Among the party coves lays a bastion of nature complete with no less than 11 beautiful, forested or water trails in Lake of the Ozarks State Park.

The road from Osage Beach shopping center took us back into the woods as the state park itself was no less than 5 miles from the main road. The park has a high deer population. From the start of the park to our campsite one evening along the winding approach road, we counted no less than 30 deer, sometimes going only a few miles per hour as the darkness descended.

There are 4 Sections of over 180 campsites at the park. Some are closer to the trails while others are closer to the beach and lake accessed through a labyrinth of roads. The bathroom and shower house are very old school and were due for a good sprucing up, but soap was provided, so that gives them a solid C for effort. One thing to note that not all campsites are equal. Some had lots of space, while others, near to the water are jam-packed in some spots. Restrooms are few and far between. We selected on of the over 180 campground sites with electric and set up our square drop camper. In the distance down the hill, a deer watched us and calmly fed on the vegetation.

The camp store right at the entrance had everything we needed and more. StevetheBikeGuy and I tried their ice cream offered. Pretty good stuff. There were souvenirs, camper last minute items, local craftsman blacksmith offerings, and plenty of local maps our storekeeper was happy to go over with us.

We will cover the two trails we did hike in future blogs, Fawn’s Ridge and Lake View. What we decided by the end of our time at Lake of the Ozarks State Park is that we will be back for the hiking and camping in the near future.