Whetstone Camping Area

Good place to stop right off the highway. I followed the directions directly to the pin on the map here on the post. We regrettably arrived at night so we were unsure of where to go so we turned around and pulled off into a wide dirt lot for the night.

When we woke up, we saw that we were amidst a lot of pretty little lakes. You could also hear coyotes howling in the early morning. It was a very peaceful and quiet nights sleep. There was one other person there, may have even been a patrol we heard drive in at night and leave in the morning. Toilets, no water.

Stopped here for a night on my way to the Badlands. About 3 miles down a well maintained dirt road until you come to the campsite. I parked my 21 foot trailer down by the lake and no one bothered me. Very easy to get in and plenty of room to turn around. One other tent camper up by the campsites. Loved my stay would definitely stay here again! Verizon signal was good. I had 3 bars of 4G.

We had a good stay here on our way to Colorado. It’s ~3 min off the high way then another 15 min drive on a gravel road (we drove pretty slow with a camper and it was dark). Saw a bunch of deer!

We saw 3 other groups there for camping/hunting. Had a site next to a lake all to ourselves. Plenty of space for our puppy to run around in the morning too!

I pulled in here about 6:30 on a Friday night in mid September. The grass area for the campground had recently been cut and the pit toilet was clean, well, as clean as a pit toilet can get and there was dry toilet paper. It rained all night but none of the spots flooded.

The road back to the campground is gravel. When you come into the conservation area stick to the road going to the left (west) and go all the way to the end to get to the camping area. It's a quick 5 minutes off the interstate.

There was a couple in a sprinter van that got stuck in the mud after the very rainy night and had to be towed out in the morning, but my 4wd made it out easily.

My dog and I set up our tent just before sundown. Got a great night’s sleep! Pit toilet is a bit smelly and the seat/lid could use some Clorox wipes (didn’t have any with me), but it was free. Certainly not the worst I’ve seen/smelled. TP was well stocked. We saw a few deer on our drive in and a few rabbits near the site, but no predators. We stayed near the pit toilet—the pictures show the four firering/picnic table campsites that were walking distance from the parking area at the pit toilet. A campervan found another site a bit away from us. There was another tent in the camping area I used. I didn’t have time to explore, but it seems like there may be more camping/RVing spots here that I didn’t come across (being near the restroom is a priority for me). There was some minor trash in the campsite, but all small stuff (looked liked things that were accidentally left behind—the place was nowhere near what I’d call “trashed.” One of the best free spots I’ve encountered so far!

Easy entry road, maintained gravel. Sights are not entirely even but even enough to find a spot. Trails, bathroom. Woke up to beautiful birds. The sound of coyotes howling in the distance was an awesome experience. They kept their distance. Two other campers in tents were there. All respectful and quiet. Would have stayed another night if I didn’t have somewhere to go.

We are headed from the East Coast to the West Coast. Needed a place to boondock over night. It’s beautiful here. Lots of ‘pull outs’ along the road to hunker down for the night, most having ponds to enjoy. It was pretty cold but our kids enjoyed exploring spring lots of wildlife. Wouldn’t change a thing and will stay again if we ever get the chance!

My wife and I stumbled across Whetstone Creek CA a last year, but didn't camp there then. When we decided to go to a festival in Fulton, MO we thought this would be a good place to spend a night or two and it was. The amenities are few, but for free camping it worked out well. There is a good size gravel parking lot that you can park on instead of individual pads. There is an area with a fire ring and picnic table that we parked alongside of and so had those amenities. There is also a privy by the tent camping area, a short walk away. If you are looking for a good family outing, this may not be the campsite, but if you need a place to sleep for the night only few miles off the interstate or want to spend a weekend hunting and fishing, Whetstone Creek CA will work.