Siloam Springs State Park

$20 a night for power in the middle of nowhere equals quiet nights and lots of wildlife!!! It's a hilly camp, so most trails are down and up. The tow in wasn't bad, a few small hills. The Hickory Hills spot was up a steep hill that I didn't want to tackle. The other camp sites were easily accessible for our trailer. It's in the woods, so you have to keep an eye on the trees as you tow your trailer in. Internet worked on our Verizon phone. Weak signal without the booster and worked fine with the boaster up. Showers at bath house looked descent with newer shower heads. We didn't use them, so I don't know how hot the water was. Water fill is in the ground pump spigots. The cheap nickle fitting leak no matter what brass fitting I attached. Luckily I have a water bandit and that allowed me to fill my tank. The spigot would work well to fill a jug or bucket, just wasn't the best to fill a travel trailer tank. We rolled in after the Independence Day holiday and were surprised to see only a handful of tags up from the weekend. Apparently this hidden gem is never busy. We had the entire loop to ourselves part of the time, then shared it with a single other camper. Each loop had one camper in it, so it was super spread out while we stayed. If they filled all the way up, the campsites might be a little close together. Tons of wildlife here. We saw deer, racoons, a fox, toads, birds, squirrels, possums, a ground hog, a skunk and did we mention deer cause they were everywhere in great numbers! The host was off a day or two on our arrival. Then we saw him once while out walking. He sped by on his gator as fast as it would go and studiously avoided eye contact, smiling or waving. We waved, he turned his head and flew by. I got the impression he wasn't a people person. The place was well taken care of. There was garbage on the ground, but it wasn't as trashed as other places we have been. We only picked up half a dozen pieces of trash from the trails, not too much but it was still around. Please pick up your garbage people! Also cigarette butts count as trash, something smokers seem to forget! Electric worked good. Several trash cans near entrance to camp. Dump station on the way out was fine. No potable water fill at the dump station, so you have to use the spigots spread around camp. No swimming in the lake. Fishing seemed like it would be good. Best part about this place is how quiet it was. So peaceful. No engines, no planes, no trains, no music, just nature. Reminded me of being an hour and a half from town out in the Everglade or Death Valley. It was only half an hour to a small town or 45 minutes to Hannibal, a medium sized town. We would definitely stay here again. Heck, I want to find out about being a host here. . .

Campground is nice and woodsy. Beautiful lake for kayaking or fishing. Lots of trails to hike. Sites with hookups, picnic table and grill. Sites are not very private. Most are back-in and pretty level. Public restrooms available.

We came here on New Years morning. There was hardly anyone here so it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves. It's such a beautiful park and I like that it's located so far away from any big city that it keeps out the riff raff. Every visit to this park has been a wonderful experience.

There are a few decent hiking trails, two campgrounds, and a 58 acre lake with decent fishing. However, there isn't much else to the park. They could have done a much better job with more hiking trails and better parking. There are basically no informational signs available. The park is tranquil though. The park has free entrance. Also, beware of the quicksand by the old Bridge. It is a scary deal as we had a member in our party who was over knee deep and had to be saved. We were lucky there were tree branches around we could through to the person otherwise it would have been a dire rescue situation.

Beautiful place. Very quiet. Great place for family camping. You can put 2 campers on same spot, or 1 camper and 1 tent, or 2 tents.

We stayed at lakeside cabin, I've included photos. Be sure to take foam or air mattresses, as bunks are plywood. Pets allowed in cabin and outside on leash. Floors are vinyl plank. Cabin has heat/ac. No showers anywhere in park, but cabin has kitchen sink and 2 burner induction cook top, as well as very small dorm sized refrigerator. Bathroom has sink and flush toilet. Sleeps 7 with two twin bunk beds, and a twin over king. Huge wrap around deck with two picnic tables, outdoor grill and fire ring. Bring everything you need, because closest gas and stores are aprox.15miles away. There is an Amish store about 5miles away, but it's very pricey with limited albeit awesome selection of homemade items they do have firewood. The only issue we had was that this cabin used to be a concession stand, and we had at least one person a day walk up on us unexpectedly, despite signs saying lakeside cabin, renters only. I suggest if you have dogs to bring a beware of dog sign with you. Cabin is 50yards or so from the lake, down an incline. Cabin rental includes John boat with paddles and life jackets. We will definitely go back!!

I spent the weekend camping here with four friends. Lots of pine trees in the camping area which worked perfect for one friend and I who hammock camped! There were several water spigots through the campground which were nice to use for cleaning cookware. The shower house had hot water and was in better shape than I would have expected for a state park campground. There are lots of trails, deer/wildlife, a bow range, and a lake with boat rental. The trails had a few spots that could use work on their bridges and steps but overall nice trails. The staff were very friendly and I would definitely go back.

We did a overnight camp here. They have over 100 camp sites. Basic is 10 and electric is 20. Even though we picked a electric camp site the camp host only charged us 10 because we weren't going to need electric. The camp host was so wonderful. She pointed us to good spots for our hammocks and told us if we needed anything to just let her know. We did some kayaking on the lake which was clean and well kept. The water was really clear. The only reason I'm giving a 4 star review and not a 5 is because of the trials. They are not well marked and we ended up on the wrong trail. They don't have a ton of signs pointing you in the right direction so we ended having to back track. We did finally find the backpack camp which was our goal so we can use it in the future. I'm just glad we scoped it out first before bringing our 20lb packs. The camp looked well maintained and I'm excited to use it next time. The closest gas station is in Liberty 10 miles away but there is a Amish store just north of there with homemade breads and other baked goods. We went for lunch there. They know how to make a sandwich!

+ Enjoyed kayaking on the lake -- at the time of our visit, it was $8 for a single or $10 for a tandem for a two-hour rental... definitely enough time to navigate around the lake more than once. + If you've got your own water craft, you can canoe, kayak, paddle, or use a small electric motor with your jon boat. Nothing bigger or noisier. + Campground was comparatively quiet and well-kept, with ample space and shade for each site. We stayed in Oak Ridge, which is, as far as I can tell, the same campground as Pine Grove shared entrance & host, one shower house for both; it's just that the former is situated primarily among oak trees and the latter, primarily tall pines. + We drove through the area where the original springs and hotel were located 100+ years ago -- not that impressive. There's places to picnic here; a few points of access for the Deer Run Trail; and an archery range; but the playground equipment seems pretty outdated + Lots of hiking crammed in to the park -- we didn't do any hiking, but there's trails along the lake, prairie, and forested parks of the park. 10+ miles total, and the longest 6.6-mile moderate-difficulty Deer Run Trail can even be broken in to smaller, easier sections, if so desired. + Check-in for camping was kind of confusing. Permanently-erected sign at the park office indicated if arriving after 3:30pm, we should make camp and check in the following morning. Typed sign hung on office door indicated that our campground would have a sign-in sheet near its info sign at its entrance, along with an envelope to include payment we reserved & paid online, so no need to do that much. When we went searching for that sign-in, the campground host was nearby and didn't need us to sign in or anything, as we'd already made the reservation and paid. TL;DR: easy enough, if not slightly confusing. + No swimming permitted in the lake -- kind of a bummer, but the trade-off is that the park and lake are probably a little quieter than they otherwise would be. + A few other picnic areas are situated in the park, with their own bathrooms or latrines, playgrounds, and parking. + Lake stocked with largemouth bass, bluegill, sunfish, trout, catfish, crappie... I think there's more, but can't recall at the moment. + Pretty remote. First, pretty regularly had no cell service data or voice--not that that's necessarily such a bad thing. Also, the nearest Walmart is about a half-hour away, in Quincy. But, that night sky.... wow! + Everyone we encountered working there concessions/rental store operator, campground host, & park ranger was very friendly!

Nice quiet park. Pet friendly. Interesting experience.