We have only been to the shore a few times so my son can fish. He has not caught any fish from the shore but it is a beautiful lake. We will explore more areas around the lake in the future. I have seen ski-do's and water skiing and lots of boats on the lake. There are also beaches for swimming in the campground so this lake must not have water moccasins and that is a good thing. Highly recommended. read more

Great and beautiful lake. Just be careful here, there are loss of life incidents each year. Be careful of the mud, it can suck you down and end your fun. Always stay with a buddy, always no exceptions. read more

I was debating on 2 or 3 stars. The campsite was very nice. The shower house and restrooms were nice and clean. My issue was the price. We usually stay at state parks that are half the price as this place and just as nice. They charge 40 dollars a night. Also, the thing that I really was unhappy with was that you are allowed 2 tents on the campsite. They charged my son 7 dollars to park and camp with us. Then they had some friends come by and just visit, they did not stay the night and they charged them 7 dollars. I probably will never go back to this place again and stick to Missouri DNR sites because of the price and not because it wasn't a nice campground. read more

Been coming here since I was a kid to fish with my parents, but over the years been too busy or just didn't care for it. Recently, especially with this Covid-19 pandemic, I have been enjoying mother nature and love being outdoors! Also love to go fishing again. We went here with some friends and bestie. It was so much needed to get away from the reality, very peaceful, stress-free environment. Love seeing other families out there as well... fishing and enjoying the outdoors too. They have lots of spots to fish from, like under the bridge, flat surfaces, and boat docks. There's some trails and also a beach too. Definitely a big place to explore and enjoy. read more

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We took the RV out for the weekend. Booking was easy online, and checking in was even easier. On drive up we were handed a packet, even allowed for late check-in, and allowed for more time doing what we want. Low hassle on getting out of there. Only complaint was no sewage at site, dump site on exit. read more

Smithville Lake - Great sunsets - Lakes Near Me - Smithville, Missouri

Close to home but far enough to vacay away from home! Great boating, fishing and hiking.

Beautiful. Always. There is so much to explore and gorgeous trails. Sunsets and sunrises are exceptional here. Trails are well maintained and now most of them have restrooms available. So happy Smithville is my home. read more

Terrible experience. A lot of the hook ups require a 50 amp plug in on your RV or the use of an adapter which isn't listed on the web page anywhere. Some camping spaces have both and some only have the 50 amp option. Ridiculous that you have to carry adapters just to camp here. Will not be camping here again. read more

This is my favorite hiking spot and area lake! Best trails around! Clean, well maintained and you can be lakeside as you hike! Don't miss out! read more

Last time I was here there was a couple doing it in the lake, dead fish on the beach, and the shore was full of the Midwest's answer to the beach bum. Sunburned overweight moms trying in vain to wrangle their out of control brood. "Dammit Travis, now you quit hittin that girl now ya'here?" If you're in any way a germ a phobe, avoid the lake, or at least the designated swimming areas. Otherwise this is just your classic little lake; pretty scenery, good camp grounds, and a small lake for your party pontoon boat. The place is scattered with those permanent BBQ grills that you see in parks, and they charge you by the car to enter. This is pretty standard for campgrounds and helps them keep the place clean and will kept. I remember a baby sitter taking my sister and I here to go tubing when I was in grade school, and I had an unbelievable time. The rush of an elementary school child being pulled behind a boat at what felt like a hundred miles an hour was an unexpected joy that holds a unique place in my heart, we all have these moments, no matter how shitty our childhood, these are the moments that strive to cancel out the bad times. My day ended when I freaked out after my goggles fell into the lake. That upset me more than it really should have, and is probably a testament to the fact that my own childhood wasn't so bad. The other Smithville memory that comes to mind, is a house party I went to. I recall a swarm of wasps threatened to ruin the last minute house party until someones mom busted out several cans of raid. I'm not proud that I drove home that night, I was in no shape to, but high school kids are not known for their great decision making skills. I was able to miss out on my friend Brandon peeing on my other buddy Craig in the back of yet another friend of mine, Brian's Jeep Cherokee. If I had a night to get urinated on, that was not it. Maybe later. Anyway, as gross as the public swimming area here is, this spot has so much to offer that if you can't have a good time here, then you are obviously a robot. read more

Thanks K.N., -it never occurred to me to review Smithville Lake! It's the best place I've found for riding my road bicycle and in-line skating! Smokin' Dave and Bonebender trails are the bomb. If you park at either of those, a donation isn't required, although it is encouraged (if you park at the campground area, $5 to a park ranger is required), . I always stick to the paved trails, although a buddy of mine likes to do the mountain biking thing there. Clean, quiet, great views of the lake, glimpses of deer and other wildlife. Cell phone works on the trails I've ridden, which is reassuring. My only complaint is that I have to drive to Smithville to enjoy it, but I couldn't rationalize subtracting a star for that. read more

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You'll love it here! Boat? Jetski? Kayak? Trails? You can do it all! Everything outdoors here and it's so clean and the people are nice.

Smithville Lake is alright. Problem is there are so many trees under water here! The first area we went to that says it's a boat ramp actually had tons of visible trees sticking out. Then we drove back down south to another boat ramp. We launched there and things seemed to be alright. While swimming, we swan into some brush. These areas aren't marked. I'm not sure if we'll be back or not. read more

Our lake is a gem. Whether you want to boat, ski, jet ski, camp, hike, walk or cycle this is the place. 19 miles of beautiful water, 24 miles of paved walk/run/cycle trails and that doesn't count the off road biking trails. Skeet shooting range. Wooded trail below the dam. Fishing, swimming and the best 4th of July fireworks anywhere. This is why we live here. We often drive the 2 miles from our home just to watch the sunset. read more

Smithville Lake is yet another dam located in Missouri created by the Army Corp of Engineers. Several activities are a bound here including fishing, boating, sailing, camping, hiking, biking, and horse riding. I chose hiking as my Smithville Lake activity. We, my partner and I, found Smokin Davey's trailhead located off of W highway past Paradise Missouri. The main trail is paved and is an easy walk, there are several off shoot trails so it is easy to control the length of your hike as well as challenge, some off shoot trails were unpaved, rocky, and very muddy. We stayed on the paved trail and walked for about three miles around sailboat cove, which had some sailboats in it. As with all hiking trips, what you see is based off of the season. Because of it being late fall and early spring we saw mostly just mud and dried grasses with some hawks flying around. It was an excellent hike, and I plan to return to try the other trails. read more

Wonderful hiking biking and running. We love how many miles u can log here. Great place to train for a marathon

Wonderful scenic lake that requires quite the scenic drive to get out there but well worth the trip! Many sheltered picnic areas with charcoal grills available, great hiking and biking trails. Boat rental available and not a bad lake for swimming either! This is one of the places that makes living up north worth it! read more

The new food/drink venue on Paradise Point dock is OPEN!!! So far, it is a "soft opening" to get all the kinks out with a Grand Opening later. Million dollar view from the floating dock with plenty of outdoor seating. Lots of covered seating with ceiling fans to escape the sun. My Philly cheese sandwich and fries were excellent. Had lots of soft drinks available. Also has Boulevard and Miller beer options on tap. Wine will be available by Grand opening. Reasonable prices. Credit cards accepted. Relaxed. Upscale. Friendly. Courtesy dock slips on dock so you can boat to the venue. Vendor operates Sandbox in LC so they are ready to go with this additional location. Great asset for Smithville Lake! read more

Just a quick note. We were told that this year, there is a TWO NIGHT MINIMUM for camping at Smithville lake. We didn't get the news until we had drove up and waited in line for a site! :( I was told by the gate attendant that the new rule started this 2016 season. Thought I might save you some time! At $18/night for primitive tent camping, it wasn't worth it for us. read more

Beautiful Lake!!!! Crow Creek RV Campground is on the lake with gorgeous views, bike & hiking trails all around the lake, docks & marinas, and well maintained. Wish it was back near where I live in Virginia !! Plan to return as much as possible!! read more

Used to be a great place to camp for the night, but now they require you to buy at least 5 nights on holiday weekends and 2 nights any other time. In other words you can't just pay for what you wanna use. I will come back and change my review whenever they stop the obvious money grab read more

Looks to be an okay lake, and close to home to get away for the day. But if you are bringing your boat, stay away! Submerged trees are every where and not marked! Most are a 1'-2' below the waterline. I've have been boating for over 25' years and have never seen so many submerged trees without markers especially for a lake of this size and being a Army Corp. Engineers Lake... read more

This is the ideal time to come to Smithville Lake to hike, walk on the beach and enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors! Life is grand!

Very pretty area, overall. Great to walk or just hang out and enjoy the outdoors. Quiet and relaxing.

Great Lake to hang out at just outside of Kansas City. Trails for bike riding, both paved and dirt. Beautiful place to be in the summer.

This is by far the most enjoyable lake in the Kansas City area and for me the source of great enjoyment over a quarter-century. My favorite is the swimming, both on the beaches and in the coves far from other folks. I've enjoyed the trails, the boat rentals, and the picnic areas. Thanks for this great asset to the area. read more

Too much money. 21 $ for a non electric site. Twice as much as clinton lake or perry lake wich are close and better in every way. And the ranger drove by our camp site at nite 1 in the morning like 50 times but never said a word. Water snakes every where. read more

Been here a few times. Camping in camp Branch is alright. Bathrooms of course suck. The man who rides around in the golf cart is kinda a prick. Agree with Matthew, dead fish in the swimming beach area-water kinda gross compare to other lakes I have been too. Bunch of redneck people around screaming at each other....Not surprised at people having sex in nasty lake water... read more

Smithville Lake marina, rented 24 ft pontoon for 8 of us in June, we were very disappointed. I have grown up on Osage river boating, skiiing and worked lake of the ozarks summer after college and go there every summer. My family has owned several boats and we have rented pontoons at different MO Lakes. This was the worst. We got on the pontoon and none of the cushions were attached we kept sliding out when we sat on cushions. Pontoon was missing the table so we had to use our coolers and laps to eat our lunch. The front door was missing the square aluminum piece. When we got back to the dock we asked about and they said oh we went over that was on back of contract. NO ONE ever shared all the missing parts, damage etc... or we would have never rented that boat. There were other pontoons available and we had reserved this pontoon like a month before. We were give the run down one. We did ask to not have to pay for our 2 bags of ice that amounted to about $5. Won't go back for camping or marina. read more