washington state park

A little known gem in the Missouri State Parks system (well - "little known" outside the confines of Jefferson County). A great place for an afternoon of strolling through a great mixtures of the microcosms of Missouri nature- glades, wooded hills, river flood plain, dolomite cliffs! There are at 3 great walking trails (one a little more the physically fit than the other 2) with vistas that are spectacular any time of the year. Though fall is one of my favorite times to visit with an amazing color palette with all of the maples, oaks, persimmons, ect... Stop during the summer and you'll have a great chance to see on one of the glades in the park rare Fremont Leather Flower and the collared lizard that assumes a position that makes you think you're looking at a minature dinosaur. Also located within this park are some of the finest Mississippian petroglyphs anywhere in the United States. It really is a gem of a park that's within an hour drive from "the city" with great clean camping sites. For the canoeist/float trip addicts - easy access to the Big River for a lazy slow float down the river.

Washington State Park is a hidden treasure. Who knew that such a beautiful park, campground, river and trails is so close to St. Louis, MO. We stayed here several times over the summer in the electric sites. each time was for just a few days but would have stayed longer if we had full hook-ups.We stayed July, August and October. each site is spacious with fire pit, table, lantern post and blacktop pad.The main bathhouse needs scrubbing, painting, new fixtures, some repairs, but over all okay.The lodge store needs more staples like milk, bread, matches, etc.The programs at the amphitheater were nice, informative, but not kid friendly. More crafts, and stories that would interest the kids is needed. After all, they are the ones that come to the program for the most part, while parents take a brake.The campground host were warm and welcoming. They patrolled the campground often enough to keep the campers informed and assist in any way.We all need to remember that good reviews, respecting the park and the rules will help the state realize that this park deserves some monies for updates and maintenance.

Being from the city, we don't tend to get harassed without reason too often by law enforcement officers, because there's actual crime to fight. When we take family camping trips we're also not used to encountering park rangers who aren't welcoming and helpful. This is not what you will find at Washington State Park. It's a beautiful place and seemingly quiet. Other than Ranger Todd Shearer, this would make for a great camping destination. This man's presences alone is enough to keep your family as far away as possible. Ranger Todd is the kind of jerkwad police academy flunkee that makes people hate law enforcement officers. For whatever reason, maybe his mommy and daddy didn't love him enough, repeatedly failed relationships, or post high school life disappointment this sociopath feels an overwhelming need to constantly reaffirm his superiority over others to himself and does so by using the power of his badge to terrorize campers. The way this man treats visitors should bring great dishonor and shame to the State of Missouri for employing and empowering him. What would make me say this you ask? Before this weekend I'd never heard of this guy, I wish I'd read other reports on this park and will ALWAYS do so in the future on sites like this one. At least two other groups of people have had bad experiences at this park because of him, and I shudder to think about all the needlessly bad experiences this man is responsible for that no one bothered to write a review about. He made his presence known to us after two of my friends and I wandered down two or three campsites from ours to a vacant picnic table bench where we quietly we're observing the stars and nature's splendor. He pulled up and interrogated us as I turned around to face my friends on the other side of the table. This occurred during his patrol at about 10 PM or so. He asked us what we were doing and explained that we were camped two sites down and we told him we were enjoying the the light-pollution free night sky we just don't get in the city. He said it was kind of funny we were at vacant site and thought we had crashed the camp even though we had no car at this site or gear. It was just us my friend's cigarettes and a single can of beer. This was all too fishy for Ranger Todd. He then accused me of throwing something as he pulled up as if to ditch some kind of invisible evidence. I told him the truth, I didn't throw anything I just turned around. He proceeded, in his most intimidating tone and douche attitude, to ask us questions like, "You guys have never been any trouble before," while he searched in vein for some kind of illegal drugs on the ground and of course found nothing. He asked if we had anything on us of course the answer was no, and we emptied our pockets to prove it without his asking us to. "Well that's good looks like no one's going to jail tonight," He then asked for our IDs, told us that we might have weapons in our pockets and digging around in them made him nervous and went to his car and ran them while we sat with our hands visible on the table quietly. He came back a few minutes later and asked my friend about a charge he received fifteen years ago for disorderly conduct. Then Ranger Todd asked us if we were alone and we told them all three of us had wives and girlfriends two sites down. Ranger power trip then informed us quiet hours were commencing now and will be respected when he realized we had no warrants and he had no probable cause to harass us any further before asking one last time, "You're sure you didn't throw anything over there?," shined his flash light one last time on the ground and finally said something like, "Alright then." . He seemed so disappointed that he didn't get to haul anyone in. After reading the reviews I'm just thankful we had a large group that could witness any potential misconduct on his part. We were planning on camping the next night but left in the morning to avoid further harassment. There are plenty of other parks in the area do your family and friends a big favor and camp at one of them instead.

We recently camped here in a travel trailer. The site had electric hook up. The park is in close proximity to St. Louis and we could watch all local television stations with our antenna. Many state parks have no cell service but we found LTE still worked on our ipad. The pool is very clean and the staff is friendly. And while there is a small fee to swim in the pool, there is access to the Big River with no fee to swim. The park also offers a small store with basic supplies, hiking trails, float rentals and a petroglyph exhibit. The main shower/restroom/laundry facilities were in need of attention. Perhaps upgrade the fixtures and clean more frequently. It is near a row of basic campsites with many who camp only in tents and have no additional access to water. On a busy summer weekend, it is easy to understand that it would be heavily used. I will simply state that I was thankful our unit was self-contained and I did not need their shower! The campground hosts were very polite and helpful. She told us to relax and take our time setting up and came to check on us a short while later. A pleasant weekend.

We've been coming here for over 30 years. It's a nice place to hold family reunions or a nice place to enjoy a picnic and to swim. There are several walking trails and a place to swim either in a large concrete pool or in the river. I like to sit on the river bank just to watch the kids slide down the muddy banks! lol I wouldn't do it but it looks like everyone's having such a good time :-) There are several pavilions to hold reunions. If you're looking to camp, it looks like there's several places with electric or for primitive tent camping. We like renting the cabins. Bring your own bedding but they're basically equipped. You'll want to try and make reservations early as there aren't that many to rent and tend to fill up quickly in the summertime. Almost forgot to say that there's a camp store located by the river! These camp and picnic grounds have always been kept so clean.

This park has cabins to rent. They are roomy, with nicely equipped living/dining areas, bedrooms, and baths and are clean on arrival. It's a great place to meet for a family reunion when your family is spread all over and members range from newborn to 90 year olds!! There are 9(?) cabins available, but if your family wants to occupy all of them, you must make a reservation early. There are motels fairly close, but it's much nicer to have everyone staying in the same park. It's easy to set up an area for group meals, activities, and sitting around a campfire in the evening. Check the website for rates and all of the park activities. I spent an afternoon there with extended family who drove as much as 500 miles for a long weekend. I was impressed with everything I saw. One issue to consider is that the park is hilly and some of the cabins have steps for entry. Anyone in a wheelchair might find some cabins and some areas around the cabins difficult to access. Anyone who uses a cane or crutches or who has difficulty in walking will need to be extra careful.

We love this park and have been going here for over 28years now..We live in the town of desoto, mo. Our favorite thing is the pool and playground....but we also love the river and the trails. When you visit you MUST try the fried catfish sandwhich at the lodge or the concession stand...it is to die for....absolutely delicious ! The prices are very reasonable also as you can see we love Washington state park and would recommend it over and over again....very clean too...

Lovely campgrounds. Upon arrival, Don the camp host was a friendly face, super helpful, and always had a smile on his face. Someone had set up camp on our reserved spot, and Don resolved the issue immediately. The campground was clean, showers and toilets (vault and flush) were very clean and always had toilet paper. If you want firewood, plan on getting it from the gas station just down the road from the park entrance. The person who sells the wood is only there on weekends and if you aren't at your site between the hours of 4:30pm and 7pm (or in that area of time), you'll miss out. The petroglyphs are nice. The interpretation of them is well done; it's a simple trail that anyone could walk and is accessable to those with mobility issues.The unfortunate part of this trip was the inability to rent canoes, which was the main purpose of going to Washington. The state park website said nothing about their rental office being closed during the weekdays until May 15th, leaving us out of luck. The river itself, what we could see of it from the shore, was nice. Access is simple, and plenty of picnic tables for anyone to use. Getting to the hilltops affords one some nice views of the river as well as the surrounding areas.

it is a great place to go with the family. We have gone with our kids and grand kids. There are trails, water, huge boulders to climb and great scenery. You can spend the day and take a picnic. There is also a playground area and a rangers building to go through.

For our first anniversary, my wife and I decided to go to Washington state park to go tubing end have a picnic lunch. When renting the tubes, we were told it would be a 2-3 hour trip down the river and that the current would take us the whole way. We ended up spending over 4 hours paddling our little tubes down the stagnant river because there was NO current. Needless to say, we got awful sunburn and had to spend our entire anniversary night in the ER for sun poisoning.

I like to just sit and have a leisurely picnic. There's a place to buy food, a swimming pool and cabins to rent. It's just a really well cared for state park. Lots to do or just relax.

My family and I have not camped at Washington State Park but we have hiked and used the river access there. We liked it and had no problems with anyone. The river access can get crowded.

Took my family of 6 to the park in July. Where to begin: Dirty facilities, relatively little to do (one day max...and that is pushing it), pool is mediocre and you have to pay an extra fee to use it (and does not open until after noon...explain that to your four restless kids in July), Host was a power tripper who was little to no help when the site power was failing (read: no A/C in 100 plus degree weather...oh yea with nothing to do and the pool is closed till noon).Worst part however was when we left, my two week old travel trailer plug was totally fried. Ranger was appologetic but no more, gave me the number for Risk Management. Cost us two days in a hotel plus the repair bill ($200). When I finally got a hold of risk managment, one Carla Ahrens, Six months later, she denied the hotel costs, denied the repair bill and denied reimbursment for our park fees.So...in short we paid to be completely uncomfortable for 3 days, have our new travel trailer damaged by the antiquated park equipment to the tune of $500 after all costs and then the "drag us through the mud" process of collecting all our information and details (can you say "job justification") for months only to deny any culpability. How these people can look at themselves in the mirror or tell their children what their jobs really are is beyond me.Avoid this place...just drive on past.

Ranger Todd kicked us out but its ok crappy fishing problem 1 Fishing we went right outside of the park to fish at a boat ramp area there was no good fish. There were some small sunfish now as we left we noticed a sign at the bottom of the post that there was a warning not to eat the small fish and bottom feeders due to the high lvls of lead in them and that it was perfect for catch and release. Problem 2 Ranger Todd Shearrer Badge Number: 37 came down and Talked... to us very rudely that we were loud it was 10ish we were a bit loud talking to each other bs about the day but were were a good 100ft away from other camps we had campsite 37 38 i think and he was treating us with getting kick out or sending us to jail. so we quieted down but we were talking normally about how crappy he was and some of us joked about him well he was standing at are other site 20 min later i guess he had to bully us again saying we were still too loud and that we need to be out at 12 the next day we argued with him and he was tell us he was about to kick us out then and or send us to jail there were 6 of us + my 11 year old son sorry for the ranting on and on but worst fishing weekend ever

After much research of Missouri State Parks, our family decided upon Washington State Park as our annual family camping trip. Unfortunately our experience was awful, mainly due to the park Ranger, "Ranger Todd". His power trip of a job led to the seven children we had camping witness a "Cops" like episode in which Ranger Todd beat a man to the ground in the site across from ours. The incident led to the man pleading for Ranger Todd to stop and the arrival of 2 police cars, highway patrolman, and ambulance (to provide treatment to the man from his beating). Ranger Todd the next day accused us of driving while intoxicated (we do not drink alcohol on camping trips) when we drove from the river to the convenience store. Apparently we were driving 4 miles over the speed limit. (there was no posted speed limit between the two areas). We witnessed Ranger Todd interrogate a man while shining a flashlight in his face. Moments earlier when we passed the man's campsite he was having a conversation peacefully with his campmate. We witnessed Ranger Todd accuse a group of women with children of driving while intoxicated and had them take breathalyzer tests and walk the line in front of their children. Ranger Todd caused the children in our group to be paranoid of their actions and uncomfortable when his car would pass our campsite. Ranger Todd was mean, rude, and not the type of "family friendly" Park Ranger we have found in our relaxing Missouri State Park camping trips. The communication between Ranger Todd, the convenience store, and the camphost was lacking. We were told by the host we could have a fire, the convenience store sold us firewood, but Ranger Todd said NO FIRES. To complete our visit to Washington State Park our last evening of camping was met with a situation where a man and woman decided to "shower" together in the public woman's shower house. We had 3 young girls exposed to this horrid moment. Where was Ranger Todd when we needed him?