Hit the weather jackpot again this season and stayed at St. Francois SP on another unseasonably cool weekend in Missouri. We'd booked weeks earlier luckily, as the park was filled to capacity. All the sites in our loop were pull-through and seemed reasonably level. Ours was sort of bowl-shaped, so it was just a matter of getting into the right position to be level. Unlike our stay at another state park, campers here seemed to be honoring the dog rules, and not hooking up to the public spigots. (or maybe the very professional hosts were just enforcing the rules properly here). Despite the crowds, dogs, and kids the campground was pretty quiet and orderly. the sites to either side of us were reserved, but empty until our 2nd night, when 2 families who seemed to be together pulled in with huge trailers. After that, we had various people trotting back and forth through our camp site. kind of a peeve of mine. but we were inside most of the time so I didn't fuss. Unfortunately the weekend turned rainy and we were unable to try any of the hiking trails in the park. - VW_Vista

Nice. Big lots. Some have concrete also under picnic tables.
Big lots that are angled away from each other.
Nice state park. - Tworetired

We were struck upon arrival by how pretty the campground was with lots of trees, sites well-spaced apart, (mostly) level poured pads and a big green space near the shower house and the big children's playground. There was a wonderful ampitheatre near the bath/shower house also --- and the ranger had two fun interactive (educational) programs on Saturday. The camp hosts were terrific. They came around often to deliver ice or firewood and to assist with RVers and tent campers. I was surprised and pleased that my site had a big poured patio with the fire pit imbedded in it....this was much appreciated after the big downpour of rain. We got no TV reception (regular antenna) but good Sprint cell reception. I appreciated that the park rangers and the highway patrol drove through at nighttime; although our tent camping neighbors managed to keep their (loud) partying going way past 10 o'clock quiet time. You don't want to come here in the rainy season unless you like packing up with short notice, as the nearby Big River can overflow it's banks and come flowing into the low-lying campground. I agree with previous reviewers that there is much to enjoy in the park. We will be back. - stocky

This park is a work in progress. I would check back in 5 years, around 2018. First off the entry road is very narrow, one lane only, windy and drop offs on both sides. The sites are gravel with a downward slope so leveling is very difficult on some sites and would be almost impossible on others. It rained several days before we arrives and so our tires sunk into the mud as we entered the sites. Then exit road from the pull through sites is very tight plus the road has deep gulleys. We will need to back out of the site to avoid all the ruts in the road. There are no amenities, shower house or bathroom. Also there are no staff on site. We had to schedule an appointment to pay our bill. The view from our front window is the highway. We would not recommend this campground . - Linbarmax

There are two campgrounds in this park, the campground for those with ATVs and a campground for those with horses. The ATV campground has more amenities with paved sites and 50 amps. Since we did not want the sound or feel of ATVs, we chose the equestrian campground, about 3 miles away, with 30 amp gravel sites and pit toilets. It is much heavier wooded with very large sites and lots of quiet and privacy. We loved our choice. We were a bit concerned in that there was really very little park personnel presence. There are not camp hosts. Also the dump station is only at the ATV campground and you must go there when you arrive to register. Still, we would stay at this much quieter campground again. There is not water at each sites but there are water spigots scattered throughout the campground for filling a tank. We had good Verizon data and voice. Because of the heavy tree cover, we had difficulty getting DirecTV, but were finally successful in finding a hole in the trees. Most sites would not have satellite access. It was nice and dark and quiet at night. - TheJim

We stayed on the horse campground side so there are community water spigots, vault toilets and 30 amp max only. But it is gorgeous and peaceful and private. Be careful picking a site near campers with horses (our neighbors had smelly ones and didn't compost cover their poop!) but such a cool campground. I'd be hard pressed to recall any more beautiful in late October. Definitely gave that deep woods camping feel. Nature at its best! For those looking for more amenities I hear the main campground is awesome but they are pretty much always booked up so reservations or early arrivals a must. - Katygee

A beautiful place to stay. Wi-Fi at shower house and some of the camping sites closer to the shower house. Host was friendly and the people at the gate are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet - helpful and full of vigor. Love this place - if only they would get the Wi-Fi in the full campground this place would rate a 10. - firesafety912

Me and my father went at the end of May and it was great the we went hiking on found that the trails are beautiful. It was a great experience. The staff their was very nice but I wish that they were trained better because we asked about on of the trails and they didn't know anything about them. Other than that it is a pretty campground. (Especially in the Spring and Fall). The Bathrooms are very well maintained too. The other problem that we had was that the dump station was a little bit of a challenge to get to with our 24 foot trailer. The sites are great, they have a lot of room and are pretty flat. I do wish that their were water hook-ups. You get great views of nature and the woods though. HAVE FUN!!!!! - Mattman1222

Park only had about 4 walk up sites and the rest you need to reserve in advance. All the pads (that I noticed) were paved and mostly shaded. Not a big park but is well maintained and the camp hosts were very friendly. The park has a pool and has 1 river access (gets crowded on weekends) and a few nice trails (would be a nice hike in the fall). AT&T Cell service was excellent, did not detect any park WiFi and HD antenna picked up most channels (including FOX, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW and ABC) - stlcardfan

We came here because its close to home for us. We just bought our first camper and wanted to try it out somewhere close to home. It was early in the season so most amenities were not available to us. I would come here again, and we well be back again in July. - jstrom

The Campground is really clean and well thought out. There is a creek that is perfect for swimming in. (I tried to fish but all there is are very small sun fish). I highly recommend hiking the trails, they are a little hilly though. - Mattman1222

This is a very nice State Park campground. Our site had electric but no water or sewer hookups. There was a dump station at the entrance of the Park.

While we stayed at the campground passing through, it is a good distance from the highway on somewhat narrow roads from certain directions. Still, it was worth the drive as it is a very pleasant campground and area.

Bathrooms were clean and there are spacious, individual rooms for the showers.

There was no wifi but we had 3G signal with Verizon.

We would not hesitate to stay here again. - Mountainseeker

Nice state park campground. Sites are spacious. Not your place if you want to be plugged into the world. No problems sending text messages from the campsite; cell coverage was very spotty in the campground. There is no Wi-Fi. There are several hiking trails. - User2076

Although small, Hawn is one of my favorite parks. It is especially nice for families since it is small and not a lot of traffic. The playground is close to any site in the back loop and the kids wade and play in the creek which runs behind many of the sites. During the summer weekends, the rangers often hold educational and craft sessions for the children. Site 13 is particularly nice for families since it is roomy, in view of the playground and backs up to the creek. The restrooms are newer and feature the unisex showers which are convenient for families. Instead of stalls there are individual rooms about 6 feet by 6 feet and are really nice when showering toddlers and other small children. The park is quiet overall. People with children do seem to get up early though. - skeeter417

This is one of Missouri's many fine state parks. Beautiful tall pine trees throughout, very clean and well maintained. We stayed in the first section, its small, but peaceful, the other area is much larger. We love it here. - jstrom

The road to the campground in Hawn State Park is blacktop and at times, very steep. The campsites are concrete and level. Sites 1 through 9 are not big rig friendly. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring, and a post for a lantern. There is an amphitheater with weekend programs and a playground. 26 of the 45 sites offer 30 amp electric, the others are basic sites. There are an additional 5 sites that are for walk-in tent camping. Most of the sites are shady so if you want to use a satellite dish there are only a few that would be suitable. The campground is down in a valley so with the new digital TV stations we couldn’t get any television reception at all. We also couldn’t get a cell phone signal at the campground but driving to the top of the ridge where the dump station is located we could make cell phone calls. A few of the sites back up to the very small Pickle Creek which is great for kids to play in. There is no potable water at the dump station so you have to drive into the campground to fill your fresh water tank at one of the few water spigots spaced out amount the sites. The park has a small laundry and a pay phone available. The showers and bathrooms were clean. If you reserve a site online through the state’s website there is an charge of $8.50 per site in addition to the daily rate of $19 for electric sites. - Oakman

What a pleasant surprise this campground was-- we practically had it entirely to ourselves. It was hard to choose a campsite-- they were all long, level and shaded, plus each one had a level area for a tent. In addition to the parking spur, fire ring and picnic table, each site had a counter height table with a shelf above that, all sheltered by a roof, where you could do your meal prep. There was no electricity or dump station. Vault toilets were located throughout the campground. There were several water spigots and some were threaded so you could fill your tank. The campground has a trail that lets you access the 12-mile hike/bike trail that encircles the lake. We used this trail to reach the boat launch where they had a nice shady, waterfront picnic area. Further down the trail (or accessible by car) was a lovely beach area that appeared to be locally popular. The beach restroom did have flush toilets and coin operated showers. The lake is 440 acres and has a no wake rule. There is also pedestrian access from this lake-front trail to the Trace Creek section of the Ozark Trail--- Missouri's long distance hiking trail. The campground has 39 single sites, 7 double sites, 9 walk-in tent sites, and 4 group sites. Some of these are available for reservation on recreation.gov. Our rate reflected the access pass discount, but there is no discount on the double sites. - midcenturynana