Camp Observer1 of 6 photos
Ruark Bluff West
Overview
Ruark Bluff West is a shady campground located on Stockton Lake in the scenic Ozark Mountains of southwestern Missouri. The lake and surrounding landscape offer countless recreational opportunities along its nearly 300 miles of shoreline, providing visitors with many ways to explore one of the most sought-after natural areas in the state.Recreation
Boating is always a popular pastime at the lake. Sail boating is especially popular and the lake hosts several races each year. The facility provides a boat ramp for easy access to the water.The waters of Stockton Lake are home to several species of fish including small and largemouth bass, crappie, white bass, walleye, catfish and sunfish, making it an ideal area for anglers.
Several trails wind around the lake shore and through the landscape. The Stockton Lake Equestrian Trail continues approximately 15 miles between Hawker Point and Orleans Trail Campgrounds.
Facilities
Ruark Bluff West offers 74 campsites, showers, a dump station and a boat ramp. Many of the sites have electric hookups.A boat ramp and beach are conveniently located just outside the entrance to Ruark Bluff East and West parks.
Natural Features
The land surrounding the lake contains hundreds of acres of native prairie grasses, rolling hills and thick forests that turn crimson in autumn. An abundance of wildlife lives both in and around the water, including wild turkey, great blue heron, deer and bald eagles. Visitors can learn about the lake's bald eagles by attending an annual eagle-watching event during the winter.Nearby Attractions
Several full service marinas are located around the lake, offering groceries, gas, tackle and more.Camp site features
Across 64 camp sites:
- Electric hookups: 38 of 64 sites
- Picnic table: 63 of 64 sites
- Pets allowed: all 64 sites
- ADA accessible: 2 of 64 sites
- Group sites: 1 of 64 sites
- Longest rig: 55 ft
- Largest party: 75 people
- Power up to 30 amps
- Equipment: RV, Tent, Trailer
Directions
From Greenfield, Missouri, take State Highway H. north for 6.4 miles and turn
left on the park access road. Follow signs into the park area.
Stay Limit
Check in from 4 PM, check out by 4 PM.
Reviews
Ratings (221)
5 stars
112
4 stars
64
3 stars
28
2 stars
11
1 stars
6
Donald S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:17
Reviewed a day ago
Great place to go. But to many free dogs running loose. Not on leashes. Otherwise it’s a great place to go camping.
Dan G
Loop:Ruark West
Site:62
Reviewed 2 days ago
Nice facility but there are some problems. No attendent during night to ensure quiet times are enforced. Also loads of geese and their droppings. Nice place though.
Leslie H
Loop:Ruark West
Site:07
Reviewed 5 days ago
This is our favorite spot. #7. It has so much shade and a little nook for you to swim in or put kayaks out. So peaceful and close to the flushing restroom and showers.
Janet W
Loop:Ruark West
Site:28
Reviewed 9 days ago
We love staying at Ruark Bluff west because of the many electric hook up campsites along the water. We have camped there several times a summer for the last ten plus years. The restrooms are always kept cleaned and well stocked. It has been a bit inconvienent not having a host at the checkin point this year. This past stay we had no pass card for our vehicle for lauching a boat. Also the last two sites we camped at the picnic tables were warped pretty bad. I can recommend the Floating Cafe at Mutton Creek Marina for some good food when you don't feel like cooking it is only a few minutes away by water and 5 miles by road. Mutton Creek Marina also has water craft rentals and wonderful friendly service.
Sandra S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:45
Reviewed 14 days ago
Great CAMPING SITE no issues bathrooms clean enough
Neita B
Loop:Ruark West
Site:57
Reviewed 15 days ago
Staff was very friendly but the sites are really small and crammed together. There was no grass for us to put our tent up so unfortunately had to set up on gravel. Would try again but would definitely pick a different site next time.
Patrick F
Loop:Ruark West
Site:02
Reviewed 22 days ago
The spot we camped at was very nice and shady just watch out for those raccoons in the middle of the night overall a very good experience
Gerry J
Loop:Ruark West
Site:09
Reviewed 24 days ago
campground was nice and clean also was the restrooms and showers, host was very nice
Austin T
Loop:Ruark West
Site:36
Reviewed 25 days ago
Camp ground was clean and quiet. With a good view of the lake. No cell service just a heads up for tmobile. The showers and bathrooms could use a good cleaning and make over but was usable. Sheriff and park ranger do patrol cupel times a day so that was a plus but over all a good place to get away at. Just plan ahead for the lack of service.
Susan G
Loop:Ruark West
Site:38
Reviewed a month ago
The campsite was nice but the bathrooms were flooded and not a pleasure to use.
Jennifer L
Loop:Ruark West
Site:34
Reviewed a month ago
The campsite was amazing. Wish the shower houses could be a little more kept up with the occasional power wash but have seen worse.
Michelle R
Loop:Ruark West
Site:27
Reviewed a month ago
The picture you have on your site for the campsite is not correct. The picture shows two trees and those trees actually are on site #25, not #27. There were no trees on our site and we chose the site due to the trees and shade. But with that said, we loved our stay and access to the water was amazing. Bathrooms clean and during the week it was nice and quiet.
Leslie H
Loop:Ruark West
Site:28
Reviewed 2 months ago
Nice spot right on the lake. Good for swimming, kayaking and parking your boat. We did have lots of people walk through our campsite and swim at our spot. It’s ok to share a swim spot but it’s not ok to walk through and hang out at someone else’s campsite that they paid for.
Erica S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:52
Reviewed 2 months ago
Great views, quiet clean park, bathrooms are close to the campsites.
Iris P
Loop:Ruark West
Site:07
Reviewed 2 months ago
Very clean little campground. Site #7 was a little steep to back into but leveled off at end. No hosts on duty but Ranger stopped by. Very quiet campground.
Desiree W
Loop:Ruark West
Site:05
Reviewed 2 months ago
I always love camping at the Ruark Bluff west campground. Honestly my favorite in missouri, relaxing and beautiful, nice player areas, a beach area, decent bathrooms, and plenty of space for fishing 🎣
Sherman E
Loop:Ruark West
Site:25
Reviewed 2 months ago
Had a great time, everything was great except for the dump station being down. We were thankful that we could use the one on the east campground.
Pete F
Loop:Ruark West
Site:27
Reviewed 2 months ago
There was not hot water in all of the showers. The dump station was not working not a big deal but a pain went to east to dump. Otherwise all good.
Barbara R
Loop:Ruark West
Site:40
Reviewed 2 months ago
Enjoyed Ruark Bluff West. Sites are further apart than most Corp Parks. Cell phone service is spotty depending on where you’re at in the park. Beach and boat ramp are down the rode. Sunsets were beautiful
Marty B
Loop:Ruark West
Site:15
Reviewed 3 months ago
This is an absolutely beautiful campground but each year it seems no preparation or care is given before opening. The pump was broke for the second year in a row so initially no showers or bathrooms and had to go to east side, outhouse was full, and bathroom and showers were not clean when opened with temporary pump. One shower has moldy shower curtain and floors and walls are disgusting. A power washer once a week with a little bleach would do wonders. Also, no gate person. We had a small blue car flying through one afternoon at about 50 miles an hour three times. I love the west side and have been coming for years. Just needs a little maintenance before opening day and someone at gate.
Ashley B
Loop:Ruark West
Site:10
Reviewed 3 months ago
The dump station, shower house and bathrooms were down the entire week. They brought in a pump on Friday that ran constantly.
John P
Loop:Ruark West
Site:10
Reviewed 3 months ago
This is a great place to stay. Nice and quiet and wonderful to be right there on the lake. I'm not sure there's a bad site here.
Branden B
Loop:Ruark West
Site:11
Reviewed 3 months ago
I received an email stating that the facilities were closed and so when I went to cancel my reservations I was told I would only get a $12 return because it was a $32 return fee. Very upset because you closed the facilities I could not utilize the camp spot so I still lost out on all my money.
Brook T
Loop:Ruark West
Site:23
Reviewed 3 months ago
No electricity working on site. We got everything set up to have to take it right back down. There were no bathrooms no showers didn’t receive an email untill after I booked it the next day. If this stuff was not working I feel like it should have been posted on the site or as soon as my booking was made.
Jeffrey S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:33
Reviewed 9 months ago
Overall it's a really nice campground. The only issues I really ever experience is other campers that are inconsiderate. People allowing their dogs to bark at 4:00 in the morning and racing remote control cars up and down the roadway near other people's vehicles and people.
Jeffrey S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:34
Reviewed 9 months ago
Wouldn't be a bad campground for people with smaller campers. It's close to the water and it has plenty of services available. However if your camper is longer than 31 ft you're going to have issues getting it into The campsite. My only real issue I had with the entire experience was the online booking was a pain. I was trying to reserve to campsites next to each other that would fit the two campers that my group was bringing. And I had to do each campsite as a separate booking. There's not a whole lot of parking at the campground either. If you're going to do tent camping you'll have enough parking at your campsite for a full size pickup and a small sedan. If you're coming in pulling a camper and you have another carload of people there's not going to be any place for them to park.
Terry D
Loop:Ruark West
Site:10
Reviewed 10 months ago
The campground is clean and well manicured. The works and volunteers all seem to enjoy working and interacting with guests.
Tim C
Loop:Ruark West
Site:28
Reviewed 10 months ago
Picnic tables falling apart, arrived Sunday afternoon about 4:15 no parking pass to be found no park attendant to be found. Set up camp for the night sheriff came in and had to settle a dispute in a group of camp sites next to us. Got up next morning still could not find parking pass or any paperwork. Come back to camp site in afternoon,a storm blew in and blew away tent, canopy, tables, ice chest. Some one locked gate near dumpster. We cleaned up all the mess and never saw a gate attendant or a park ranger. We left as though we never were there will never go back.
Holly G
Loop:Ruark West
Site:27
Reviewed 10 months ago
Beautiful campground with excellent, level sites! Great access to the lake. Very quiet and peaceful
Mark P
Loop:Ruark West
Site:23
Reviewed a year ago
This is a lovely facility but so many of the trees have died out near the water and never replaced. If you get one of these sites be sure to bring some type of shade with you. This is our favorite campground in our area and reserve 10 - 12 weekends a summer.
Donald S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:11
Reviewed a year ago
A lot better this time around because there was no dogs running loose. So we could walk our dog without getting attacked by a loose dog. We even saw a sheriff walking the circle. That was awesome. He was very friendly and cared about the people.
Michael G
Loop:Ruark West
Site:09
Reviewed a year ago
Great weekend. We were able to enjoy the lake at our campsite this time due to the water elevation being near normal pool.
Lori R
Loop:Ruark West
Site:59
Reviewed a year ago
It was perfectly on the water. Only down fall and that probably is everywhere, people have NO boundaries they will walk right up into your camp like your not even setting there. That happened 3 time in less than 24 hrs. The good part is the sheriff patrolled, several times I seen them.
Donald S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:13
Reviewed a year ago
Need to put up signs to remind people to keep pets on a leash. Last 2 years our dog has gotten attacked by dogs not on a leash. We love Ruark bluff west. Been going to Stockton for 30+ years.
Ellen H
Loop:Ruark West
Site:12
Reviewed a year ago
They really need someone at the Guard Shack that can give you your parking passes
jake m
Loop:Ruark West
Site:28
Reviewed a year ago
Our site had great lake access, the campground was well kept and the hosts were friendly
Donald S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:11
Reviewed a year ago
This is an awesome place to camp. But the last 2 years my dog has been attacked because not all of the campers keep their dog on a leash. So now we walk with a walking stick to protect our dog. We’ve been going here and east side for 35 years. But west is best.
Dustin F
Loop:Ruark West
Site:23
Reviewed a year ago
The campsite was very clean and well maintained. The best place to eat around is down in mutton creek marina. Only thing I wish was that there was a water hook up at the actual site.
gabrielle k
Loop:Ruark West
Site:25
Reviewed a year ago
Camped here at and around sites 21, 23, 25 for years. This year the worst. Shower house had two broken door handles so only two were safe to use creating longer wait times. Bathroom and shower houses have been much cleaner in years past.
Jason S
Loop:Ruark West
Site:58
Reviewed a year ago
I was sad to see the tree stumps where three very large shade trees used to provide shade in our area. The grounds were clean and mowed and the restrooms were kept stocked. The atmosphere was very calm and laid back. Plan on bringing your own shade if you are tent camping. and if you planned on using a hammock you might not find the spot to. The fire pits are in great shape so plan on using one. And there is a grocery store right down the road in case you need to grab something.
Popularity
Moderate · 47%
Busiest in July, when about 47% of sites are booked. Based on 9 years of reservations.
