Best Tent Camping near Arab, AL

We got a chance to spend 2 nights up at Monte Sano this fall and had a wonderful trip with some chilly nights. The park is one of the best state-managed campgrounds I have been to and is an amazing place for either tent camping or RV camping. On this visit, they were undergoing serious renovations of one of the RV loops that is closest to the tent area so we ended up having even more privacy and quiet than usual. Although there are no bathroom facilities in the tent area they are a short drive or a couple of minutes walk away and are very nice and well kept. The tent sites are all well established and pretty spaced out. Since we stayed from Saturday to Monday we had the place to ourselves on Sunday night. We also arrived after dark on Saturday but they had a great system in place for getting the gate code and info about the site. We spent the whole day on Sunday hiking the long loop around the park. Since the trails connect to the land trust adjacent to the park you can never run out of areas to explore. I highly recommend visiting Monte Sano for your next camping adventure.

Tent site... full hookups... plenty of space

we stayed in a tent site in dec '22'' , the sites are very close together and the tent  site we were on hardly had enough space for our 3 person backpacking tent . there are fire pits, grills, and tables available on each site as well as water  . we appreciated the security gate and extremely clean and heated bathhouses with showers . the park has a nice playground and a pool we were unable to try during the winter months .  the campground is very close to town and as so expect alot of noise from traffic

Great if you want to canoe or paddle board while camping. Has a little island not far by canoe. You can’t drive to the tent spots, but there is a parking lot close by. The tent camping is almost never crowded.

The remodel has been finished. All the trees are gone. no more shade. There are all new sites, for RV's only, no more tent camping.  The rates have also increased, so expect to pay $75+ per night to stay there.

Tent camped here on the water, absolutely no shade since the tornadoes brought all the trees down, even with the water nearby, temps hardly ever went below 85 at night. Poor planning on our part, not their fault. Much better for RVing.

The drive in is beautiful. Primitive Tent sites feel more secluded even though they are not hike in sites. Still reasonably close to the bathrooms/showers. Good price for camping!

I arrived without a reservation trying to get one of the first come first serve spots. There is a gate without intercom, so you can’t just drive up. I called the phone number listed and the woman on the phone gave me the gate code and told me which sites were available. Worked out pretty well. Stayed in 22. One bathhouse is open. Another one I tried was locked due to Covid. Clean. Yellohammer sites have full hookup. Then there are tent sites. I was contemplating getting a tent site with my van, but they were pretty unlevel and small. There is a public boat ramp and one specifically for the campground. Water level was still very high in the lake after recent rains and storms.

RV and tent sites, pool, clean bathrooms (running water, showers, toilets), close to gas stations, food, and a dollar general smaller sized campround. the falls makes it worth the stay. easy gravel walking/biking trails. Trails around and beneath the falls.

Everything is clean. Rangers are nice folks. Minutes from downtown Huntsville, but you feel very far away. I have tent camped and RV'd here. Enjoyed both. Small campstore with necessities. Firewood for sale. Lots of trails, mainly for mountain bikers but lots of hikers as well. Cool overlooks on some of the trails. Recommend.

I'm a local and tent camping saves my sanity from a high preassured daily life. When I cant leave to camp I'll set up at a primitive site here for a week at a time. It's a simple space. No picnic tables at primitive sites. It's clean...beautiful....loads of hiking trails...and great food is a 10 min ride down the mountain to Huntsville.

On top of Monte Sano in the woods and a world away from the town -- although it's close by. So many trails to run or walk and a playground for the kiddos. This has primitive camping as well as W/E/S. Each campsite is well-spaced and the primitive tent camping area is away from the RVs.

You can book all year but be sure to book in advance.

We are staying for Memorial Day weekend. It’s our first time here and it’s really not that bad! Easier to navigate in my opinion that others say. Staff is really nice and welcoming. The sites are a little tighter than most places. Especially in the RV section. We are tent camping and have plenty of room. Make sure you find the trail to get down to the falls. It’s a tough one but it’s one of the easier ones I’ve been on. Well worth it.

I went here for tent camping and had a nice time but it was mostly families with RVs. There is a nice lake where a lot of people were boating as well. I did the firefly loop and I was the only tent camper everyone else was in an RV. Restrooms at the campground were closed due to covid. Also they emailed me the gate code and info to get into the campground but I didn’t see it until after I left. I luckily ran into the campground host and she was able to direct me.

I stayed at site number 063, which was an RV site with electric and water, and it was adjacent to the primitive sites. This campsite had a gravel pad, and setting a tent up outside of the pad was impossible as all of the surrounding area was a steep slope. The pad was plenty big for my one person tent, but I can't imagine anything bigger than a 4 person tent fitting in the area. I definitely recommend the primitive campsites if you're tent camping. The sites in this part of the camp were pretty far apart, and there was plenty of privacy. The park was riddled with trails (22 miles of them), many of which were also open to bikes. The bathhouse was pretty far from site 063, but they were clean.

This is an amazing place to camp and hike. Most of the other reviews cover all the wonderful amenities so I will mostly just add my photos from a trip here in the fall. Well worth a several-night stay. I personally like the tent sites but they also have paved RV spaces as well. Make sure to check out their Japanese garden as well. If you complete all the trails in the park you can expand to check out the attached land trust. See maps in my review.