Places · Campgrounds · Near Van Buren, Missouri

Big Spring Campground

The Park Service's main campground in the Big Spring area: 123 reservable sites on the Current River, a boat ramp, electric hookups in one loop, and Big Spring itself within walking distance.

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Big Spring Campground is the developed front-country campground the National Park Service runs in the Big Spring area of Ozark National Scenic Riverways, on the Current River about four miles south of Van Buren. Its 123 sites take tents and RVs, running from standard non-electric sites to the 200 loop's 50-amp electric sites, with cluster sites and group sites in between, including the Chubb Hollow group campsite. Every developed site has been reservation-only since 2025, booked through Recreation.gov, with same-day reservations still available.

The campground doubles as a river access. A boat ramp at the campground gives canoes, kayaks, and trailered boats a put-in and take-out on the Current River, and Peavine Pavilion, a reservable group picnic shelter off Peavine Road, is booked as part of this same facility. Trails thread through the area, including the River's Edge Trail toward Peavine, and Big Spring itself is within walking distance, so one camp here works as a base for the spring, the river, and the historic lodge district all at once.

Plan around the water calendar. Modern restrooms run April 15 to October 15, and the water system shuts off from October 15 to April 14, with Big Spring's heated shower houses and flush restrooms the winter exception. Sites have no water or sewer hookups; a dump station stands at the entrance. The campground closes for managed hunts on October 30 to November 1 and December 4 to 6, 2026, though the spring and boat ramp stay open. And as everywhere on the Current River, high water can change plans: the Park Service closes the river to non-motorized boats when it runs two feet above normal.