Summer on the horizon means many things to me. Smore’s roasting over an open fire, lazy days spent floating on the river, cozy evenings under the Big Dipper on my back patio, and state park camping trips with the kiddos.
The last one on that list has only begun to inch it’s way back, after having been kicked off the list when my oldest daughter, Olivia, was just 18 months old. At that time, my husband and I thought taking an 18 month old camping would be great fun and we made the ghastly mistake of buying a camper so that we could do all the camping with the 18 month old……… A couple trips in, we realized how un-fun that actually was.
At the time, we were not only potty training Olivia but felt we had to pack everything under the sun to keep this tiny human entertained for the weekend (which, honestly, is the mistake of all first-time parents am I right?).
The stresses of bringing an 18 month old camping burned us out very quickly. The hours spent packing everything in the camper just to come home several days later and unpack it all wore on my last nerve. The cleaning of the camper pre and post trip was the last thing I had time for as a working Mama.
Fast forward six years later to 2019 and now I can clearly see the beauty of camping adventures with my children. Back in May, when the weather was not yet warm enough for swimming or boating, we took our kiddos to St Francois State Park in Bonne Terre, Missouri. St Francois is located on the eastern side of the side, south of St Louis by an hour and a half-ish.
We didn’t need electric and water hookups (my husband built our camper to be self-sufficient without) so we set up camp over with the tent campers. This worked out great because it allowed for a lot more space for my kids to roam and play and wasn’t nearly as busy as the campground area with all the hookups.
Saturday morning brought some nasty weather as it rained pretty well all morning. Fortunately, we were close enough to a town and ventured there to see what we could find to check out. We toured the Bonne Terre Mine and while that was an “adventure” in and of itself (insert eye roll here) we were glad we did it because the mine is simply a marvel that should not be overlooked. To read more about our “adventure” to Bonne Terre Mine, click here.
When the sun started to come out again in the late morning, we headed back to the state park and had some lunch. We love hiking and St Francois had so many hiking trails to choose from. We chose the Swimming Deer Trail because we thought the shorter, 3-mile trail was likely about all our kids could handle. (We were right, by the way. Both boys ended up falling asleep during the hike. One had a nap in the Ergobaby carrier and the other one had to be carried while sleeping.)
This particular trail runs alongside the Big River on a lot of areas, which I find so peaceful when you’re hiking. Since our Missouri Spring has brought us nothing but rain, it was really flowing this particular weekend. The trail was an easy hike, with the most strenuous part being a short hike up a waterfall-type area to get higher on the bluff. We saw deer in the woods, we crossed over multiple areas of a very beautiful creek. We only passed by several other families out hiking as well. I would have loved to hike some more of the trails because this was truly the highlight of the trip for me. Hiking, to me, embodies all the things you’re seeking when you’re out camping….. Serenity, peace, quiet, nature, beauty. The hike took us about 2 1/2 hours and Olivia did start getting pretty tired towards the end so I’m glad we didn’t choose one of the longer trails. I’ve listed the trails below that you can find in St Francois State Park. As you can see, you have no shortage of great hikes while you’re camping here.
Mooner’s Hollow Trail: Color Blaze- blue; Length: 2.8 miles; Rating: Moderate
Swimming Deer Trail: Color Blaze- green; Length: 3.1 miles; Rating: Moderate
Pike Run Trail: North Loop Color Blaze- red; Length: 4.2 miles; South Loop Color Blaze- yellow; Length: 7.2 miles
When we got back to our campsite, the kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing around our campground, digging in the dirt, chasing each other, and racing their bikes to the next camp site over. This time around, we brought very, very few toys, with the hope they would find things to keep themselves occupied. Which is supposed to be the big picture of camping, right? To be outside enjoying the great outdoors and letting kids play in our God-given natural environment. They did great! We did take their bikes, which they played with the entire time. We also brought our portable DVD player, just in case we were rained in and thankfully we didn’t have to break it out.
For dinner, we grilled on the grill already at our campsite. I made a few sides in my swanky cabin camper kitchen. For dessert, we had S’mores roasted on the fire pit, of course. Because it’s just not a camping trip without S’mores!
Saturday evening, while Robby was grilling dinner, I took the kiddos down to the amphitheater for a presentation on owls. It was only mildly interesting but it was something different for us to check out and I appreciate the state parks offering things like that, as a way to break up your camp routine and throw in something a little different.
Our campsite was just a short walk to the bath house and restrooms, which were all clean, as most state park restrooms seem to be. The playground was just on the other site of the bath house, which of course we had to make several trips to. Which is just yet another reason why we love the state parks. Nearly all of them have great playgrounds for the kiddies.
I would love to check out St Francois in the heat of summer and take our kayaks out on the Big River. Now that would top off the camping trip!
Missouri State Parks are a blessing to campers in Missouri. The parks are well maintained and offer so many things to keep you busy on your adventure from hiking to floating to playgrounds and everything in between.
