Jackson County Parks & Rec — Attraction in Missouri

They maintain a lot of trails in the area. They do a lot for recreation. Too much? We’ve had problems on their trails (Little Blue & Rock Island & Lake Jacomo) such as a lot of ATVs illegally cruising back and forth, nasty porto potties, auto break ins, windows smashed. We have always called in these incidents, were thanked for reporting, but as always there are too few rangers to do much if anything. One time in 2023 (this is inexcusable) I came across the initial beginning of a forest fire around Lake Jacomo. It was small but not insubstantial, bigger than a large campfire that likely had been burning overnight based on the charred logs in the area. I was assured a ranger would come. So I waited. The fire was getting larger. I called again. I started carrying water from a pond nearby in 2 empty 5-gallon jugs I had in the car. It took about a half dozen trips to and from the pond about 1/2 mile away. I finally got the fire out to the point where it was just hardly smoldering. It took a couple hours. Guess what? Still no rangers. I have no idea how I was in the right place at the right time. The trail had recently been cleared of downed trees with a chainsaw, and I suspect sparks on the very dry day had...

I always have a wonderful experience when I visit Jackson County Parks and Recreation. The beauty of the landscape is inspirational. The peace I leave with after a walk surrounded by nature. The memories I have shared with my children at Jacomo. If you love connecting with nature this is a great place to enjoy it. Plus there are so many other things to enjoy... Fishing, cycling, boating, swimming (if you have a boat). I have always found something to interest me here at JCP&R. Please remember to clean up after yourselves, respect the land and don't litter. Fishing line is a terrible thing to leave behind. I personally bring a bag with me to clean up anything I see left behind as I enjoy all the beauty of the area. Check it out. Make some lasting memories, get some exercise or just take it all in, find some inspiration and inner peace. Overall enjoy it. I always do! Thanks JCP&R employees! It's a privilege to have a place like this to enjoy whenever I desire. I appreciate you and all the hard work involved in keeping up the place and always improving and maintaining the trails keeping this lake a family and pet friendly place for all to...

Blue springs lake campground is a beautiful little campground but…. Beware, the emergency alert siren went off at 11am this morning. We are from upstate NY, so I ran to the camp host who, amused, told me oh this happens on the first Wednesday of every month …(during tornado season) like I know when their tornado season is…BTW, no emergency alert came on our phones (several apps) and the host explained this is because I’m from out of state. Hmmm. Having spent most of my adult life near a nuclear power plant, I would never take such a siren lightly. I was terrified! I was truly terrified by this. We adhere to all of the campground rules and requirements, we read the rules at every campground we pull into so as to be good guests. This notification of scheduled sirens is nowhere. After the fact, we reviewed all local online .gov info and many differing “schedules”. I believe this notification absolutely should be on the rules page (2 pages, by the way of things we shouldn’t do) to inform visitors of this happening and furthermore, what to do in the event it does go off for a...