Be the first to I had camped at this campground in the past, and I tent camped there in June 2007.
Describe your camping trip:
This campground used to be known as Hawthorne Landing Campground up until 2007 when new owners took over and changed the name to Van Buren Campground. Our camping trip involved 12 people and 4 adjoining campsites directly beside Current River in Lake of the Ozarks. Our trip was the weekend before the 4th of July holiday. There was some rain and the temperature did not hold out good for floating down the river, but it still leaves no real explanation as to the disrepair of this campground.
Pros: The campground is located at the end of the all day tubing trip down Current River.
Cons: The way the campground has been reconfigured makes for no drainage in the event of rain. When rain does come, main drainage water from the town of Van Buren comes directly through the campground flooding almost every campsite. Due to the problem of not having proper drainage, grass has not grown except for some small patches of water grass that have developed. A majority of the dirt has a slick mossy type coating on it, one of our people in the group actually slipped, fell and was injured due to the slick coating. The sand and dirt have held so much water for so long there is a bad smell, what I like to refer to as a rotten worm smell. You must find a way to haul all of your own trash up to one dumpster by the entrance of the campgrounds. No other trash receptacles are available. You are made to wear bracelets now to show that you have paid for your stay and use the showers. They advertise heated showers, but I did not find one. The owners now require a cleaning deposit of 10 dollars per site. I did get my deposit back, but only after being scolded because some wood was left in the fire pit. I guess that before leaving you are also supposed to haul your ashes from the fire pit to the dumpster too, but they said the reason why they check the fire pits so well is to insure nobody has thrown any cans in the fire pit.
Cons: The way the campground has been reconfigured makes for no drainage in the event of rain. When rain does come, main drainage water from the town of Van Buren comes directly through the campground flooding almost every campsite. Due to the problem of not having proper drainage, grass has not grown except for some small patches of water grass that have developed. A majority of the dirt has a slick mossy type coating on it, one of our people in the group actually slipped, fell and was injured due to the slick coating. The sand and dirt have held so much water for so long there is a bad smell, what I like to refer to as a rotten worm smell. You must find a way to haul all of your own trash up to one dumpster by the entrance of the campgrounds. No other trash receptacles are available. You are made to wear bracelets now to show that you have paid for your stay and use the showers. They advertise heated showers, but I did not find one. The owners now require a cleaning deposit of 10 dollars per site. I did get my deposit back, but only after being scolded because some wood was left in the fire pit. I guess that before leaving you are also supposed to haul your ashes from the fire pit to the dumpster too, but they said the reason why they check the fire pits so well is to insure nobody has thrown any cans in the fire pit.
Nearby attractions: A number of nightly entertainment venues around Van Buren, Missouri.
Further comments:
Overall, I cannot recommend this campground to anyone at this time, and it is a shame, I really used to enjoy camping at this campground. Sorry Current River enthusiasts, but this campground has definitely become a "no go" as far as I am concerned.
