Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Alexander City, AL

Wind Creek is a big, busy campground located right on the shores of Martin Lake outside of Alexander City. There is a ton to explore from canoeing and kayaking to hiking and rock climbing. We would definitely visit this campground again!

Lots of campsites, fishing, pavillions and bath houses. Sites for tents and RV's. Conveniently located near Alexander City in case you forgot anything. Loaded with activities for the whole family, fishing, water sports, hiking, geocaching, or just relaxing in the shade, this place has pretty much everything.

Stayed at Wind creek and the atmosphere was wonderful. Lots of fun trails to hike. Located right on beautiful lake Martin there's plenty of great fishing. Even has a pier to fish from. There's a great ice cream and place to get burgers by the pier too. They even have a zip line. Loved it here. Very convenient to Alexander city as well, that has a quaint downtown and a Walmart if you forgot anything. Highly recommend!

This park is located on the highest point in Alabama. It has a great camp store with most basic groceries, hotel, cabins/chalets, group lodge, restaurant with gorgeous views, pool, 6 acre lake ALONG with great hiking trails. There is also a dog park and in general this is a very pet friendly 🐶state park. (Bring the groceries you need- closest grocery store is a 20-30 min drive)and know that the restaurant is decent but it may have varying hours during off seasons.) . 🚍⛺️campground- there are two campgrounds with full hookups. The Upper campground at the top is the mountain near all the major trailheads, restaurant, camp store and pool. The Lower Campground at the bottom of the mountain is near the small lake with swimming area and walking trail around the lake. We stayed at the Upper and in February we had the whole campground to ourselves most of our 2 week stay. All the sites are updated and have water, 30/50 amp electric, sewer, picnic table and fire ring or grill. Bathrooms at upper level can be an uphill or downhill walk. *💲this state park has a $4.75 reservation fee and a 3.75% daily “resort fee” on your base campsite rate. Both of those are not deal breakers but good to know. (Especially since the pool is only open for a limited time)

🏡 there are chalets and cabins. I felt the cabins had the better views than the chalet and more private but these are smaller and more rustic. When you are making reservations for a cabin or chalet be sure to check the occupancy rate for the cabin you choose- some are limited to 2 people and look👀 at the amenities of each cabin/chalet- some are quite rustic but descriptions are given. Good news is that they do have pet friendly cabins.

🏕there are semi/primitive and backcountry style sites. ✏️Note that the semi primitive camp sites (the ones on Tower Road) don’t have a shower house for you to use- there is a bathroom available. If you plan to hike a lot and don’t want to drive your car- try to get sites on the upper part of park. (My personal pet peeve is driving daily to a trailhead when I am camping)

📌There is also a hotel with motel like rooms (near the pool and restaurant) and you can even rent an entire lodge for groups that was very attractive from the outside (this was located at top of mountain near the overlook trail-not really walking distance to pool and restaurant)

🥾hiking - 10.5 miles of hiking in the boundaries of the park with connectors to the Pinhoti. The hiking trails had spectacular views on both sides of the mountain. Hiking poles were helpful! While the .3 mile wooden boardwalk to Bald Rock is stroller and mobility challenged friendly, most of the other hikes were moderate to strenuous for the average person. For example- There is a one mile trail straight down the mountain to the lake and lower campground. That said, we loved the hiking here. Next time we plan to bring our larger back packs and do an overnight on a section of the Pinhoti. Did I mention how awesome the views were hiking?

🚵 mountain biking- there are 5 trails that are multi use... and hikers must yield to bikers on these. While we were here there was a mountain biking race. 🚴‍♀️road biking- the roads in the park had some incline...but I was glad to have my bike to roam the upper part park where we camped. (We don’t bring a tow vehicle) My husband biked outside of the park and you can decide for yourself if you would have fun road biking here after you drive UP the mountain roads to the Visitor Center. *It is 3 miles from the visitor center/park entrance to the lower campground/lake area via non park roads. 🛶- we didn’t paddle here, it was not near our campground and it is only a 6 acre lake/pond. There is a swimming/wading.

Happy Camping! Pamela and Keith

This is an okay campground but really caters to RVs. There's a whole lot of concrete, perfect for recreational vehicles but not so much for tent or hammock campers. It's more of an RV resort of sorts.

Tent sites are cheap at $5/night but you're limited to only 7 nights. Which probably won't matter to a tent camper here, as I would think being here for that long would be a bit much.

There are a ton of amenities here, including an old softball field turned into a dog park of sorts. There is a nice little lake but that's about it in terms of 'natural' amenities. Okay spot if you just need a place to stay the night but I wouldn't prolong a visit here. Also sort of loud given its close proximity to the train tracks.

We stayed at campsite 117. Water spigot at site. Picknick table and fireplace. Lots of trees for hammocks. A few rocks on the ground and mostly level. The park has 4 separate camping areas, this one has no showers but flush toilets with sink at the picnic pavilion. This area is on an inclined road, just something to keep in mind when walking it up and down to pool area, campstore or bathrooms. Bigfoot trail start at the last campsite. About every 5th site has power, 117 has not. Sunrise and sunsets are both viewable since this campground area is right on top of the park. Easy access to secured trash cans. Fenced in dog park is located near the top of the road near the bathrooms. Overall very clean sites. Some are more level than others. They allowed us to check in early (11am) since the site was unoccupied. All trails are very short (0.5-1mile). Longer trails are accessible via a short car ride. Pool is available to all campers; clean and cool with restrooms. Staff was very friendly. Fire trucks rolled through in the mornings checking sites.

The lots are pretty close , but it's a very nice family and pet friendly park . Lake views from just about every lot .

This is the nicest of all the campsites at Cheaha by far! While it definitely is a bit of a trek to get to, I promise you it is worth it! The views from this campsite are truly incredible, especially if you are lucky enough to have a clear sky for sunrise/sunset. The site is pretty primitive and doesn’t have any hookups but it is fairly large and has plenty of space to cook. There are some premade rock fire pits that are perfect for an evening cook out. There is ample space to set up several tents and hammocks and it is perfect for a large group. Be sure to check out the crashed plane on the way up which you find just off the trail about a quarter mile before the site. This site is a must see if you ever are camping in Alabama!

All camp sites have water and power and fits the needs of most all campers, including Equine campsites

Clean grounds and the largest capacity and spacious individual sites than most

Security in and out frequently.

Kids can run the area and you can see them almost everywhere they go

Quiet and peaceful

Pet friendly and LOTS of activities.

I am rather new to tent camping so I really appreciated the helpful folks running the camping area.  Each spot had electricity, water, great internet, picnic table and places to build a fire.  Each site is shielded from the next by trees.  Bathrooms and showers are used but clean.  Clear maps available for hiking or biking.  Nice lake with swimming and boating.  Pet friendly.  Could not have asked for more or better.

The view is fantastic if you are lakeside- but it stops there. Most rentals are along one row and a couple of the lakeside sites. Sites are very unleveled with minimal gravel but almost all have a 6x9 concrete pad. No pool, no fire rings, spotty wifi and frequent brown outs on power. Both shower points smell horrible but appear clean otherwise. Lots of long-term vehicles. People are friendly and pets are welcome.

Chewalca State park has more to offer than just hiking. There are several mountain bike trails of varying diffivulties. There is also paddle boating and kayaks available for the lake. Throughout the hike there are canopies and grills where families can hang out. The hike was easy and not very long. The trail loops around the a lake and brings you to a waterfall on the back side of the lake. The waterfall is easy accessible and you can get as close as you wish. The park is also pet friendly.