Brick-paved streets and restored 1800s buildings fill the historic district of St. Charles, on the Missouri River bank just west of St. Louis. The Katy Trail passes through town near its eastern end, and the RV park sits right beside it with a city park across the street. The motorhome stays on that one pad from the first night to the last, with the trail in the morning and the city in the afternoon.
The trail follows an old railroad grade, which keeps it flat enough for the whole family on bikes. Ride west and it tracks the Missouri out of town, and the turnaround is wherever the youngest rider decides it is.
St. Louis itself is about 20 miles east of the park, close enough to drive in for the day and come back to the same hookups at night. The Gateway Arch is the one everyone does at least once, 630 feet of stainless steel over the riverfront, and the zoo makes an easy second day with kids. When the Cardinals are home, the ballgame becomes the evening out and the rig sleeps back in St. Charles, which spares everyone the question of where a motorhome spends the night downtown.
Sundermeier RV Park is the base for all of it, and it stays open all year with water, sewer, and 30 or 50 amp electric on pull-through and back-in sites. The office assigns sites and the park publishes no length limit, so call (636) 940-0111 to confirm a spot for your rig before you book the motorhome. From I-70 or I-270, MO-370 is the road into town.
Two people headed for Johnson's Shut-Ins and the St. Francois Mountains, or for Meramec, Cuivre River or Babler state parks, are on a smaller-rig trip, and the St. Louis campervan page covers it.
Carlyle Lake and the Corps campgrounds in Illinois
East across the Mississippi in Illinois, Carlyle Lake spreads out behind a Corps of Engineers dam, and St. Louis rigs fill its shoreline campgrounds on summer weekends. Stretch the weekend into a week and the days go to the water, the evenings to a fire at the site.
Dam West, out by the dam, and Boulder are the names to know, with Coles Creek and the East Spillway Loop alongside them. The Corps offers standard electric and full-hookup sites but posts no length limit, so lock the site first and confirm your rig's length with the Corps before you book the motorhome.
Farther out, Mark Twain Lake in northeast Missouri is another Corps lake week, with its campgrounds on the Mark Twain Lake RV page. Down in the Ozarks, the cold, spring-fed Current and Jacks Fork rivers make a float week from an outfitter's campground in Eminence, and the Eminence RV page covers that run.