Conservation-area & other camping

The rules

• It's primitive only — no MDC area has RV hookups, so bring your own water. Walk-in dispersed campers should camp at least 100 yards from parking lots and roads.
• Stay limits: 14 consecutive days in any 30-day period, and 30 total camping days per calendar year across all MDC areas.
• Groups over 10 need a special use permit (request it at least 30 days ahead).
• Quiet hours are 10 p.m.–6 a.m.; pack out your trash; don't cut vegetation.

A few words this page uses: primitive camping means a bare site with no hookups — no electricity, water tap, or sewer — so you bring everything you need. Dispersed camping means you don't use a marked campground at all; you set up out on the land (here, well away from parking lots and roads). A special use permit is written permission you ask MDC for ahead of time when your plan is bigger than the normal rules allow — like camping with a large group.

Other options

If a conservation area doesn't fit your trip, the rest of Missouri is full of places to camp:

• Private campgrounds and float outfitters. Outfitters line the float rivers — the Current, Jacks Fork, Niangua, Meramec, and Black — and many rent campsites along with canoes, kayaks, and shuttles. You book straight with the business.
• Private RV parks and KOAs. You'll find them near the big lakes and along the interstates, with hookups, showers, and other extras the free sites don't have.
• The Katy Trail. You can't camp on the trail itself, but the trail towns and private campgrounds line the route, so you can ride or walk a stretch and stay nearby.