Part of the Gay Ava Guide — bars, events & things to do.

Ava, Missouri
Members-only, clothing-optional men's campground on 700+ Ozark acres, March to October
Cactus Canyon is a private, members-only retreat for adults 21 and older who identify as men, on more than 700 acres in the Ozarks of Douglas County, Missouri, about 70 road miles southeast of Springfield by its own directions. It opened in 1999. The entire campground is clothing optional; as the owners put it, the choice to wear something or nothing at all is yours. The 2026 season ran March 1 to the end of October, and the campground's home page notes that the property is for sale and will operate as usual until a sale goes through. Everyone participates on a membership, with a $10 fee for anyone who has been away more than a year. The pricing is unusual: a camping fee of $25 per person per night ($30 on holidays) applies to everyone, and RV sites with electric, water and sewer at 30 or 50 amps add a flat $11 per site while improved tent sites add $6.75. Lodge rooms are $85, cabins $65 and dorm rooms $55 a night for one or two people, with holiday premiums. Primitive tent sites and seasonal RV sites round it out. The grounds have a 26-by-52-foot solar-heated pool, a 10-by-10 hot tub, a dry sauna, creek swimming, three bathhouses with hot showers, hiking trails, kayak rentals and a store. The 2026 calendar ran from a Spring Bear Weekend in April through Pride, Christmas in July, Leather in the Woods, a cowboy and country-music weekend, Puppy Weekend, Dolly Weekend and Hal-o-Bear, with potlucks most Saturdays. Two leashed dogs per site.
Have feedback on this description? Let us knowDrag brunches, circuit nights & every party worth knowing in Ava — in your inbox every week.
No upcoming events
Try checking a later date or browse events in the app

$52

$72

$67

$55

$22

$394

$111
Experiences powered by Viator
Get the full experience — check in, follow this venue, and connect with the community.


We verified 32 LGBTQ+ campgrounds in the US, from 700-acre men's retreats in the Ozarks to a women-only resort in Michigan's Thumb. This guide covers every one we could verify from the campground's own website: who's welcome, what clothing optional means there, what you can sleep in, what it costs and when the season runs.

After 40 the velvet rope matters less and the pool deck matters more. Here are the six destinations that deliver, the bear weeks and cruises built for a slower pace, and where to stay in each, drawn from our venue listings and event guides.

Caribbean law has changed fast since 2022, in both directions. Here is the current legal picture island by island, the places that are easy to book, the ones that take judgment, the ones still criminalizing gay sex, and where a cruise makes more sense than a stay.

Dedicated LGBTQ+ retirement communities are rare, and at least one that still shows up in older articles has closed. We checked each one against its own website in October 2026. Here is what is actually open, what it costs where prices are published, and how to vet a mainstream community.

Leather bar, bear bar, video bar, tea dance, piano bar, dive. Every type of gay bar explained: what it is, how it started, what a night looks like, and how to find one near you.

Circuit parties are the big dance weekends on the gay calendar. Here's what they are, where the name came from, what actually happens, what to wear, and which one to pick first.