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Two Affordable Ways to Stay in this Ozark Camping Paradise
With 7 RV sites and 50 tent sites, Devils Elbow River Safari and Campground fills up fast with folks who love to float. Drive down smooth gravel roads to find your pull-thru RV site or tent site amid the tall trees and natural landscaping.
Our experience with the devil elbow campground and safari have always been great. Angie the owner is always polite and very knowledgeable. It's always me and my gf who float. We fish the whole time on the river catching anything from bluegill, large and smallmouth bass to even a gar now and then. The float this time lasted over 5 hours but it was well needed. Boy did we get sunburn lol. It doesn't matter tho. The heat was in the high 90s but we were cool as cucumbers out there fishing. We usually pull our kayaks over wen we hit a nice beach and swim. It's the perfect way to cool us down. This was our 1st float of 2022 and there will be many more to come. Thanks Angie and the safari, we love coming and your hospitality makes the trip that much more enjoyable. Oh yea. Plus Angie took these awesome pics.
We pulled up to this campground on our vacation. A woman who pulled in ahead of us instantly parked, tossed a “no trespassing” barricade in front of our vehicle and proceeded to ask what we were doing there, stating abrasively, “there’s no trespassing.” My fiancé asked her if it was a business, telling her we were there to check it out and possibly pay for her facilities. This didn’t seem to affect the owner at all. She was rushed and rude answering our questions and so we went elsewhere. We do not recommend this place at all!
Was greeted very unpleasantly by the owner. Was exploring the area and wanted to check out the campgrounds as seen on Google maps. She pulled in front of us and very aggressively dropped the barricade in front of our car. She said it was private property. I asked if it was a business and she said it was. She had a grimace and scowl the entire we talked to her. I never felt more unwelcome at a business. She said we could check out the campground with a day pass, $5 per person. I would have paid the $10 for my fiance and I just to check it out, but the level of rudeness and negativity coming off of her was unlike anything I've seen at a business entrance. I asked if she was having a bad day and she said something about some people pulling in when they shouldn't have. I would pay to $10 to never run into anyone like her again. We took the road on the other side of the river and the river access from the campgrounds didn't look that appealing. Will never go near the place again. It should be called Karen's elbow campgrounds.
Be prepared to be constantly hounded by the “warden” as we came to call her. She will bang on your camper door at 8am demanding more money or swearing you haven’t paid her. If you have a visitor even for just a few mins the warden will come straight into your camp on her 4wheeler demanding your guest pays for $5 day pass. If you plan to get in the river you better have some cash with you because she’ll come ripping down the trail on that 4wheeler demanding you pay her a “put-in” fee.
Saturday morning be prepared to wake up to strangers walking through your campsite because the kayak adventure customers park their vehicles right where your tent is.
If you want to kayak and you bring your own, the warden is going to charge you some made up fee even if you don’t get dropped off up river by her. A put-in/pull-out fee on a public river somehow is owed to her.
All in all she personally makes any peaceful camping and family adventure a nightmare. I won’t be going back to this campground and highly recommend you look elsewhere. Devils Elbow is a beautiful area, just not at this place.
The owner must have had a lot of bad experiences with trespassers because she seems like the type to shoot first and ask questions later (symbolically speaking). There aren't any signs or open office so you have to guess where to go. She pulled up like a gangster asking what I was doing. When I told her I pre-paid to camp, she didn't believe me. Eventually she found my name and drove away. Its too bad since it is a quiet location and convenient to the highway. If you are a tent camper, you'll definitely need a cot or something to get off the rocky ground. And I mean "big rocks". This is also somewhat troublesome for an RV. No facilities or hookups. There also may be seasonal/permanent campers, which is sketchy. The water is beautiful though.
