Missouri's Largest State Park Is A Perfect Midwest Mountain Paradise With A Dazzling Lake And Recreation

Whether spring, summer, or fall, the Ozarks is one of the most popular vacation spots for Midwesterners, with rolling forests, limestone buffs, and many craggy caves that give the region its characteristic landscape. However, some areas of the Ozarks provide more opportunity for visitors to disconnect from urban life than others. For a great all-around experience, travelers can't stop raving about the Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Missouri, which has been described as one of the best camping spots in the whole of the midwest.

Lake of the Ozarks State Park is the largest state park in Missouri, and is spread over 17,400 acres on the shore of the lake itself. As such, the park offers a wide range of outdoor recreation activities both on land and once you take to the water. On top of this, Lake of the Ozarks State Park offers exceptional amenities for both campers and day trippers while ensuring you maintain that getting-back-to-nature vibe that so many modern city dwellers urgently seek.

Lake of the Ozarks State Park came to be as part of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, which reclaimed farmland for recreation in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Today, it is covered by 12 trails through which you can explore the park while taking in wide lake views, uncovering hidden streams and springs, and much more. The routes are suitable for hiking and biking, and three of the trails, such as the nearly 14-mile long Trail of Four Winds, are ideal for horseback riding. For a more subterranean adventure, you can even explore Ozark Caverns, subterranean recesses fill with bats and unusual rock formations — there are daily guided tours through the summer months.

The Lake of the Ozarks itself was created in 1931 with the construction of the Osage River's Bagnell Dam. It spans an enormous 55,000 acres, and for visitors to the state park it is easily accessible, offering many alluring reasons to take to the water. With 80 miles of lakefront shoreline, the park offers two sandy swimming beaches that are the ideal place to relax and unwind between dips in the water, as well as two marinas for boating (there are boat for hire facilities for pontoons, fishing boats, and skiing vessels). 

One unique attraction at Lake of the Ozarks State Park is the perfectly-named Aquatic Trail. Listed alongside the hiking trails on the Missouri State Parks website, the Aquatic Trail takes boaters on a tour around the lake, introducing them to the diverse habitats of the park with explainers describing the ecosystems the park supports and the challenges the nature faces. The nearby dreamy and underrated Osage Beach resort, which isn't in the park but is a short drive north, is also worth visiting.

Nearby commercial airports to Lake of the Ozarks State Park include Waynesville-St. Robert Regional Airport and Columbia Regional Airport, both of which are around a 60 mile drive away. Nearby transport hubs include Kansas City (170 miles northwest of Lake of the Ozarks State Park), Saint Louis (160 miles to the east), and Oklahoma City (370 miles southwest).

There are four year-round campsites in Lake of the Ozarks State park, offering both basic and electric camping pitches with amenities including toilets, showers, laundry facilities, and an onsite camping store. For a more heavy-duty but no less wild option, you can also book an outpost cabin. The rustic cabins, of which there are eight, offer accommodation for up to six people, and come with a wood-burning stove, refrigerator, and more. Yurts are also available. For more luxurious accommodation farther afield in the Ozarks, try America's premier wilderness resort, Big Cedar Lodge, which blends rustic allure and luxury.