Crowder State Park — Attraction in Trenton

Two of us went to Crowder State Park to disperse camp. We were not disappointed. We arrived the morning of April 8th, 2025 and parked at shelter House 3 where overnight parking is allowed. We registered on line for the overnight stay. Our plan was to hike the Thompson River Trail South Loop and the north loop, and connectors 2, 3, and 4. Seeing all of those Trail sections gave us an opportunity scope out all the trails open to dispersed camping. The park staff was friendly, they stopped when they saw us looking at a map to see if they could help, and they gave us some good pointers. The trails have lots of hills, but plenty of flat spots for dispersed camping. We found plenty of water along connector number 4, and several places along the north loop. There were also a few places on the South Loop, but it was a little dryer. You can find a sandbar next to the Thompson River on the north loop that gets you to the river if you're interested. Also on the North loop, there's a little bit of a side Trail that goes back into a ravine with a little trickling waterfall and a pool of water underneath. This Ravine area had plenty of flat spots to camp. This time of year, the redbuds and flowers were blooming. We also had no issues with ticks and poison ivy. Beautiful! Along the north loop, we dropped our packs and took a short walk up to the Thompson house which is being restored. It's looking pretty good, but it looks like there's a lot more to do. We camped near the river on the North Loop on the first day, and finish the hike on the second day. Our tracking apps showed us hiking a total of 15.5+ miles, and elevation of...

Visited the park to hike the Redbud Trail. This is the review I left on AllTrails: "Gave this trail 4 stars because of the maneuvering I had to do to get around overgrowth so thick there was no way I could see to get safely through it. I ended up veering off the trail, skirting a picnic area, and re-entering the woods at a break in the trees that led back to the trail. Then, so I could get my [AllTrails] 'verified complete' I backtracked to the point on the other side of the place that was blocked because of the overgrowth. Overall, this added about a half mile extra to my hike to avoid what ended up looking like maybe 50-100 feet of overgrowth (but there was no way of knowing this before taking a detour). I don't have a problem with extra mileage; I have a problem with the trail not being maintained. I would also recommend going clockwise up the rugged water runoff as opposed to taking the trail counterclockwise and having to descend the water runoff section. But that might just be me being leery of footing and slipping. If I lived in the area, I might chance this trail again in cooler months when it's probably not so buggy. I don't live close by, though, and I won't make a point...

The nice friendly couple yesterday when I pulled in were VERY nice VERY nice and helpful what I DIDNT know was the few sites near the lake at day use only ,the lady said every body thinks that so maybe the camp ground should put up a sign . The camp site I choose was a tent site but I wasn’t prepared to camp but I did have a van so I slept in that AND that camp site for a tent was so it was flat hard but flat so I parked there I didn’t know until THIS MORNING EARLY MORNING WHEN THiS RUDE VERY RUDE young lady knocked on my van and told me that I must park on the street . She was VERY RUDE ! ALL tent sites are in the SUN morning and evening . Never saw such a THING , the older couple saw my van and where it was parked they didn’t mind...