After a week in the city, we were in need of some nature. Maybe even the kind of nature that involves a water view and a nearly deserted campground?
Fortunately, Missouri has no shortage of lakeside campgrounds. Our best option between Springfield and our next destination in Kansas was Stockton Lake. This massive man-made lake offers up miles of shoreline and numerous camping options. Following the advice of some family who lives nearby and frequently camps at Stockton, we headed to Hawker Point, a COE campground on the western shore. In retrospect, we probably should have called ahead to check on the campground status.
But then again, if we had called, the news that most of the campground was underwater would have deterred us and we would have missed out on this amazing spot!
She tried to steer us to another campground on higher ground, but Tim asked if we could at least look at the tent sites. Judging by those trees in the water, our waterfront site is not supposed to be quite this waterfront. Sadly, the rest of the sites had not fared as well. After settling in and having a quick dinner we walked around to see what was left of the campground. This blocked off road used to go out to a point that contained 8 sites.
They were all underwater. The next day we kayaked around the lake for a few hours starting on the campground shore. We actually kayaked right through the flooded campsites. Despite the flooding, it was a gorgeous day out on the lake. We paddled a wide circle across to the other side, along the shore of Stockon State Park, under the bridge, and then back to our site.
