Old Highway 86
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:03 UTC
- A night
- $25From, per site
- Sites
- 77All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Old Highway 86 is a spacious and sunny campground that sits along the White River Arm of Table Rock Lake in the rolling Missouri countryside. Keep reading
Recreation
Whether on water or land, Old Highway 86 Campground offers visitors countless recreational activities. Picnicking, swimming, scuba diving, boating, fishing, hiking and wildlife viewing are all popular pastimes at the park. Many campsites are adjacent to the waters edge, and the remaining campsites are only a short walk away. Built on a peninsula, this park has water on three sides. Visitors can find plenty of room to fish from shore. While the lake boasts an abundance of crappie, catfish, and bluegill, Table Rock is most famous for bass, and is acclaimed as one of the best bass fishing lakes in this hemisphere. Table Rock Lakeshore Trail, about 2 miles long, runs from the Dewey Short Visitor Center to the Table Rock State Park Marina. During the spring hikers will see dogwood, serviceberry and redbud trees in bloom as well as many wildflower species. During the autumn months, visitors are treated to nature's colorful fall foliage. The trail also offers beautiful views of Table Rock Lake. Other hiking and mountain biking opportunities are available at the Mark Twain National Forest, parts of which are easily accessible from the campground. Click here for more information.
Facilities
Old Highway 86 Campground offers 71 reservable campsites, along with one large reservable group picnic shelter. Amenities like hot showers, drinking water, a dump station and electric hookups create a comfortable camping experience. One swimming area, a boat ramp, playground and volleyball court make the campground perfect for family trips.
Natural Features
Table Rock Lake is a beautiful body of water surrounded by a forest of oak and hickory trees. Its waters wind down through the valleys and hollows of the Ozark Mountains, from Branson, Missouri to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. More than five million visitors per year take advantage of this recreational oasis. Originally built for flood control, the Table Rock Dam has created a lake that boasts 779 miles of shoreline for the public to enjoy.
Nearby Attractions
The Dewey Short Visitors Center is located at the south end of Table Rock Dam. It offers three educational films focused on the history of the dam, the story of Lewis and Clark and the history of eagles and their endangerment in the state of Missouri. The visitor center also contains exhibits about the natural history of the area. Old Highway 86 Campground is about 17 miles from Branson, Missouri, which offers grocery stores, gas and additional tourist attractions.
What the agency tells you
Staffed booth hours are between the hours of 8:00 a.m-10:00 a.m. and from 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m., seven days a week. Camphost and or Rangers will issue campground hangtags after valid check-in. Please check-out on departure. If Camphost is not present, please drop pink tag off at the drop box.
All checkout times are at 3:00 p.m. All RV's, vehicles, and supplies still on site after 3:00 p.m. may be subjected to impoundment our towed at the owners expense.
All discounted passes (Golden Age, Senior Lifetime, Senior Annual, Access) must be physically present upon arrival. Fraudulent use of a Golden Age or Golden Access Passport (Printouts, photos etc.) is prohibited and will not be discounted.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Failure to pay day use fees, and or properly display applicable receipt, permit or pass is prohibited. All daily guests must pay a day-use fee and have day-use receipt properly displayed. Day passes and USACE annual passes may be purchased at the kiosk next to the booth.
All personal equipment (boats, trailers, personal supplies etc. ) must be stored at reserved campsites. No equipment shall be stored in boat ramp/day-use parking for overnight storage.
Camping at one or more campsites at any one water resource project for a period longer than 14 days during any 30 consecutive day period is prohibited without the written permission of the District Commander.
One tent and one RV, or two tents are allowed per campsite.
No dumping of household trash, gray water, rubbish, black water or any other waste material or waste liquid. All waste generated must be disposed of at the dump station or removed from the project lands.
Shower tents, changing tents, and latrines are prohibited.
Pets must be penned, caged, or on a leash under six feet in length at all times.
Please be advised that providing business services within a USACE campground is prohibited per Title 327.18(a) The engaging in or solicitation of business on project lands or waters without the express written permission of the District Commander is prohibited. This includes services such as RV or tent delivery & set-up, firewood sales and delivery.
Please review the Title 36 brochure for complete rules and regulations. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-36/chapter-III/part-327
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 77
- Hookups
- 77 electric, 77 water
- Longest rig
- 66 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Amenities like hot showers, drinking water, a dump station and electric hookups create a comfortable camping experience.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…shelter. Amenities like hot showers, drinking water, a dump station and electric hookups create a…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Picnicking
- Swimming
- Visitor center
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 114th darkest of 118 in MO
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:03 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
6 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:03 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 78 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 10 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:03 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
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 rate for this season, $25 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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 6
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 6. read 16:03 UTC
- Indian PointTable Rock Lake · 5.2 mi · 6 of 150 site-nights open
- Mill Creek (Missouri)Table Rock Lake · 7.2 mi · 2 of 136 site-nights open
- Campbell PointTable Rock Lake · 13 mi · 22 of 142 site-nights open
- Cape FairTable Rock Lake · 16 mi · 2 of 94 site-nights open
- Lead HillBull Shoals Lake · 23 mi · 52 of 124 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
78 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 78 mapped sitesAll 78 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. 77 of the 78 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 01 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 211 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 02 | standard electric | 58 ft | 50 amp | 33 ft | 280 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 03 | standard electric | 64 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 199 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 04 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 33 ft | 265 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 05 | standard electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 35 ft | 210 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 06 | standard electric | 58 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 264 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 07 | standard electric | 63 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 229 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 08 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 61 ft | 259 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 09 | standard electric | 47 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 357 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 10 | standard electric | 41 ft | 50 amp | 75 ft | 326 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 11 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 33 ft | 289 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 12 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50 amp | 33 ft | 268 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 13 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 239 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 14 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 204 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 15 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 180 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 16 | standard electric | 47 ft | 50 amp | 75 ft | 181 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 17 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 150 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 18 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 141 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 19 | standard electric | 43 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 55 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 20 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 59 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 21 | standard electric | 38 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 63 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 22 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 99 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 23 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 50 ft | 71 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 24 | standard electric | 34 ft | 50 amp | 88 ft | 64 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 25 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 80 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 26 | standard electric | 46 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 81 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 27 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 141 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 28 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 56 ft | 90 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 29 | standard electric | 54 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 100 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 30 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 116 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 31 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50 amp | 67 ft | 107 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 32 | standard electric | 41 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 100 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 33 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 94 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 34 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 86 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 35 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 91 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 36 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 174 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 37 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 210 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 38 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 241 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 39 | standard electric | 39 ft | 50 amp | 56 ft | 310 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 40 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 56 ft | 365 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 41 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 344 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 42 | standard electric | 54 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 330 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 43 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 280 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 44 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 338 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 45 | standard electric | 43 ft | 50 amp | 39 ft | 281 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 46 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 71 ft | 332 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 47 | standard electric | 43 ft | 50 amp | 66 ft | 257 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 48 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 71 ft | 305 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 49 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 239 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 50 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 258 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 51 | standard electric | 53 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 244 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 52 | standard electric | 46 ft | 50 amp | 44 ft | 226 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 53 | standard electric | 41 ft | 50 amp | 44 ft | 229 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 54 | standard electric | 43 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 219 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 55 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 59 ft | 218 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 56 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 67 ft | 212 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 57 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 41 ft | 209 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 58 | standard electric | 47 ft | 50 amp | 41 ft | 227 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 59 | standard electric | 54 ft | 50 amp | 41 ft | 218 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 60 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 41 ft | 217 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 61 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 30 ft | 196 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 62 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 30 ft | 184 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 63 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 188 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 64 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 179 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 65 | standard electric | 42 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 179 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 66 | standard electric | 57 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 162 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 67 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 47 ft | 168 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 68 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 89 ft | 89 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 69 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 60 ft | 36 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 70 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 40 ft | 77 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 71 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 40 ft | 111 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 72 | standard electric | 66 ft | 50 amp | 92 ft | 97 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 73 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 92 ft | 72 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 74 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 76 ft | 84 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 75 | standard electric | 45 ft | 50 amp | 76 ft | 95 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 76 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | 99 ft | 193 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | 77 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | 96 ft | 172 ft | $25 |
| OLD HIGHWAY 86 | Group Shelter (Pavilion) | day use | 15 amp | 196 ft | 207 ft | $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.
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
25 of 78 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Moonshine Beach Rec. Area3.4 mi
Indian Point5.2 mi
Cricket Creek5.4 mi
Mill Creek (Missouri)7.2 mi
Baxter10 mi
Aunts Creek11 miFrom Branson, Missouri, take Highway 65 and turn west onto Highway 86. After 6 miles turn north on Highway UU and follow signs to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hollister, MO
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°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 · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Old Highway 86 is in Missouri’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Eric Burlison (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyEric BurlisonU.S. Representative · Missouri’s 7th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationEric SchmittU.S. Senator · Missouri
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJosh HawleyU.S. Senator · Missouri
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Old Highway 86, Missouri
Dear Eric Burlison, I’m a constituent in Missouri’s 7th district. I tried to camp at Old Highway 86, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 77 sites at Old Highway 86 are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 78 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Old Highway 86 keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Old Highway 86. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Old Highway 86 (Missouri) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Old Highway 86, Missouri
Dear Eric Schmitt, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Old Highway 86, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 77 sites at Old Highway 86 are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 78 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Old Highway 86 keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Old Highway 86. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Old Highway 86 (Missouri) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Old Highway 86, Missouri
Dear Josh Hawley, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Old Highway 86, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 77 sites at Old Highway 86 are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 78 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Old Highway 86 keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Old Highway 86. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Old Highway 86 (Missouri) via campanac.com