About 2 1/2 hours south of St. Louis, MO and 5 miles north of Piedmont off Hwy. HH is the River Road Park campground, which is operated by the Corp of Engineers. This is only the second COE campground that we have had the opportunity to visit, but we have to say again that we are impressed by their layouts and amenities. The campground is set along the river banks of the Black River just below Clearwater Lake Dam. There are a total of 109 sites, many with electric and water hookups. Their amenities include a dump station, hot showers, picnic shelters, a boat ramp, a playground, hiking and bicycle trails, fish cleaning station, and public phones.
We stayed on the west bank of the Black River in the smaller section called the R loop in site R3 (pictured above). While there are only pit toilets and no showers on this side of the campground, it provides a quieter place to camp away from all the activities across the river in the main section. There is a walk way that goes around the spillway connecting the two campgrounds and can easily be walked or you can ride your bike. During the 5 days that we spent there, the walkway was improved and steps put in going down to the spillway.
If you love canoeing there are several places to rent canoes during the summer, however, we were there just after many businesses had closed down for season in late September. The nearest outfitter was outside of Annapolis (near Redmon) and about a 45 minute drive north. Jeff's Canoe Rental is a great alternative if you find yourself in the area off season and want to canoe the Black River. While there are much closer outfitters, such as Beaver Springs Campground and Canoe Rental, we were very happy to make the drive. They were very nice and accommodating and drove just us two in a pickup truck to the drop off point. It was a very windy day, but the Black River never disappoints with the beautiful scenery of the Ozark Scenic Riverways.
Since we love to ride our bicycles, it was an awesome bonus that the main trailhead of the Black River Hike and Bike Trail is in the River Road Park. It's a short 3.5 mile paved and gravel trail that follows along the Black River with access off of Hwy. HH as well. We were able to make it a little longer since we had to ride our bikes around the spillway over to the main campground to access the trailhead, but still not a long ride.
Our site was a great place to people watch as many would fish down by the spillway as well as a point that was directly in front of our campsite. The fishing at the spillway must be really good because some would come and stay the whole day there. Even if the fish aren't biting, the scenery is still awesome and if you want to stretch your legs, the hiking trails make for great wildlife viewing. (watch our video below for the deer sightings)
There's also a nice large beach with pavilions and picnic tables above Clearwater Lake Dam if you like to go for a swim. Clearwater Lake is crystal clear and since it was unseasonably warm for late September, we took advantage of it!
River Road Park is a great choice if you like quiet and solitude. The whole 5 days we were there, only one other camper pulled up for 2 of those days and a tent camper for 1 overnighter. Of course, if you want to be close to the hot showers and water hookups you will need to stay in the main campground on the other side of the river.
One word of caution if you choose to stay in the R loop. There is a steep hill going down into the campground with two switchbacks. Even the turn just after you cross the dam could pose some problems with oncoming traffic. The worst is coming out as part of the exit is one way with a sharp narrow turn and part of the pavement has broken away. We pull a 22 foot TT and would recommend nothing over 30 foot unless you are quite confident. But that is just for the side we stayed on.
If you would like to see more of our adventures in southern Missouri at the River Road Park and surrounding areas, please watch our video below. Don't forget to like, subscribe and comment and join us on our next adventure as we turn our dreams into reality.
If you would like the recipe for our Campground Apple Pie featured in the video, just shoot us a message!
***Jeff's Canoe Rental is actually outside of REDFORD MO, not Redmon, MO as it says in the description above.***