Red Bluff Campground
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 10 of the next 10 nights read 16:01 UTC
- A night
- $15–$35Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 8262 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices
In the agency’s own words
Red Bluff Campground is named for towering red bluffs along Huzzah Creek, carved by the elements over the past 10,000 years. The area used to be home to timber mills, but now provides a serene spot for camping and enjoying nature. Early settlement of the area surrounded the Boyer Mill constructed around 1830. Railroads created a thriving timber industry till the supply was depleted. The land was purchased by the U.S. Forest Service in 1940 and has been used as a recreation area. Red Bluff is located in the Potosi-Fredericktown Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest. Keep reading
Large, red bluffs on the opposite side of Huzzah Creek, gravel bars along the creek, a mixture of pools and riffles and natural vegetation provide a backdrop for a very relaxing camping experience. Wading and swimming in Huzzah Creek are enjoyed by visitors. The water can be swift-moving at times and rocks and drop-offs are not marked. Fishing is also popular in the area and anglers can expect to find bass, sunfish, suckers, and catfish. Three new camping loops were constructed above the Huzzah Creek floodplain – Ridge Top Loop, Creek Loop, and Group Loop - each of which have modern restrooms, water, and electricity on 2023. A new shower house, a dump station, and second pavilion were also added for visitor convenience. Camping spurs are variable in size and layout to accommodate recreational vehicles and trailers of all types. A fourth camping loop, Pines Overlook, was renovated but remains a non-electric loop.
Recreation
Many sites are within 200 yards of Huzzah Creek, where tubing and swimming are enjoyed by visitors. The water can be swift-moving at times and rocks and drop-offs are not marked. Fishing is also popular in the area and anglers can expect to find bass, perch and catfish. The Red Bluff Trail lies within the boundaries of the campground. It is a 1.2-mile loop that winds through a pine plantation and big oak timber, into an adjoining hollow before returning to the campground. The short trail provides an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a variety of ecological communities, while reaping the benefits of a half-hour of hiking.
Facilities
The campground offers several large sites available for tent and RV camping. All campground loops offer 30 amp & 50 amp pedestals, except for Pines Overlook (PO). Individual picnic sites are available as well, some of which have shelters. Two accessible group picnic shelters can be reserved and can accommodate up to 74 people (PAV 1 has electric and lighting). Additional sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each site is equipped with a picnic table, lantern post and campfire ring with grill. Vault toilets, flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. The roads within the campground are paved.
Natural Features
Large, red bluffs on the opposite side of Huzzah Creek, gravel bars along the creek, a mixture of pools and riffles and natural vegetation provide a backdrop for a very relaxing camping experience at the campground. Red Bluff is located in the Potosi-Fredericktown Ranger District of the Mark Twain National Forest.
Nearby Attractions
This campground is located in southeastern Missouri, approximately one mile from the town of Davisville.
What the agency tells you
Flash flooding is possible in the area
At each single site you are allowed two vehicles and one towed vehicle (e.g. a pop-up, fifth-wheel, etc). At each double site you are allowed three vehicles and two towed vehicles (e.g. a pop-up, fifth-wheel, etc.). All vehicles must be parked on pavement at designated parking areas. If allowable vehicle use creates a safety hazard, then vehicles must be parked in designated parking areas to mitigate the hazard to visitors. This determination may be made by Campground Host or Forest Service staff. Additional vehicles are charged $2.00 per day and must display a proper fee envelope stub in the windshield.
Click here for more information on the Mark Twain National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 1
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
- 82 · 11 group
- Hookups
- 52 electric
- Longest rig
- 60 ft
- Paved pads
- 52 of 82
- Accessible sites
- 51
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- 25 of 75 sites
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE VAULT TOILETS on 1 of 85 campsite records
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “A new shower house, a dump station, and second pavilion were also added for visitor convenience.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…toilets, flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. The roads within the campground are…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Creek
- Fishing
- Water sports
- Night sky · 38th darkest of 118 in MO
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 16:01 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 16 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 52 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:01 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 · 20
What you actually pay
“Additional vehicles are charged $2.00 per day and must display a proper fee envelope stub in the windshield.” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $15–$35 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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:01 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
85 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 62 mapped sitesAll 85 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 84 of the 85 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 71 of the 85 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.
| ASNG | x_003 | type not stated | 40 ft | 202 ft | 2,105 ft | $34 | |||
| Creek Loop | CL1 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 74 ft | 385 ft | 1,377 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL10 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 67 ft | 445 ft | 1,193 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL11 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 67 ft | 512 ft | 1,232 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL12 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 72 ft | 537 ft | 1,302 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL13 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 70 ft | 566 ft | 1,415 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL14 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 80 ft | 626 ft | 1,402 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL15 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 70 ft | 625 ft | 1,471 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL16 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 72 ft | 702 ft | 1,468 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL17 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 67 ft | 673 ft | 1,530 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL18 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 67 ft | 697 ft | 1,570 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL19 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 111 ft | 589 ft | 1,614 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL2 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 74 ft | 335 ft | 1,307 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL3 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 95 ft | 308 ft | 1,213 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL4 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 95 ft | 290 ft | 1,121 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL5 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 136 ft | 286 ft | 989 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL6 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 92 ft | 533 ft | 1,031 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL7 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 60 ft | 515 ft | 1,141 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL8 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 83 ft | 468 ft | 1,058 ft | $25–$35 |
| Creek Loop | CL9 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 60 ft | 456 ft | 1,129 ft | $25–$35 |
| Group Loop | GL1 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 94 ft | 687 ft | 2,002 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL2 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 90 ft | 767 ft | 2,037 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL3 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 88 ft | 703 ft | 2,121 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL4 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 88 ft | 616 ft | 2,156 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL5 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 92 ft | 603 ft | 2,080 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL6 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 90 ft | 544 ft | 2,033 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL7 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 98 ft | 512 ft | 1,939 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL8 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 98 ft | 605 ft | 1,875 ft | |
| Group Loop | GL9 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 90 ft | 631 ft | 1,957 ft | |
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 002 | type not stated | 245 ft | 2,026 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 004 | type not stated | 152 ft | 2,209 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 005 | type not stated | 241 ft | 2,195 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 007 | type not stated | 187 ft | 2,342 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 010 | type not stated | 189 ft | 2,282 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 011 | type not stated | 92 ft | 2,342 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 014 | type not stated | 183 ft | 2,196 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 015 | type not stated | 136 ft | 2,244 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 018 | type not stated | 380 ft | 1,986 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 020 | type not stated | 370 ft | 2,042 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 021 | type not stated | 460 ft | 1,950 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 030 | type not stated | 145 ft | 408 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 032 | type not stated | 122 ft | 191 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 033 | type not stated | 61 ft | 300 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 034 | type not stated | 132 ft | 58 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 037 | type not stated | 167 ft | 91 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 039 | type not stated | 226 ft | 230 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 041 | type not stated | 2 ft | 181 ft | 371 ft | $34 | |||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 043 | type not stated | 298 ft | 158 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 044 | type not stated | 514 ft | 2,545 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | 046 | type not stated | 377 ft | 2,421 ft | $34 | ||||
| MANAGEMENT SITES | XXX | unnamed record | $34 | ||||||
| Pavilion 1 | PAV1 Electric | day use | 40 ft | 20 amp | yes | 189 ft | 635 ft | 1,737 ft | $50 |
| Pavilion 2 | PAV2 NonElectric | day use | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 370 ft | 292 ft | 1,950 ft | $50 |
| Pines Overlook | PO1 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 102 ft | 705 ft | 2,395 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO2 | group standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 83 ft | 545 ft | 2,368 ft | |||
| Pines Overlook | PO3 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 83 ft | 516 ft | 2,308 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO4 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 95 ft | 379 ft | 2,437 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO5 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 63 ft | 415 ft | 2,514 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO6 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 63 ft | 475 ft | 2,522 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO7 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 82 ft | 565 ft | 2,493 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Pines Overlook | PO8 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 82 ft | 646 ft | 2,485 ft | $15–$25 | |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL1 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 81 ft | 916 ft | 1,872 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL10 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 72 ft | 899 ft | 2,120 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL11 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 61 ft | 974 ft | 2,088 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL12 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 72 ft | 919 ft | 2,183 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL13 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 69 ft | 998 ft | 2,146 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL14 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 67 ft | 943 ft | 2,250 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL15 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 74 ft | 1,020 ft | 2,221 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL16 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 67 ft | 953 ft | 2,314 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL17 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 74 ft | 1,034 ft | 2,291 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL18 | group standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30 amp | yes | 78 ft | 972 ft | 2,386 ft | |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL19 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 77 ft | 1,059 ft | 2,365 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL2 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 56 ft | 999 ft | 1,834 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL20 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 88 ft | 1,024 ft | 2,457 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL21 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 77 ft | 1,065 ft | 2,412 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL22 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 83 ft | 1,080 ft | 2,494 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL23 | rv electric | 35 ft | 71 ft | 987 ft | 2,440 ft | $25 | ||
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL24 | standard electric | 30/50 amp | yes | 71 ft | 942 ft | 2,494 ft | $25–$35 | |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL3 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 56 ft | 981 ft | 1,891 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL4 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 63 ft | 1,096 ft | 1,854 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL5 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 63 ft | 1,051 ft | 1,910 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL6 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 67 ft | 1,144 ft | 1,870 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL7 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 74 ft | 1,137 ft | 1,916 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL8 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 67 ft | 1,094 ft | 1,929 ft | $25–$35 |
| Ridge Top Loop | RTL9 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | yes | 61 ft | 970 ft | 2,031 ft | $25–$35 |
The agency files 3 more records here that aren’t sites for the night: 2 it files as day use and 1 it types MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
25 of 85 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Berryman CampgroundMark Twain National Forest · 9.6 mi
Council Bluff Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 14 mi
Council Bluff Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 14 mi
Sutton Bluff Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 25 miFrom St. Louis, Missouri, take I-44 west to Cuba. Continue on Highway 19 south to Cherryville. Take 49 south to Highway V, turn left to Davisville and travel approximately 1 mile and turn left into the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Viburnum, MO
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 21°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 · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Red Bluff Campground is in Missouri’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Bob Onder (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 moneyRobert F. Onder, Jr.U.S. Representative · Missouri’s 3rd 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 Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Robert F. Onder, Jr., I’m a constituent in Missouri’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 62 of the 82 campsites the agency files at Red Bluff Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 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. Red Bluff Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Red Bluff Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Red Bluff Campground (Mark Twain National Forest, 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 Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Eric Schmitt, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 62 of the 82 campsites the agency files at Red Bluff Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 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. Red Bluff Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Red Bluff Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Red Bluff Campground (Mark Twain National Forest, 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 Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Josh Hawley, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Red Bluff Campground, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 62 of the 82 campsites the agency files at Red Bluff Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 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. Red Bluff Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Red Bluff Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Red Bluff Campground (Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri) via campanac.com