After COVID hit, we decided the only activity we could do to keep socially distant was camping, so our journey began. In 2020 we camped 6 times plus 1 overnight backpacking trip. While this may not be a lot for some people, it was much greater than or standard 0 or 1 camping trips per year. In an effort to remember all the places we visit, we decided to document the journey. The website was created in 2021 and the posts will grow as we continue our adventures. We may double up on some older sites but we will update old reviews to document anything new or create new posts if there’s enough worth writing about.
We hope this page can help people find good campsites and backpacking trips in Missouri and Illinois based on the criteria they find important. Use the search tool on the right to filter on what is important to you to see if we have a review that matches!
We have certain criteria for reviewing that we’ve broken up into 2 categories and 5 ratings.
Category: Car Camping
Each section of car camping is is ranked 1 being the worst to 5 being the best:
Location
This score is calculated on how easy we feel it is to get to this site. The score will be lower if it’s a spiderweb of long winding roads, lots of dangerous backroads, or rough terrain. The score is also lower if the amenities such as swimming are not in the same area as the campground. The score will be better if the drive is easy and everything you need is in the same location.
Campground
This score is calculated on how large the individual sites are, how close the neighbors are, cleanliness, how many trees are available for hammock hanging, and how quiet or private it is.
Activities
This score is based on how much there is to do. Some things we look for are viewing nature, swimming, and bicycling. We decided to break out Hiking into its own category.
Hiking
This score is based on how much good hiking there is. Good hiking to us means that there’s a lot to see on the hike, it’s not too hard, and it’s at least a mile and a half long.
Amenities
Amenities include toilets, showers, shopping, and firewood availability, whether purchased or chopped.
Overall
This is an average of the scores above rounded to the nearest whole number. If we think it’s worth it, we will nudge the score to emphasize that we think this place is worth checking out.
Category: Backpacking
The ranking structure of Backpacking is slightly different than car camping because we don’t include bathrooms or amenities in our ranking. Instead, the criteria changes are as follows:
Activities
This score is calculated on the scenery and any overlooks or summits
Hiking
This score is based on how hard the hike is. If it’s just a miserable uphill hike up a mountain, the score will be lower.
Amenities
This score is calculated on how well the trail is maintained and marked as well as how accessible firewood is.