Camelot RV Park, Poplar Bluff, MO Campground Review

At the end of October 2017, I stayed at the Camelot RV Campground in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. I picked this place because it is halfway between Branson, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee. At first, this was my only reason for staying in Missouri, but after being here for a week, I found that this was a nice area of the country. Being here in the fall meant that the campground was less crowded. The area around the campground is also very rural and beautiful. In this post, I will share a few of the pros and cons I had with this campground. If you ever stayed here and have your own opinions, share them in the comments below.


Pros:

• staff will escort you to your site and help you set up your rig if you want
• amazingly strong wifi for one device per site using TengoInternet
• cable TV, but I didn't hook up so I can't tell you if it was any good 
• Laundry and bathrooms were locked and you used a keypad code to access them. (I felt much safer)
• 5 minutes from amenities in Poplar Bluff (church, shopping)
• 5 minutes from a very nice neighborhood park
• near hiking trails in Mark Twain National Forest

Cons:

• the campground roads were very hilly and the turns were tight for larger rigs
• traffic noise from Route 60
• sites are close together 
• RV park, not campground (no fire ring, for example)

Despite the campground's cons, I really enjoyed the area around Poplar Bluff. It was the simple things of nature that I found so enjoyable. For example, as I was driving to Mass on Saturday evening, I saw an amazing sunset. It was so awesome I just had to pull into a nearby Walmart parking lot just to watch it and to take a photo. Now, I know you don't need to be an RV camper to see a sunset, but somehow I find that my senses are more attuned to it now that I have time to pay attention. Other things in nature that I notice more are: the singing of the birds and the chirping of crickets at dusk. I also love deer! Several evenings while I was sitting beside the campfire, they came out to graze in the fields nearby and I could see their eyes shining in the light of the fire. 

Now there are a few other campground options in the area. (About 30-45 minutes north of Route 60) Both of the ones I drove to check out are located at Wappapello Lake State Park and are managed by the Army Corp of Engineers. Now, you know how much I love their campgrounds, but I needed to get some work completed on the internet at the end of October. Since I didn't want to spend my days sitting in a Panera, McDonald's or Starbucks using the free wifi, Camelot was the better choice for me. If you don't need access to campground wifi, then these campgrounds with their lakefront views may be a great option. If I am able to find an affordable way to get unlimited hotspot internet access through a phone company, I may actually consider this state park if/when I am driving through this part of the country again.