While exploring the Missouri Ozarks, our home base was Echo Bluff State Park near Eminence, Missouri. Opening in 2016, Echo Bluff State Park is one of Missouris newest state parks. This state park is top notch and has all the features you might be looking for. I honestly can’t think of another Missouri state park that compares to this one. We had a bluff view room in the Betty Lea Lodge which was beautiful! The lodge has a well-stocked gift shop, the Creekside Grill, large decks with rocking chairs and even a sitting area with a mini library and board games.

The namesake of the park lies behind the lodge. Echo Bluff towers above the crystal clear waters of Sinking Creek. Sinking Creek is the second largest tributary to the Current River and is warmer than most Ozark streams since it does not have any natural springs feeding it.

We took a walk around the property on both nights we stayed there. There is an awesome kids playgrounds with water features and natural elements (we may have tested out the super steep slide…). There is an amphitheater, fire pit and lots of pavilions.

We also found the beautiful spring.

We also drove to the top of the bluff and checked out the overlook. We also saw the wild horses up there! There was a baby colt that kept prancing and bucking!

We sat at the upper parking lot, waiting for it to get dark so that we could stargaze since this area has little light pollution. But, Mother Nature had other plans as a thunderstorm rolled in right as it got dark. We were able to stargaze the following night and all I can say is WOW!! The skies were so dark and we saw so many stars than we can typically see at home. We even saw Jupiter and 3 of its’ moons! Did you know that Jupiter has over 50 moons?!

On our last night, we found a nice area along Sinking Creek where we put our lawn chairs in the water and enjoyed a beverage. There was even live music coming from the pavilion above! It was such a perfect time!

I had read some comments online regarding the State’s acquisition of the land, but no need to discuss that topic here. However, I really like how the park honored the land’s prior use. Camp Zoe once stood on this land and the State preserved some of their buildings including the old lodge and barn. Camp Zoe opened over 85 years ago and was a youth summer camp.

Overall, I really enjoyed our stay at Echo Bluff State Park. The park is beautiful and the accommodations were amazing. We did feel a bit like it was not quite our speed since it is pretty fancy overall, but for a few days we really enjoyed exploring the park and its natural beauty. Be sure to check this park out and leave a comment if you have any questions!