Clearwater Lake Camping Season Has Begun
By Guest Contributor
First posted on 05-19-2008
2008 CAMPING SEASON
PIEDMONT, Mo.- The 2008 camping season is upon us! Starting May 15, all five campgrounds at Clearwater Lake were iin full swing. We hope to see you out here enjoying your natural resources this summer.
We are looking forward to another great year of camping, fishing and water sports. As a friendly reminder, campers will need to pay their camping fees in the honor vault whenever the park’s gate attendants are not on duty.
The River Road Park gatehouse has been open all year, and Piedmont Park has been up and running since April 15. Highway K Park opened April 1, and contract gate attendants for that park should be arriving May 15. Also on May 15, Bluff View opened..
Our parks are on a first-come, first-served basis until May 15. Reservations can be made for River Road Left Bank, Piedmont Park, Bluff View, and Highway K Park from May 15 to Sept. 15. Webb Creek will once again operate first-come, first-served throughout the camping season. Sites with electricity and water are $18 this camping season. Standard electric sites are $16. Non-electric sites are $12. Those prices are consistent throughout Clearwater Lake campgrounds.
To ensure our parks are not used past their capacity, we set limitations. Each site is allowed a maximum of 10 people. You are allowed two tents or one wheeled camping unit and one tent per site.
We also ask that you not park on the grass. This causes soil compaction and makes it difficult for grass to grow. By keeping vehicles on the pavement, you ensure our parks will be beautiful for years to come.
Because of high water, some areas in Bluff View, Piedmont Park and Webb Creek parks will be underwater. The swim beaches, boat ramps, day use areas and many campsites are currently flooded in these areas.
With the higher lake levels, trees, stumps, logs and other obstacles that are normally on dry ground are now in the water along the lakeshore. Boaters should slow down, wear life jackets, give the shoreline a wide berth and refrain from drinking alcohol. No one should dive into the lake from bluffs or trees because of the potential for striking submerged obstacles or debris such as rock ledges or large tree limbs.
As always, the staff at Clearwater Lake encourages visitors to come enjoy our project lands.
For more information or a map of the Clearwater Lake Project, write the Corps at RR 3 Box 3559-D, Piedmont, MO 63957, call 573-223-7777 or visit the lake’s web site at http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/parks/clearwater/index.htm
To ensure a developed campsite will be available upon your arrival, call the National Recreation Reservation Service at 1-877-444-6777 or visit the Website at http://www.recreation.gov and make your reservations in advance. Other general lake and agency information can be retrieved from the Internet at http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/parks
For lake levels, releases and forecasted Black River conditions, links to the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center and the Corps of Engineers Water Management websites are now located on the Clearwater Dam and Info Webpage at http://www.swl.usace.army.mil/parks/clearwater/damandlake.htm