I always find myself thinking about what stood out and what was memorable. 

Was it the scenery? The campsite? The people?

Every camper values something different, but these are the things I look for when I’m booking an established campground with designated campsites.

Dog-Friendly

For us, this is a non-negotiable. Fortunately, we haven’t encountered a public campground, like those at Missouri State Parks, that wasn’t dog-friendly. However, private campgrounds and resorts that offer RV sites aren’t always a guarantee. 

Missouri State Park campgrounds have been incredibly dog-friendly in our experience. A few parks do have restricted areas where your dog cannot swim or enter, like the trout fishing areas at Bennett Spring State Park, the slippery, rocky shut-ins at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park, or the public beaches at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. However, the places that your pup can enjoy vastly outweigh the places where they can’t.

Clean Bathrooms

Lunar Moth on a Toilet, Photo by Marina Gonzales

We don’t all have a 40-foot camper with a bathroom, high-pressure shower, and hot water. If you do, then this probably isn’t even in your top 10. You probably won’t remember every spotless campground bathroom you’ve ever used, but you’ll never forget the truly awful one. That’s why clean, well-maintained restrooms – and bonus points for a nice shower house – are worth their weight in gold. 

Spacious Campsites

 Mark Twain State Park, Photo by Marina Gonzales 

I camp because I want to get out, get away, and enjoy the outdoors. For me, crowded, wall-to-wall RV parks just aren’t my style. I don’t need the whole park to myself, but I want enough space to sprawl out a little, set up a game of corn hole (or “bags” to the Midwesterners out there), and not worry about a nosy neighbor eavesdropping on my conversation. 

Cell Signal and Wi-Fi 

This one is tricky. Can you survive a weekend without a cell signal? Absolutely. I think it’s important to unplug and immerse yourself in the world around you. But let’s be real: We use our phones for more than just entertainment. A consistent cell signal makes it easier to check in with your group if you’re doing separate activities, pull up directions, download a digital trail map, or even simply check the weather forecast. And who doesn’t like a good movie night?

Community

Bennett Spring State Park, Photo by Marina Gonzales

There are two sides to this campground coin: respect and interaction.

A good camping neighbor can be friendly and sociable, but the best camping neighbors are respectful of their camping community. We’re all here to enjoy the same place, but how we do that might look different for different people. I remember the friendly conversations, but I also remember the camper who brought a LEAF BLOWER and fired it up every hour on the hour. (Spoiler: You won’t find leaf blowers on my camping essentials list.) 

Many campgrounds offer organized events like Women’s Free Fishing Day at Bennett Spring, stargazing with a  high-powered telescope at Onondaga, or maybe your Camp Host is making “cowboy coffee” for the whole loop like ours did at Mark Twain. 

Camp Store

I recognize this is a little luxurious, but we are talking about what makes a campground great! An onsite camp store is perfect for when all of your careful planning meets something unexpected.

Regret not packing fixings for s’mores? Camp store. 

Did your cooler’s “72-hour guaranteed ice” not hold up to the heat? Camp store.

Need a fun sticker to commemorate your awesome weekend adventure? Camp store. 

At the end of the day, there’s no single formula for the perfect campground. Some campers want full hookups and Wi-Fi. Others are happiest with nothing but a picnic table and a fire ring. For me, if you combine clean facilities, roomy campsites, a welcoming camping community, and just enough conveniences to make the weekend stress-free, you’ve got the recipe for a campground I’ll happily visit again.

What about you? What’s one feature that can make or break a campground? I’d love to hear it.