Gooseneck Campground
The Park Service campground at River Mile 0, where the Lower Current and the Riverways end: a large flat camping field on the river at the end of Big Barren Creek Road, with standard sites, a picnic area, and an accessible restroom.
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Gooseneck is where the Lower Current runs out. The campground sits on the park's southern boundary at River Mile 0, the downstream end of Ozark National Scenic Riverways, on a big flat piece of ground right against the river. A small inlet draws wildlife, the gravel bars carry the swimming and floating, and the sites nearest the water look straight out over the current.
The setup is simple and roomy. Standard sites carry fire rings, picnic tables, and lantern hooks; the sites farther back sit under oaks, hickories, walnuts, and sycamores, while the open flat ground is why RVs and campers favor this end of the park. The restroom building is accessible with parking beside it, but the Park Service is plain that the rest of the campground is not wheelchair accessible and holds no ADA sites, and it sends campers who need one upriver to Big Spring Campground.
Camping runs at the park's back-country rate of ten dollars a night, the Park Service charges no entrance fee anywhere in the Riverways, and the drive in is part of the filter: west from Van Buren on Highway 60, south on Highway C for about eleven miles, then east on Big Barren Creek Road to where the road simply ends at the campground. Check the posted river levels before you go, because high water rewrites every plan on this river.
Good to know before you go
- Fees
- Camping is $10 per night at the back-country campsite rate (National Park Service news release, March 21, 2022, rates effective April 15, 2022; Gooseneck is expressly named among the back-country campgrounds). No fee is charged for river access or day use, and no entrance pass is required anywhere in the park.
- Hours and seasons
- The Park Service lists Gooseneck Campground as open; no daily hours and no seasonal closure are stated on its campground page. Campground quiet hours are 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. park-wide (Superintendent's Compendium). River conditions and flood closures can change access; the Park Service posts Current River levels and closures.
- Parking
- Parking at the campground at the end of Big Barren Creek Road (NPS Road 106). Route from Van Buren: Highway 60 west about 5 miles, Highway C south about 11 miles, then east on Big Barren Creek Road about 1.2 miles to its end (National Park Service campground page).
- Accessibility
- The restroom at Gooseneck is accessible, with adjacent parking (National Park Service). Apart from the restroom building the area is not wheelchair accessible, and there are no ADA campsites in this campground; the Park Service directs campers who need an accessible site to Big Spring Campground instead.
- Nearest town
- Van Buren, Missouri
- Region
- Southeast Missouri
- Coordinates
- 36.82117, -90.94679
What you can do there
- Standard campsites with fire rings, picnic tables, and lantern hooks
- Accessible restroom building with adjacent parking
- Picnic area (park brochure; NPS public map data)
- Canoe and kayak access on the Current River (NPS public map data)
- Large, flat camping area popular with RVs and trailers (RVs and trailers allowed, no hookups stated)
- Gravel bars on the lower Current River
- Physical address: NPS Road 106, Kelley Township, MO 63965 (National Park Service)