Lake of the Ozarks State Park Campgrounds — Hotel in Osage Beach

This park is huge and there are a lot of good hiking trails and a public beach. Camping was obnoxious though. It's so crowded and noisy even until late at night. If you're roughing it and just doing tent camping be prepared to be surrounded by big RV's, lots of noise from big trucks and kids everywhere. If you're in a big group of campers with a huge family and friends outting then this is a great place to have big cookouts and get loud and crazy. If you're wanting to get away from it all and have a quiet place that's secluded from civilization then think again. If you have T-Mobile cell and data service you will not get service to even check the weather unless you go into town in Osage Beach. It rained practically the whole time we were there. It's definitely scenic in some spots and I'd like to go back and try some of the other more scenic trails but I'd need to plan ahead to ensure the weather would cooperate with us. I'd hate to get lost and not have any cell service. The bathrooms we nice and had plenty of shower houses except the beach didn't have a shower. There are also a lot of nice playgrounds for kids all over the place. Overall it's a nice well kept place with friendly hosts but it's too wild and crazy to escape from the city. I'll be going to more secluded...

We were parked in section 2 the first 2 nights and section 3 the last night (our fault... We added an additional night much later than our original booking). We enjoyed section 3 more. Less trees and closer to the beach. I think section 4 is the best. Right next to the beach and some spots are right on the water. Ticks were abundant. I had a baby tick on my back, my 7yr old had a big one in his hair line and a baby on his back. My husband had several all over his legs and waistline. My youngest loved the park because of all the animals. He thinks he saw a beaver 🦫 (🤷), we saw a raccoon, bunnies, lots of deer, lots of turtles and several woodpeckers. The Marina is great. We rented a boat from the Marina at public beach#2. Most other places were sold out for Friday (I called on Thursday). Their rate was much cheaper than the private companies. Boats and life vests were all like new. Very nice staff. Beaches were nice to swim/float in. Apparently lots of water snakes (non-venomous) but we didn't see any. One thing I wish we'd done is rent kayaks or bass boats and done the aquatic trail. They only rent those at public beach marina#1...and can't rent after 3pm.... Marina closes...

Would have given a 5 star except for the location of the handicapped site and rudness of the park worker. We picked the handicap accessible site because we had 2 mobility impaired members in our party. Had a large pad with overhanging picnic table and enclosed firepit. However it is positioned impossibly far down a steep hill from both bathrooms and a long drive to get around to either one. Also in the absolute bald open sun. Would be terrible in the summer months. We booked our site on the afternoon we were to arrive, then got lost finding the campground. Didn't arrive till late to check in. The next morning the guy on the golf cart was extremely rude and acted like we were lying when we told him that we were paying campers with a confirmation number. Took a bit to get emails pulled up to retrieve the information. Overheard him calling us in saying he didn't think we were supposed to be here. It's one thing to ask for verification. Another thing to be rude and accusatory about it. Otherwise it was a beautiful park. Huge beach with great shallow...