Eating & Sleeping

Where To Eat
Dining in and around the park offers many options, or you can opt to eat surrounded by nature at the park's picnic areas.

Outside the park, many restaurants cater to a range of tastes. National Park Service employees are prohibited from providing recommendations regarding eating establishments. For information about places to eat, please contact the:

• Southeast South Dakota Tourism Association at 1-888-353-7382
• Yankton Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-888-1460
• Vermillion Area Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-809-2071.

Inside the Park/Partner Sites: Picnic sites are available on park property at Mulberry Bend Overlook. Picnic tables are also available at all of our partner facilities such as Ponca and Niobrara State Parks, Lewis and Clark Visitor Center, Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area and at several spots around Fort Randall.

KEEP WILDLIFE WILD
Keep wildlife wild by giving them their distance and not feeding them. It is illegal to approach, feed, handle, capture, or harass any wild animal in the park. If you treat wildlife with respect by not approaching or feeding them, you are helping them live natural lives. Human food will give these critters health problems and lead to poor well-being. It also conditions them to seek out food in these areas. This can lead to their death as food-conditioned animals may not search for food that gives them proper nutrition, disrupts their natural cycles, and puts them at a high risk for being hit by vehicles.
Learn the seven ways to safely watch wildlife. Watch this illustrated stop motion video about food conditioning, habituation, and what you can do to help keep the wild in wildlife!

 

Lodging
There are no motels or rental cabins within Missouri National Recreational River. Communities and partners surrounding the national park offer a wide choice of accommodations including motels, cabins, beds and breakfasts, and campgrounds.

• 39 Mile Reach (Fort Randall Dam to Running Water, SD): A wide variety of accommodations can be found in the communities of Springfield, SD and Niobrara, NE.
• 59 Mile Reach (Gavins Point Dam to Ponca, NE): Accomodations can be found in Yankton, SD, Vermillion, SD, and Ponca, NE.

Cabins

• Niobrara State Park (402-944-2703)
• Ponca State Park (308-665-2912).
• Lewis & Clark State Recreation Area and Chief White Crane South Dakota; 1-800-710-2267)
• Lewis and Clark Lake State Recreation Area (Nebraska and known locally as Weigand-Burbach; 402-944-2703 or 308-665-2912).
• Lewis and Clark Resort (605/665-2680) is located within the Lewis and Clark State Recreation Area (SD).

Camping

Missouri National Recreational River offers limited camping opportunities within the park except for primative camping available at Bow Creek, Goat Island, and Green Island Recreation Areas. Please visit our Camping page for more information.

Disclaimer
National Park Service employees are prohibited from providing recommendations regarding lodging.