Markham Springs
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $10–$34Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 32All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 2 notices
In the agency’s own words
Markham Springs Campground is set on the Black River in a scenic and historic recreation area in the southwestern corner of Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest. The area provides access to multiple trails and recreational opportunities. Markham Springs Recreation Area gets its name from former owner, M. J. Markham, who acquired the property in 1901 and operated a lumber mill at the site until the 1930s. The Fuchs House, a five-bedroom concrete and native stone home, also sits on the property, along with a neighboring mill. At times, it is also available for rent. Keep reading
Recreation
River and stream fishing are popular activities near the campground. 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 1.5-mile loop along the river, where birding and wildlife viewing are favorite pastimes.
Facilities
The campground offers single and double sites for tent and RV camping. Some rather primitive sites are located in a wooded setting near the river. Electric hookups are provided, as well as tables and campfire rings with grills. Lantern posts are also available. Accessible vault toilets, drinking water, showers and trash collection are provided.
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.
Nearby Attractions
The small town of Williamsville is just 3 miles from the campground, offering a general store and fuel station.
What the agency tells you
Click here for more information on the Mark Twain National Forest.
Don't move firewood: To limit the spread of invasive tree-killing pests, firewood from outside the area is not permitted. Some states have quarantines and may confiscate your firewood. Please help protect our forests from invasive species by obtaining your firewood at or near your camping destination and burning it on-site. Visit dontmovefirewood.org for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 32
- Hookups
- 12 electric
- Accessible sites
- 11
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…posts are also available. Accessible vault toilets, drinking water, showers and trash collection are…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…available. Accessible vault toilets, drinking water, showers and trash collection are provided. Natural…”
- Store
- Nearby
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $10–$34 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
33 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 33 mapped sitesAll 33 records
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 32 of the 33 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Birch | 21 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 81 ft | 727 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 22 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 51 ft | 741 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 23 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 51 ft | 691 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 24 | rv electric | 63 ft | 667 ft | $17–$34 | ||
| Birch | 25 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 63 ft | 610 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 26 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 128 ft | 518 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 27 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 100 ft | 585 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 28 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 100 ft | 660 ft | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 29 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 125 ft | 849 ftMarkham Spring Pond | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 30 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 110 ft | 733 ftMarkham Spring Pond | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 31 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 75 ft | 804 ftMarkham Spring Pond | $17–$34 |
| Birch | 32 | rv electric | 50 amp | yes | 75 ft | 775 ft | $17–$34 |
| PINE | 01 | standard nonelectric | 119 ft | 308 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| PINE | 02 | standard nonelectric | 119 ft | 203 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| PINE | 03 | standard nonelectric | 144 ft | 138 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| PINE | 04 | standard nonelectric | 173 ft | 245 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| PINE | 05 | standard nonelectric | 173 ft | 408 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 12 | standard nonelectric | 124 ft | 333 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 13 | standard nonelectric | 76 ft | 112 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 14 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 136 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 15 | standard nonelectric | 65 ft | 168 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 16 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 207 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 17 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | 274 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 18 | standard nonelectric | 72 ft | 280 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 19 | standard nonelectric | 94 ft | 400 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| River | 20 | standard nonelectric | 94 ft | 488 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 06 | standard nonelectric | 140 ft | 432 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 07 | standard nonelectric | 97 ft | 294 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 08 | standard nonelectric | 97 ft | 226 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 09 | standard nonelectric | 142 ft | 228 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 10 | standard nonelectric | 182 ft | 226 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Sycamore | 11 | standard nonelectric | 201 ft | 425 ft | $10–$20 | ||
| Pavilion | day use | 567 ft | 140 ftMarkham Spring Pond | $50 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 33 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Fuchs HouseMark Twain National Forest · 0.3 miMarkham Springs Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 0.6 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 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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Markham Springs 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 →