Sutton Bluff Recreation Area
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
- $10–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 33All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Roomy campsites surrounded by open lawn and natural shading, cool breezes, abundant songbirds and scenic views all await visitors at the Sutton Bluff Recreation Area. The campground is a popular site for those using the nearby designated Sutton Bluff off-road vehicle trails. Keep reading
Recreation
A 20 mile off-road vehicle trail can be accessed from the campground. Permits are required for off-road vehicle use in the area. The Karkaghne section of the Ozark Trail, which is popular among backpackers, hikers and mountain bikers, is accessible from a trailhead less than a mile from the campground. The West Fork of Black River provides access to a serene, slow-moving mountain stream and a natural gravel beach. Visitors enjoy wading in the waters, however the current is not strong enough to enable floating the river. Anglers can enjoy a variety of bass and bluegill.
Facilities
The campground offers multiple single-family sites and a large group site that can accommodate up to 32 guests. Each site is equipped with tables and campfire rings with grills, and electric hookups are available for RVs. Accessible vault and flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided. A group picnic pavilion, equipped with about 10 tables, as well as grills, is perfect for large parties or family functions. Camping Sites #29, #32 and #33 have short parking spaces that are not able to accommodate large RVs/Trailers. Please take this into account when reserving sites.
Natural Features
Sutton Bluff is located 13 miles outside Centerville, Missouri, on the Black River. It is nestled among a variety of short-leaf pine trees and shrubs, and a number of campsites sit alongside the West Fork of the Black River.
Nearby Attractions
The small mining town of Centerville is located roughly six miles from the campground.
What the agency tells you
Physical address and phone: Sutton Bluff, 7378 County Rd. 849, Centerville, MO 63633; Phone, (573) 648-9255
Additional fees will be collected at the recreation area for extra vehicles
Permits are required for off-road vehicle use on Forest Service trails
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Livestock, including horses, are not permitted at the recreation area
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
- 33 · 1 group
- Hookups
- 14 electric
- Longest rig
- 76 ft
- Paved pads
- 32 of 33
- Accessible sites
- 33
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…available for RVs. Accessible vault and flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided.…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Accessible vault and flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…vault and flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are also provided. A group picnic pavilion,…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Beach
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 26th darkest of 118 in MO
- Bortle 3
Full this Saturdayread 16:01 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
5 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:36 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 25 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 24 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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $10–$30 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 · 5
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:36 UTC
- Two RiversOzark National Scenic Riverways · 25 mi · 32 of 44 site-nights open
- Round SpringOzark National Scenic Riverways · 26 mi · 97 of 124 site-nights open
- Piedmont ParkClearwater Lake · 27 mi · 47 of 140 site-nights open
- River Road ParkClearwater Lake · 27 mi · 59 of 214 site-nights open
- PulltiteOzark National Scenic Riverways · 28 mi · 42 of 112 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:01 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
34 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 34 mapped sitesAll 34 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 34 of the 34 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. 33 of the 34 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CAMP | 002 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | yes | 104 ft | 228 ft | 862 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 003 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | yes | 79 ft | 225 ft | 795 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 004 | standard electric | 51 ft | 50 amp | yes | 110 ft | 344 ft | 709 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 005 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | yes | 79 ft | 264 ft | 734 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 006 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | yes | 76 ft | 403 ft | 610 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 007 | standard nonelectric | 59 ft | yes | 100 ft | 320 ft | 629 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 008 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | yes | 76 ft | 393 ft | 534 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 009 | standard nonelectric | 57 ft | yes | 101 ft | 288 ft | 542 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 010 | standard nonelectric | 56 ft | yes | 81 ft | 313 ft | 443 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 011 | standard nonelectric | 64 ft | yes | 101 ft | 202 ft | 465 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 012 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | yes | 111 ft | 236 ft | 318 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 013 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | yes | 62 ft | 125 ft | 348 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 014 | standard nonelectric | 55 ft | yes | 62 ft | 127 ft | 291 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 015 | group standard nonelectric | 50 ft | yes | 216 ft | 160 ft | 150 ft | $40 | |
| CAMP | 016 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 94 ft | 291 ft | 96 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 017 | standard nonelectric | 52 ft | yes | 50 ft | 376 ft | 98 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 018 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | yes | 84 ft | 367 ft | 94 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 019 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 50 ft | 426 ft | 145 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 020 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 92 ft | 515 ft | 232 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 021 | standard nonelectric | 60 ft | yes | 96 ft | 496 ft | 222 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 022 | standard nonelectric | 70 ft | yes | 103 ft | 612 ft | 328 ft | $10–$20 | |
| CAMP | 023 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | yes | 99 ft | 662 ft | 406 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 024 | standard electric | 54 ft | 50 amp | yes | 99 ft | 614 ft | 404 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 025 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | yes | 75 ft | 512 ft | 303 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 026 | standard electric | 63 ft | 50 amp | yes | 82 ft | 520 ft | 366 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 027 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | yes | 75 ft | 444 ft | 280 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 028 | standard electric | 61 ft | 50 amp | yes | 85 ft | 378 ft | 344 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 029 | standard electric | 62 ft | 50 amp | yes | 85 ft | 460 ft | 401 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 030 | standard electric | 76 ft | 50 amp | yes | 91 ft | 550 ft | 563 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 031 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | yes | 81 ft | 379 ft | 430 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 032 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | yes | 97 ft | 460 ft | 606 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 033 | standard electric | 48 ft | 50 amp | yes | 91 ft | 549 ft | 645 ft | $20–$30 |
| CAMP | 034 | standard electric | 56 ft | 50 amp | yes | 152 ft | 511 ft | 789 ft | $20–$30 |
| SUTT | 001 | day use | yes | 175 ft | 325 ft | 909 ft | $25 |
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 34 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Loggers Lake Campground16 mi
Council Bluff Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 16 mi
Highway K17 mi
Council Bluff Recreation AreaMark Twain National Forest · 17 mi
Powder Mill CampgroundOzark National Scenic Riverways · 22 miFrom Centerville, Missouri, travel 3 miles northeast on Highway 21. Take County Road 907 northwest for 7 miles, then turn on County Road 849 and travel south for 3 miles 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 Centerville, 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 · 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
Sutton Bluff Recreation Area 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 →
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 moneyJason SmithU.S. Representative · Missouri’s 8th 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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Jason Smith, I’m a constituent in Missouri’s 8th district. I tried to camp at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 33 sites at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 25 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. Sutton Bluff Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sutton Bluff Recreation Area. 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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area (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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Eric Schmitt, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 33 sites at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 25 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. Sutton Bluff Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sutton Bluff Recreation Area. 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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area (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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri
Dear Josh Hawley, I’m a constituent in Missouri. I tried to camp at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area, Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, and couldn’t. All 33 sites at Sutton Bluff Recreation Area are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 25 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. Sutton Bluff Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Sutton Bluff Recreation Area. 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 Sutton Bluff Recreation Area (Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri) via campanac.com