Wappapello Lake

05 October 2025 – Sunday

Catching up on last fall’s travel.
Day one of five on our way home from Branson, MO to Durham, NC. We drove across Missouri on route 60 and enjoyed a night near Wappapello Lake.

1015 75,971 71°F Leave America’s Best Campground in Branson after four fun days connecting with other Pleasure-Way owners. That’s a vintage Pleasure-Way behind us. They have been built in Saskatoon for over forty years.

1212 76,067 77°F Mountain Grove, Missouri

Stopped in Mountain Grove for lunch and walked around the town square. It’s kind of sad that there really isn’t much here. We did try and check out the Grove Gamer’s Guild to look at board games but they weren’t open.

Beth humored me and captured a short video as we paralleled a BNSF freight train on Route 60.

1530 76,205 82°F Wappapello, Missouri

Redman Creek Campground is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. We reserved Site #24 with full hookups for only $14 using our senior pass. Driveways are cement and we had 2 bars of AT&T LTE service. The only downside was we didn’t have a view of the lake. Otherwise, the sites are good sized, have some shade, and are nicely spaced apart.

A new bathhouse with six individual shower rooms sits next to a modern playground. Redman Creek is a bargain for a full hook-up, modern campground.

Wanting to see Wappapello Lake, we drove a mile to the Visitor Center and dam.

Due to a US government shutdown, the visitor center wasn’t open, but the area was accessible with a playground and provided good views of the lake.

Signage explained the reason and history behind the reservoir.

“The Wappapello Lake Project
Engineered to Reduce Flooding Impacts

In the early 1900s, rain from spring storms would race down the slopes of the Ozark Mountains and into the St. Francis River. The swollen river then flowed south into the flat floodplains. Here the powerful floodwaters spread out over farms and timberland, causing extensive damage.

To reduce the impacts of flooding, the US Army Corps of Engineers completed Wappapello Dam in 1941. While the dam holds back and stores excess rain water in Wappapello Lake, dam operators use lifting gates to release water and reduce flooding downstream.”

What I found unique about the construction is the parking lot. It doubles as an auxiliary spillway in the event of a flooding that could threaten the dam.

In 1945 and 2011 the spillway performed as designed and acted as an overflow drain for the lake.

Here’s a quote posted from a local construction worker in 1940:

“I tell you it was rough. It was real bad. I never worked harder on anything in my life… I went from 75 cents a day to $2.40 and I thought I was going to get rich.”

Good night from Redman Creek Campground.