Best RV Parks & Resorts near Bankhead National Forest, AL

This RV park is right on a lake, but a bit away from anything else. If you have any sort of boat, kayak, paddle board, bring it! There is hiking about an hour away at the Bankhead National Forest.

You can pick your spot when you arrive. I like that.

A and B sections are the original sections. C section is brand new with 50 amps hookup. All the big rigs there.

I was on C74 with a great backyard overlooking the hills.

Bathhouse is brand new and squeaky clean. You can see that almost no-one uses the campground shower because one of them doesn’t have a curtain to separate your dry clothes from the water. And neither of them have a caddy or any spot where you can put your soap.

Pool was not open when I was here in April which was a shame. It was hot enough. I would have enjoyed a swim, especially so we there is not much else to do. I don’t have a boat yet. 🙁

A decent Thousand Trails campground.

I had no reception with Verizon but my AT&T hotspot had good reception.

One of, the best, if not the best Thousand Trails Park’s where we have stayed. An out of the way location, but nice spots on a huge lake.

This is a nice off the interstate travel park. Full hook ups. Pull through sights plenty long enough for our 40+ ft. motorhome with tow vehicle. Pull in at night out in the morning. Simple and not fancy. But fits the bill when needing a place with electricity and dump and fill water!

This place is tight.   Not in the Urban Dictionary meaning of tight, but in the actual meaning of tight.  It's hard to tell if there are more trees or RVs on the property.  It appears that many of the RVs there are long-term, permanent residents; wood porches, lots of yard items, etc.  The roads to the site was hard to navigate due to the amount of vehicles parked along the roads.  However, the sites were great angles and easy to maneuver into and out of.  One nice perk about the park was the trash pick-up three times per day.   Nice not to have to trek to the dumpster throughout the day.

Quiet country setting, clean park, friendly staff. Gravel level full hook up 30 and 50 ampsites. Pond with ducks, bossy goose and horses. Great place to stay for the night or longer. 2 miles off I-65 exit 310. Close to restaurants and shopping.

Some tight spots, but the water park is only a bicycle ride away. There is a six mile walking/ biking trail along the Tennesse river. The golf course is at the campground entrance. There are special events for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. Long term camping has been voted out and I believe the new time limit is 2 weeks.

GPS took us in a very rural way with lots of twisty roads. One there we found an open spot on our own since it was a holiday the office was closed. Full hook ups and a fairly level grass pad. Not bad for an overnight. There are tons of thing to do here especially if you like to fish!

We were stopping in Cullman County to be with family. Since we were driving through with our RV, we stayed at Smith Lake for the evening. It was ok. The pool was nice. The lake is always nice, but the camping area itself feels like more of a trailer park than RV Park. It looked like the majority of the campers there were for the long haul.

Love everything about this RV park!

4 miles from I-22,  about eight spots available mostly back in, but we got one of two pull thru spots.  Jr Beasely always carries extra lumber in his gator for leveling assistance.  At 85 he is very spry and energetic.  Says he bought this property 26 years ago when health issues forced him and his wife from the road.  He then set out to build this RV park on 20 acres which he invited us to hike the trails there.  It was wonderful to chat with this gentleman about his park which he converted from natural surroundings mostly by himself.

This RV park was still heavily under construction while we were there. In fact, I believe we were the first people to stay in our spot, a premium pull through. The playground was in the process of being completed and the game room wasn't functional yet but you can tell the owners are investing a lot of time and money!

The concrete pad was within 1/4" of level and even had two sewer connections. Included in the premium site was a nice picnic table and a smaller two person table, fire pit, and nice large marble lighting.

This is a really nice family park. RV spaces are a great size. Really nice swim area on Smith Lake. Some of the cleanest and clearest water around. Plenty of biking and hiking opportunities. Just a short drive to Natural Bridge park, restaurants, groceries and more.

Excellent campground. Staff was very friendly. This is a spacious campground and easy to navigate even with a big rig. Loop C is newer than A & B loops. Plenty of amenities, pool, basketball court, disc golf, nice clubhouse with pool tables and other games/lounging, Lewis Smith Lake, nice playground, horseshoes, a lake overlook with gazebo and mini golf though it was missing the artificial grass, not sure if it closed permanently or down for repairs. Cullman has the Ave Maria Grotto, a definite must see IMO, Huntsville has the US Space and rocket museum and Redstone Arsenal Army Base. I didn’t get to it but Birmingham has the Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church and Tupelo is Elvis’s birthplace.

Facilities in my loop are very nice and clean. There is a boat launch and nice dock and a small waterfall behind it as well. Jasper and Cullman are the closest cities, about a 20-30 minute drive. There is a nearby gas station and Dollar General.

Verizon signal is very sketchy, and non existent depending on where you are in the campground. I was able to make calls but that was it. They do have wifi, free at the clubhouse and a couple other spots. The have campground wide wifi that you can pay for, I stayed for a week and it was $14.95. They have other lengths of time to choose from. It was pretty good for me, Internet usage was good, FaceTime calls were ok ish, cut in and out but phone calls were fine.

Sites are gravel, full hook up, and there are 5 tent camping sites. Minor leveling needed for my spot. There are quite a few permanent campers in the good spots with views of the lake, that was kind of a bummer but not detrimental. Site was very large, enough for another camper to fit. It had a nice fire pit ring that doubled as a grill you could flip over and use and had a picnic table. Some birds and squirrels, nothing exciting. Overall, very nice, clean and quiet campground, would recommend visit again.

Park has cabins on site, places for rvs, and also areas for tents. There is a beach area and a boat launch. They have pavilions with grills and electrical outlets

This particular creek is one of my favorite canoeing destinations, as I grew up paddling along this river at summer camp. As an adult, it's been fun to return and spend time actually camping in the Bankhead National Forest. While I don't enjoy the heat and humidity the south has to offer in the summer months, this area provides well shaded sights and the cool water to keep the heat at bay.

This isn't a terribly busy camping area (I've never felt crowded here) and there are 102 sites ranging anywhere from $19-$38/night. Another highlight, unlike many USFS camping facilities this one has flush toilets! Not that there's anything wrong with vault toilets but flushing ones are nice!

If you find yourself in or around the Jasper area, take a moment to explore this national forest and why not spend a night or two in the woods while you're at it!

This campground is not open year round. It's season is early March-late October.

A little pricey for an overnight stay, but really well kept campground with 50 AMP & full hookup

$30 per night for full hookups. It’s just a parking lot but was we needed. Toured the Tiffin factory.

This is a great campground which puts you near all the magic of the Sipsey Wilderness Area in the Bankhead National Forest. We last camped here in May 2020 on Yellowhammer 21 and there was a bit of a sewer smell in that area when it’s hot, so beware of that, but otherwise the campground is great. The trails in the nearby Sipsey are just amazing. If you go hiking, make sure you have AllTrails with a downloadable trail map before you leave the campsite, because there is not great cell service on most trails, and it’s easy to get turned around in some places. They also sell a waterproof Cart-o-Craft map in the stores nearby that can be super helpful.