Marble Creek, Missouri: Free Camping in the Mark Twain National Forest

SAD NEWS: This campground is no longer free. But it’s still lovely, and I still recommend you visit.

So I met up with Quiet Earp in Columbia, Missouri. I’d been staying in Louisville, and he was driving from Nevada to New York. Going to Missouri was a bit of a backtrack, but it turned out to be the best backtrack ever. Why? Because we discovered Marble Creek, that’s why.

It was dumb luck and maybe a little synchronicity that got us there: you see, the town of Columbia doesn’t have a lot to offer as far as recreation. Earp & I conferred, and decided to hightail it back to Louisville to visit Kevin and Nicole. That meant we’d be heading southeast, straight into the Ozark Mountains.

As you know, I’d already tried once to get to the Ozarks and failed. But this time it was happening for sure, and what’s more, we were going camping out there in the backcountry!

We picked out a random campground from Earp’s atlas, but somehow drove right past it (possibly because I was navigating). Instead of turning back, we looped around to hit Marble Creek—and wound up driving into the only free Forest Service campground in Missouri.

Entering Marble Creek Campground

Not only was it free, but Marble Creek was beautiful. We picked out a campsite right on the creek, where tiny sunfish (bluegills) stared at us through clear, warm water and crickets sang in the quiet trees. There were other people at the campground, but we hardly saw them. Our road trip was off to a great start.

The next morning was sunny and warm, so we decided to stay an extra day and explore the creek. In front of our campsite it was shallow, but just up the creek was a deep hole full of fish and lilypads and cool water! Earp caught a crawdad and I found a snakeskin, and Crow had the time of his life swimming around and attacking tree branches.

Quiet Earp and Crow

Up above the fishing hole, there’s a manmade waterfall and the relics of an old steel mill. It makes for great swimming and sunbathing, and you get the feeling that local kids come here to hang out too: there are names carved in the cement, a heart painted on the old wall, some beer cans lying around.

We met a woman who’d been coming to Marble Creek since she was a kid, fishing on the bank of the creek. “There didn’t used to be anything out here,” she told us. “You had to bring everything you needed, and there wasn’t anybody else around. It’s changed a lot since I was a little girl.” Still, she said, she was glad the place was still here and still beautiful—and of course, still free.

In fact, this campground’s been in danger of losing its fee-free status for quite a while. In 2007, the Forest Service announced they couldn’t afford to maintain Marble Creek anymore, and would have to remove everything: fire rings, tables, toilets, and all other amenities. But then the Friends of Marble Creek Campground (FoMCC) stepped up to save the campground. An independent volunteer organization, they pick up trash, sweep out campsites, clean toilets and do everything else involved in managing this place.

We met Bob Sliger, the main dude behind FoMCC, when he stopped by our campsite to say hello. He gave us a card explaining the situation, and asked us nicely to take care of our own trash. We promised him we’d leave the site cleaner than we found it. And, of course, we did just that. When we left the next morning for Kentucky, our site was pretty dang clean—just waiting for whoever was next to discover this awesome spot.

How to find free or cheap camping near you

Free campgrounds are hard to find these days. Even those listed online as “fee-free” can change their rates or go out of business. So before you head off to BFE, make sure you call and confirm the place is still there!

If you’re lucky enough to find a free, unspoiled spot, make sure you express your appreciation by pitching in. That can mean making a donation, volunteering to help out, or just cleaning your campsite better than the jerks before you did.

Here are some good links to try for cheap/free campground listings in the United States:

• Freecampgrounds.com – Unfortunately, this site is written for RV owners. Still, it’s the most comprehensive free-camping guide available online.
• Recreation.gov – Your best bet for finding any and all information about Federal campsites. Search by location, amenities, and availability.
• BLM Recreation Services – Organized by state/region. BLM campsites are usually the cheapest, ranging from $4 to $10. Click the map to find sites in your state.

• GORP Campground Listings – GORP always has good information. Try searching for “free campground”!
• Waymarking Free Campsites – Not a lot of information here, but you can search for a specific location.
• Campgroundsontheweb.com – A very good directory of commercial sites—which are unlikely to be free. However, you can probably find some good deals through this site.

When in doubt, go old-school: buy a current map or guidebook, and visit state/county welcome centers for information on camping. The Internet might be out of date when it comes to campgrounds, but you can bet your local tourism bureau knows what’s up.