Fuchs House
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 27 of the next 30 nights read 17:07 UTC
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
In the late 1930s, Rudolph Fuchs built a five bedroom concrete and native stone house for his family, and also built the present wheel house to produce electricity for his needs. Power was obtained by building a dam in a semi-circle below a large spring forming a small pond. The water was to pour through a chute on the wheel to produce electricity; however, electricity arrived to the site before the wheel ever needed to do its job. The area had an undershot wheel providing power to a grist mill in the late 19th century. Keep reading
Recreation
The Black River boasts bass, sunfish, walleye and catfish. Many anglers fish from boats, but others fish from the riverbanks. Canoeing and kayaking is also possible on the river. Various day hikes within the Markham Springs Trail System are accessible from the campground. Eagle Bluff Trail is a one and a half mile loop along the river, where birding and wildlife viewing are favorite pastimes. The day use area has a two-acre, 20 foot deep mill pond that dates back to the 1800s, several picnic sites, open fields; river access for boating, fishing and float tubes and canoes; and short hiking trails that provide views of the river, the pond, the springs and the uplands.
Facilities
The house has two downstairs bedrooms with queen beds, a single bed and a shared bathroom. Upstairs has a bathroom and three bedrooms each with a bunk bed and twin bed. The kitchen comes fully furnished as well as all the other rooms; however, you must bring your own linens, pillows and towels.
Natural Features
Located adjacent to the Black River, the recreation area contains a small pond that dates back to the 1800s. The area is covered by a dense forest of colorful trees, including ash, elm, maple and poplar. Six springs pour almost five million gallons of water per day into the pond, and the bubble spring, a smaller outlet of Markham Spring outside of the pond that has air with it which rises in the soft sand forming unique air bubbles.
Nearby Attractions
The Fuchs House is located in the Markham Springs Recreation Area. Camping with both electric sites and primitive sites, day use, and pavilion rental is available. The town of Williamsville is three miles from the Fuchs House and offers a general store ad fuel station.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric, 1 water
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Something open on 17 of the next 27 bookable nightsread 17:07 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBookedNot on the booking system
The one site on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 1 is free on Mon, Oct 26. read 17:07 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 11
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 4
recreation.gov availability, read 17:07 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
All 1 sites
| FUCHS HOUSE | Fuchs House | cabin electric | 67 ft |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Markham Springs0.3 miPinewoods Lake Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 10 mi
Pinewoods Lake Rec Area11 mi
Greenville Recreation Area12 mi
Snow Creek Campground14 miFrom Poplar Bluff, take Highway 67 north for 14 miles, then drive west on Highway 49 for 9 miles (about 3 miles past the town of Williamsville). Take the first right after crossing the Black River to enter Markham Springs Recreation Area. The drive way to the Fuchs House will be the first Forest Road on the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Williamsville, MO
Typical weather
Typical October night 45°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 23°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land

Fuchs House is in Missouri’s 8th congressional district. Its representative, Jason Smith (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →