DeSoto State Park Campground

What a beautiful place. Stayed the weekend and hit almost all of the trails, saw 4 waterfalls and so many amazing rock formations. There are three trailheads that leave directly from the campground, which is a well-kept and clean place with well spaced sites. The upper loop is on a hill, but the sites are spaced out slightly more than the lower loop. The lower loop was more level and a bit newer. The best sites are in the 60s on the outer part of the lower loop. Just a wonderful place to spend a weekend.

Stayed two nights, had a great time. Plenty to do all close by, as well as a few comforts to make the time easier if you want them.

Clean place with very friendly staff. Lots of hiking trails. Bath house was clean unsure about water quality

This is one of our favorite state parks in Alabama to camp at and is amazing when you visit in the spring and see all the wildflowers. There are also so many great places to swim when it gets hot including DeSoto Falls and the stream that runs through the park.

We stayed M-F; the park was 70% ish occupied; lots of great hikes, although most of the water falls were dry 🤷🏼‍♂️. #seasonal. Paddled above DeSoto Falls on the Little River. Mostly cooked out, but a lunch visit to the Wildflower in Mentone is worth it.

Camped for two nights before heading to the smokies. Great trails, beautiful scenes, lots of space at outside loop sites. Plenty of wildlife that are around the campground including deer, gray fox, and fox squirrels. Bathhouses clean and staff friendly.

Good facilities in the improved campsites with coin op washers and dryers, though the dryers were not all working. Lots of hiking in the area and a pool in season. There are many swimming holes if you look along the water. Also Little River Canyon is near for many more swimming and hiking options. Have camped primitave here as well, pit toilet and community water. Some of the sites can be confusing but over all a lot of good spots.

I arrived after the country store had closed and registered at the lodge. The receptionist gave me a tag with my name on it and told me to put it on the board by my campsite number. I pulled into the campground, came to site 1, which was empty, and put my name on the post under the number “1,” set up my hammock, and went to sleep. I was awoken by a man and his children telling me I was in their site. Apparently there’s a big board at the end of the campground where you’re supposed to clip your name? I never saw this board because I never went that far into the campground. Why on earth isn’t it at the beginning of the campground where everyone can see it? Other than that, the site was very nice. Lots of hammocking opportunities. The vault toilet was rather unpleasant. Not the best, but by far not the worst.

Great campground! Lots of trails to hike and great restaurant on the campground. Just a little challenging pulling a RV to the location.

Due to some poor planning on my part, we had a free night in-between Tennessee and Georgia, we found this place here on the Dyrt, and it was absolutely spectacular. This part of Alabama is absolutely stunning, at close to 1700 feet in elevation, this area provides some of the most elevation in the state with absolutely stunning natural beauty. From the nearby waterfalls, which are a short drive from the campground to Little River Canyon national river, also a short drive, this area has so much to offer. The campground itself is perfectly maintained, beautiful, spacious, and wooded sites with functioning hookups, clean restrooms, and beautiful natural surroundings. Initially, we stayed here just to tag the base and say we’ve camped in Alabama, but after spending the night, we will absolutely go back to this facility!

We stayed he in early December. It was a pretty weekend but was not crowded. Even if full the sites are very spacious. I loved how the trails connected to the campground. Spent the a lot of time hiking and exploring the trails. There were lots of day hikers when we were there.

This is a beautiful Alabama state park with full hookups. The campsites are large and the park is well maintained. Great get away.

We were here in mid October and the air was crisp and the colors were bright so if you in the area don’t miss this place

The modern campground is very nice. Large sites that are separate and easy to get into even in the dark. After hours you have to call for the gate code. Thankfully, one of our group had cell service. The bathroom facility is very nice and updated. However, trying to get access to it in the dark for the first time is an interesting trip. A surprise was that the campsite included cable TV. The pool wasn't open but we walked to it and it looked nice. The Zipline business looked fun. We stopped by the lodge and it looked nice. I heard the food was really good.

Great views and seclusion in the primitive camping areas! Short walk to water and shelter if needed! Park ranger checks in twice a day

Desoto State Park is a beautiful park with great hiking and waterfalls. The primitive camping area has a keyed gate. Make sure you arrive during business hours so they can get you registered and give you a key. They will also give you a big card with your last name on it that you will put on the campsite ledger board once you have driven through the primitive area and picked from available sites. This ledger board is halfway along the gravel road once you have let yourself through the gate and is also where the common area is. In the common area there are pit toilets, a large covered pavilion, rentable cabins, picnic tables and stone fire rings. Campsites are well marked, each has a trash can (not bear proof since no bears), and a stone fire ring. At registration you will also receive the gate code for the improved RV park so that you can use the showers and do laundry. When you leave you can put your gate key in a Dropbox outside the office.

We stayed here in our 5th wheel for five nights but had to move twice as we couldn't book a spot for the entire weekend. (And a bit annoyingly they charge a separate reservation fee for each "reservation" but oh well.) We stayed on sites 4, 25 and 31.

First, be careful to take Desoto Parkway up. Google tried to send us on an alternate road that had a big sign saying ABSOLUTELY no trucks - and from other reviews we gather that's the more trecherous one. This route wasn't bad but for someone who hates windy mountain roads without an camper attached, it did give me a few stomach drops riding with the 5th wheel behind us. 

If you are going to arrive after hours make sure you get the check in info and gate code. We arrived moments before the office closed at 5 pm so were able to get the information we needed to get into our spot. 

Staff were very friendly and helpful.

Also we found our second site 25 especially challenging to back into. There are drop off gulleys at the end of sites and maybe experienced RVers think nothing of it, but we thought it was tricky.

That said the sites were well spaced apart and maybe because it was April there were a lot of open spots. (Surprising since we had such trouble booking a continuous site!) There is a separate loop with pull-through sites that aren't as private, but they look very easy to get in and out of. 

I work remotely and internet was a challenge. I have phones with Verizon and T-mobile service as well as AT&T and T-Mobile hotspots. The verizon phone was the only service that got any signal at all, and it was spotty. In our first spot I couldn't get any service whatsoever. In the second spot it was a little better and the third (31) was the better - that was primarily by connecting to the park wifi. It must have been right between the two spots because it worked OK. (I don't have a wifi booster or any other similar equipment.) Wifi is available at the bathhouse and the visitor center. I spent more than a few hours in a camp chair working outside the bathhouse! I also worked from a rocking chair on the visitor center porch one afternoon. We hooked up the park cable and that worked well. 

Fortunately the bathhouse is nice, clean and well lit. The trails that lead from the loop to the bathhouse often end up in the back of sites but no one seems to mind. 

Our favorite thing here was hiking. In our 5 days we covered most of the trails on the map. You can hike right off the campground loop or go down to the visitor center to other hikes. All were on rocky uneven surfaces, and muddy in a few spots but not terribly strenous. 

Our favorite hike was starting at the swimming pool (closed for the season) and following the river past the Lodge. It was on the yellow trail and we reached a point where it was getting pretty iffy - just scrambling over rocks at the river's edge. We turned back at that point and looped up to Lodge Falls, and then to the Lodge. They told us in the lodge we probably reached the end of the state park property.

We had breakfast at the Lodge one morning and were not impressed. It was basically like a moderate hotel buffet. 

We went into Mentone for a lovely meal at Wildflower Cafe. We enjoyed walking around the quaint town. 

All in all we had a good, memorable stay at Desoto State Park.

Will def go again, great hiking, waterfalls and spacious

This is a nice CG with good-sized, well-spaced full hookup sites. It pays to do your homework though and research the site ahead of time by checking photos, reviews, and descriptions as some aren’t as level as others. Ours (#84) is level and is close to a bath house which is essential for WiFi (bad AT&T coverage). Many hiking trails through the park take you to numerous waterfalls, with trailheads just a short hike downhill from the CG. Nearby Desoto Falls and Little River Canyon National Preserve aren’t to be missed!

Plenty to do here at Desoto. Many hiking, biking trails. Zip line course. Swimming pool in summer. Campsites are well maintained and flat. Clean restrooms and showers. Nice camp store with plenty supplies. The Lodge is also great. The Restaurant serves amazing breakfast buffet (check hours of operation). Plenty of deer wondering throughout the campground. And Desoto Falls is just a few minutes drive from campground. There’s also plenty of cabins to stay in as well.!!! This place stays book up in fall .....so reserve early.

It's a little hard to get to if you have a big giant rig, but I can't justify giving this place any less than 5 stars. Tons of hiking trails with beautiful scenery, nice big parking sites, and full hookups. They have a little store for essentials and a lodge/restaurant that was awesome! I had no service at all with T-Mobile, but my verizon hotspot worked well in most places. The free wifi is only available at the check in site/store, the lodge, and the comfort stations, so it doesn't reach to all sites.

A word of caution though - if you value your life and property, stay off county road 604/606. Check your directions ahead of time and find another way. I only drove it with my tow car and still felt like my life was on the line - and it's a Chevy spark 😂 Had a bit of a rough time getting the RV backed in, but that was my fault for 1) being a newbie and 2) just having to see this park even though all pull-throughs were booked. Nice neighbor helped me out.

We recently spent two enjoyable days at the De Soto State Park improved campground. Site 22 was nice and large and butted up against the trees. Lots of downed trees made for a great fire. . The campground was very full, mostly with fifth wheels and motorhomes. Not too many tents or pop-ups. The facilities were very clean and spacious but not very accessible. We had to walk nearly a quarter of a mile just to reach them on the camp roads. You could use a trail cutting through other campsites to get there quicker via a trail in the woods but be careful as my wife slipped and fell on the slick rocks and leaves. It was one of the quietest campgrounds we’ve ever been in. Accessing the campground from the north can be a little bit harrowing as the roads are steep with hairpin curves and somewhat narrow. The route from the south is much easier particularly if you have a large motorhome or a long fifth wheel. We would definitely stay there again.

Tent, rv, cabins, chalets, hotel all in one place. Restaurant on premises  along with a camp store. Many hiking trails, water falls, close to Little River Canyon.  Beautiful all year long.

Stayed here in mid July with family and had a great time! Sites are spread out and the campground is very large. Bathhouses are conveniently located and clean. Sites are level and most are back in. Dump station and trash drop off at exit of campground. Large store with everything you’d need at entrance which also offers a canopy tree rope course thing wayyyy up in the trees. Other than that, not too much to do at the campground, mainly just a hub for going to the state park and falls. Some trails are on site and were nice to explore, however. Would definitely come back to this campground.

Nice park with great hiking. Scenic waterfalls and nice bike trails.

Desoto State Park is on top of Lookout Mountain about 8 miles northeast of Fort Payne, In Northeast Alabama. DeSoto Falls - also part of DeSoto State Park - is located about 7 miles north of the park near Mentone, Alabama. The Campground has 94 full-hookup tent and RV sites. Most are Back-In Sites, with a few Pull-Thru. All sites have water, & electric, and sewer. They are about 16 feet by 60 feet deep with 50/30 Amp Service, Cable TV.
There are picnic tables and Grills on each site. There are two large bathroom/shower buildings with coin-operated laundry. There is a Wi-fi hotspots at each bathhouse (wifi does not reach to every campsite) There are also Primitive Camping sites for tents as well as two back country campsites with shelters. Along with camping, Kayaking, fishing, hiking, biking, cycling, rappelling, bouldering and picnicking are popular.

Desoto State Park campground is located about 15 miles from Fort Payne Alabama. Nice spacious sites some gravel and not very level. But all asphalt sites that are pulled through are pretty much level. Bathrooms wash houses and laundry rooms were very clean. Would stay here again if nothing more than just to hike the trails. Plenty of Falls to see.

Upon pulling into the office area to get my tent spot.The nice woman at the counter was very nice and informative and good with explaining exactly how to get where I needed to go what I can do and any questions I had.She explained that the primitive Campground do have a bathroom/outhouse but you had to use a special code to get into the other part of the campground if you wanted to use the showers which were available to me. There is really so many things to do at this campground! they have a pool. you can swim in the river a gorgeous waterfalls rent kayaks and also a zip line adventure. Need I forget the multiple miles of hiking and mountain bike trails. Our camping spot was pretty quiet for the most part later on things started getting a little more lively but ended at a nice time to get some decent sleep throughout the night. I brought my dogs and everybody around us and that I met were more than happy to have them there I didn’t feel as if they were a nuisance by no means. I’m sure I left some stuff out you should do some research on your own definitely will be going back. PS the video may not be the best my first one I am going to work on it

We camped here for a few nights last month. The campground was perfect. Clean, large sites, well organized. Lots of trails and a lot to do in the area. Desoto falls was great. We hiked Cloudlands Canyon State Park. We drove the Little River Canyon Preserve. Great area to camp!

Quiet, relaxing campground with plenty of space between sites. Lots of trails to get out and enjoy. A short drive to Desoto Falls and to Mentone Farmers Market is a must.