Cuivre River State Park

We booked site 14. When we got here, there was not enough cell service for us to work. Since the campground was relatively empty, we drove around looking for an available site with cell service on Verizon. Once we found a site, I called customer service and asked if we could switch sites. They said no. And since we had used the online check in they emailed us earlier that day, they would not reimburse any of our stay. It was late, cold and getting dark, so we ended up just paying for another site for the entire week. So, we now have bought 2 sites and the campground was still mostly empty.

With that said, it is a beautiful park. The electric only and primitive sites are very well spaced apart. The full hookups are a little closer together than we like but not terrible. If you need cell service, anything around sites 1-4 was okay without boosting but good enough for 2 of us to work with boosting. And full hook up area was pretty good all around.

NOT for any rig over 12 feet MAX height !! STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE A TALL RIG !!!! Primarily for travel trailers and tent campers. Lots of low hanging branches, some tree trunks leaning out over road. Park does not keep low hanging branches trimmed off. I made it in here with my 35ft 5th wheel which is 13ft 4in tall by driving on the wrong side of the road many many times, even around blind corners, to avoid low hanging branches and tree trunks leaning out over the road. I am a very experienced Class A Commercial truck driver (30 plus years 48 states oversized loads ect) and even with all my commercial driving experience in mountains and on narrow tough roads I was very stressed out by the time I made it to the gate for the campgrounds.
The campsites themselves are great for RVs less than 35ft long, My rig is 53ft long with truck and trailer combined and I had to get off the road into the brush somewhat to get backed into my campsite. If you have a travel trailer (30ft) or motorhome (35ft) or less you'll get along just fine. We had full hookups. Typical above ground water hydrant and well water, about 25psi to 30 psi water pressure. Water was good in general but like always use a good water filter. Electrical was 50amp pedestal with 30amp and 120volt hookups. My surge protector and EMS (onboard electrical management system) showed all good grounds and properly wired pedestal. EMS showed 118v/119v volts. Sewer dump hookup is 4inch PVC just below ground level. No threaded connection, you will need one of the rubber cone type adapters (doughnut style). Campsite is gravel pad that was fairly level. Concrete pad for the picnic table. Fire rings for campfires and must get the firewood from the park. You can not bring your own firewood into the park. Asphalt roads to campsite in campgrounds. Campground roads are 2 way traffic and narrow. Park personnel are friendly and try to be helpful. Verizon cell signal (4g LTE) was decent with 2mbs - 3mbs speeds. email and web browsing was fairly decent but videos had to buffer a lot. T-Mobile/Sprint was weak and dropped connection many times. I do not know about AT&T (don't have AT&T). No detectable campground Wi-Fi. I did not go to the lake so I don't know anything about it other than there is a sand beach swim area. I was going to try to go fishing (catfish) but I ended up leaving a day early because of the possibility of rain storms on the day I was scheduled to leave. I did not want to fight with the low hanging branches on the park roads going out of the park in the rain. Would I ever camp here again? NO WAY!! I dread trying to get out of here without tearing up the roof or ACs on my 5th wheel. I'll make it but it isn't going to be easy or enjoyable.

This is a wonderful park with well-layed out campsites. The fall colors are great...lots of hardwood trees in the area.

But the registration “system” is a mess. We tried to make a reservation on line for the same day but, no, Missouri doesn’t allow that. So we drove to the park and the campground which is way back into the park. We passed about 15 signs that said Campground Full, Reservations Required. Got to the campground booth and the nice person there says, oh, we have campsites. So we got a site and love it! I counted 7 unoccupied sites just in our loop. Dumb.

Update: Missouri State Parks now allow same-day reservations. See https://www.mostateparks.com/same-day-reservations

Arrived late afternoon on a Saturday and just a few non-electric sites left. Would have been there sooner, but GPS had us taking a long, curvy, hilly route....finally found a person for directions to CG 4 miles from 1st entrance.
Got a couple dollars veteran discount.
Not far from Troy which has a Wal-Mart and lots of amenities.
Would have given a better rating, but we had to sanitize and clear the cobwebs from the vault restroom before daring to use it.

If you happen to be an introvert, as some may say I am, Cuivre River SP is not the place for you to camp in mid to late October. The campgrounds transform from the usual campfires and kids on bikes to elaborately decorated campsites full of ghouls, goblins, Yoda’s and, yes, kids on bikes. This campground embraces the Halloween spirit and then some. Campers ranged from retirees with enormous 40+ foot campers to young families in tents.

We have stayed here twice, once this spring and now in October. Both of our visits to Quivre River were very pleasant. The campgrounds are clean and well maintained. Its close proximity to St. Louis makes it an ideal weekend getaway. The sites are a bit close together but there are large trees around each site and you can back in large rigs at most places. The people at the Visitor’s Center were very friendly and helpful. They sincerely wanted campers to enjoy their weekend. If you want the Halloween experience, you should make reservations 6 months in advance and sites go FAST.

This is my second time staying in the state park. I preferred this time over two years ago, only because it was off season and the park was not crowded at all! We stayed on site 47 which had a perfect view, secluded for the off season and right next the a hike. Only disadvantage, which you’ll find in any state or national park, is the sites being right on top of each other... so you get little privacy during busy season. But hey, we spent less than $100 for a weekend for two than we would of for maybe 5hrs in STL for st Patrick’s day!

If you want a fun little getaway that’s close to home, I’d recommend this state park, maybe arrive early if you want to get a good spot in the busy season though!

In 2015, rates in season are 13 for basic sites, 21 for sites with water and electric, and 28 for full hookups.

Nice wooded area. Reasonable separation between most sites. Wifi available, but not 100% reliable. Small store stocks common camper necessities. None of the sites are on the lake; the campground is about 180 steps above the lake. There is a sandy beach and swimming area. Canoes, Kayaks, stand-up paddleboards and a peddle boat are available for rent, and very popular. Seasonal interpretive programs are available for children on weekends.

GPS directions will send you to Walker road, which is not open. Campers do have to drive through the park. The road is curvy with some steep areas. Take it slow.