This 4th of July weekend we camped at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri.

I’m a native lake girl myself, having lived at Lake of the Ozarks my entire lifetime. I’ve watched our lake go through many changes over the years, some good and some not so great. In regards to water quality, I didn’t realize how MUCH our lake had changed until my recent visit to Table Rock. I’m sad to say there’s no comparison.

Table Rock is absolutely gorgeous. It is an Army Corps of Engineers Lake, which means it’s maintained very differently from our privately owned Lake of the Ozarks. The water is so clear in fact, that they scuba dive here; some claim you can see the bottom as far down as 40 feet. From my personal experience, the water clarity IS incredible. There’s limited building and docks along the shoreline. A two-layer rock shelf wrapped the shoreline around the entire campsite area. I was able to walk with our dog along that shelf around the entire cove, in calf-deep water. We stopped several times to sit on the shelf and cool off in the breaking waves. I was taking photos of the boats and bridge, but Olivia became something of a celebrity to passing wave runners and pontoons, they were stopping on the water to take pictures of her and wave at us while we walked. We checked out some stacked rocks along the shore and chased a few minnows.

Our campsite was only a few minutes’ drive to downtown Branson. The $16 sites had water available, you can also get them with electric and other amenities. We went to the nearby pavilion to charge batteries and cell phones when necessary. The toilets are unfortunately not plumbed, but for outdoor toilets, they were very well cleaned and maintained. There are shower rooms on site and a marina if you need to restock ice or pick up essentials. We didn’t rent a boat or do any diving, but there are plenty of rental options available if we’d been interested.

Great place to for camping and the water was amazing. I’d absolutely go for a return visit!

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20130501/LIFE06/305010138/table-rock-lake-clear-water

http://mostateparks.com/park/table-rock-state-park