Trail of Tears State Park

In many ways this is quite a special park. The electric campgrounds are right on the Mississippi River, which was high and fast while I stayed there. You can watch the dozens of tugs and barges going by at least one per hour, 24 hours per day. There are train tracks right AT the campground. VERY loud, it would be fun I suppose if you had young kids who liked trains. Lots of bugs, but what do you expect right by the river? Many sites are well shaded. I loved the intense sounds of at least three species of cicadas. There were some detractors – the campground host yelled at me when I switched campsites (after I called the park office). I think he was a husband-​part of a married couple host team. He may have had incipient dementia. The wife was not around but drove up later. I calmed him down and the park supervisor came down and talked with him, too. Compassionate. This actually is not why I’m giving the park a 3 instead of a 4. The «3» score comes with two points. 1. the shower house is ¼ away from the campgrounds, and 2. none of the guests followed the posted rules about quiet times, etc. I was privy to a two hour drunken husband/​wife argument in which the f-​bomb and s-​bomb made frequent entrances. At 11 PM my finger was poised to call 911 when the husband told the wife «I’m just about to knock you out of the f — king chair» but I couldn’t complete the call as I had no signal. The campers were only me, one 5^th wheel I never saw anyone around, and the park hosts. I really didn’t think they were up to doing anything, even if they were still awake. The two drunks kept their outdoor radio on until 1 AM. Folks at site number 5 on Thursday, June 11, you know who you are.

This is a nice State Park to show my out of state family some of the beauty of Missouri. The best part of the visit to the park was before we came here I was telling my California family how my mother always said to «watch for deer» anytime I was driving. So as we were driving to the different look out sites guess who was driving and a fawn jumped out in front of their car. Our visiting family. I was excited they got to see the beauty of the lush green trees, the muddy Mississippi River, and the history that surrounds it.

Trail of Tears State Park, Cape Girardeau, MO.
Located on the Mississippi River 30.00 night plus a service charge on line. We camped in a towable camper.
Pros: great view, large lots, concrete slab and lots of grass and trees. Cargo barges running up and down the River
Cons: 100 ft. from rail road tracks which seem to run every 30 minutes and blow their horns even every couple if hours throughout the night. The nearest facility is a vault toilet.
We didn’t unhook since it was just for one night. We didn’t use them because it was to far to walk but the bath house and laundry looked fine. Only one washer and dryer. Don’t think I would stay there again it is a ways off the highway and the trains!!!

While we didn’t get to explore this park much besides staying in the campground and jumping into the lake in the middle of February for charity, it has all of the things you want in a state park or camping.
Pros: Bike paths, swimming, beautiful views of the Mississippi River, resourceful and extremely helpful visitor’s center
Cons: Feels like the train is ripping through your sleeping space several times throughout the night

Came here for a polar plunge, and stayed in the campground near the Mississippi River. The staff was VERY friendly, and helped us with information, transportation, and our accommodations. The campground was beautiful, and right on the river. The only issue was the train that came by twice in the middle of the night, and because you can cross the tracks, it has to blow its ridiculously loud horn when it passes by!