Pomme de Terre State Park — Attraction in Gerster

This review is for the PITTSBURGH park at Pomme De Terre. I wish I could say great things but unfortunately this experience was one of my least favorite camping spots to date. Not very level campsites. Out of five spots reserved, only one was very level. The rest of our campers had a really tough time getting their campers to level out. Not well kept. The spots are overgrown and it doesn’t seem like they mow or trim very often. None of our campers used their picnic table/canopy spots because they were riddled with webs big enough to hold a fly-swatter. Lol. No privacy. The park staff drives by all of the sites about every 15 minutes. They don’t just drive by either, they go by as slow as humanly possible and stare at each spot and the occupants. We thought maybe it was just us but we spoke with several other campers the next day and they all said the same thing happened to them. There was an older lady and man that drove around in a white truck and stopped at my friends’ spot several times during our stay. They told them don’t hang clothesline’s one time that they stopped. They told them don’t park on the grass another time they stopped. They told them no golf carts another time they stopped. Never any help. It seemed like they have 100 people working here when they are driving by your spots every 15 minutes but the moment you go up to the main booth, there is never anyone there to help. Bathrooms are not well kept. Of course you’re in the middle of the woods and there will be bugs but there were wasps and mosquitoes everywhere in the shower house.

Out of all of the state parks we’ve stayed at, this was our...

Beautiful lake and views. Campsites large and good distance from neighboring sites. However, we went for the beautiful lake and were excited to swim, as it was so hot outdoors. We finished setting up our campsite, hopped in the car and headed to the beach ( yes, you have to drive to beach as most sites are away from beach access). So...we get to their BEAUTIFUL beach and notice there are no people swimming. Turns out, beach was closed due to potential e-coli/algae. This is understandable, of course. BUT there was no notice on their website when we resered the site, that their beach was closed . We were very upset as our planned weekend of swimming was ruined. We would have never rented the camp site if we were informed on their website that their beach was closed. They had known about the algae in the lake in plenty of time to have taken a few minutes to post on their website that their beach was closed. They didn't. We spoke to several other campers as well and they too stated their camping plans were dismantled due to the beach being closed. Because of this non communication of their beach being closed and the distance of amenities from campsites , we will not be returning to Pomme De Terre Staye Park. Too bad because the lake is...

Pomme de Terre state park is just a 2.5 hour drive from Kansas City. There is a trail head right by the campsite that takes you on an easy 2-mile hike around the lake. However, if hiking is one of your favorite activities, Pomme de Terre might not be the best place to visit. The trail was in need of some maintenance, but still very nice to get out and take in nature.

The lake is usually fairly clean. In the Spring of 2021, there was an algae issue. However, the park did a great job of posting warnings about water quality.

The bathrooms are clean and the park rangers are very friendly and helpful. The park is basic, but my nieces and nephews enjoyed it. We had a beautiful view of the lake from our campsite. Getting down to the water was a little difficult. There are sites that have easier lake access.

Many of the campsites are beautifully shaded. The ones that aren’t had little shelters above the picnic tables; which was nice. The raccoons are cute, but out away your food and trash every night. They are brave and will attempt to raid your campsite while you’re enjoying the fire.

We visit Pomme de Terre every year and plan to...