Campgrounds Adjusting To Highway Closure

With Memorial Day behind them, Noel’s campgrounds are starting to get an idea of what the season will be like with a portion of Missouri Highway 59 closed.

The section of the highway, from Ginger Blue to Shady Beach, has been closed since just after the late December flood damaged it, causing a 500-foot-long portion to fail. Repair work on the highway has begun, with a completion date set for July 15.

Bobbie Adamson, owner of Shady Beach Campground, said she had a good number of guests on opening weekend. The business has information about the detour on its website and Facebook page, which seems to help.

“The word seems to be getting out. People keep trying. The ones that get here keep trying to find it,” she said.

She said Memorial Day weekend went well.

“All of our old customers found us. I was well pleased. We were all kind of nervous, but we had quite a few drive-ins, and I think we’re going to be OK. Quite a few came in talking about the road construction and how much harder it was to get to us, but they were OK.”

John Poynor, owner of River Ranch Resort, said, “It’s only been one weekend, but our guests that are coming don’t have a problem if they have reservations.”

One problem for campgrounds is the time it takes for the shuttle buses to take alternate routes to drop-off and pick-up points for canoeing, now that Highway 59 is not available.

“Our buses are taking about double the time. We added another driver just to help alleviate some of the wait,” Poynor said. “There’s not much we can do about it but wait.

Hopefully they’ll finish (the highway) on their timeline and we can get back to normal.”

Stormy Christerson, office manager at Two Sons Floats and Camping, said their Memorial Day weekend was not as busy as usual, with probably half the amount of campers and fewer boats rented.

“But I think that was more because of the weather than the road,” she said.

Several customers, especially those coming from the north, said it was hard to find the location with the detour, “but they made it here,” she said.

“We have actually had people call thinking we were completely shut down,” she added.

Christerson said it takes about twice as long for buses to get to their destinations because of the alternate routes.

“It’s kind of a mess. The buses are actually the biggest problem — just taking so long to get there,” she said.

Roddy Lett, owner of Elk River Floats and Wayside Campground, said, “It’s a big inconvenience, but it’s just something we have to deal with. Fourteen years ago the road was out the entire summer. At least this time they pushed (the deadline) forward.”

He said the situation is a drain on time and money.

“We had to hire another driver just to compensate for the length of time it takes for each bus to make a run,” he added.

On the bright side, he said, he is thankful for smart phones, because the devices notify drivers about the detour.