Best Tent Camping near Cherokee, AL

Tent Camping Reviews near Cherokee, AL

322 Reviews of 23 Cherokee Campgrounds

• 

  Napunani

  Legend

  Jun. 23, 2022

  J.P. Coleman State Park Campground

  Nice Lake View...but

  PROS 

  We were able to reserve 368 days prior to arrival 

  Very friendly and helpful check-in clerk 

  Fantastic view of the lake from site 45 

  Mostly quiet except for campground party animals until 3am! 

  Concrete parking pad 

  BBQ grill 

  Fire ring constructed of concrete pavers 

  Coin-operated washers/dryers in shower/toilet facility 

  Small playground, pool and mini-golf course 

  Good jumping off point for Shiloh Battlefield 

  CONS 

  Campsite 45 was full of litter…cigarettes butts, bones, bottle caps, pieces of chalk, straws, melted soda bottles…just nasty 

  Fire ring made of concrete pavers full of ash and trash upon arrival…again nasty Pedestal BBQ grill full of trash and ash upon arrival…more nastiness 

  Campers ignored basic rules/courtesy/respect such as keeping dogs on leash and walking through occupied campsites at anytime. One camper walking through our site complained to us our chairs on our site were in THEIR way. 

  No senior discount 

  Narrow site 

  Site 45 not level 

  Site 45 mostly fun sun 

  Basically we didn't experience any of the campground rules being enforced so obviously there is no management oversight at this State Park 

  Never saw a park ranger drive through the campground (Saturday-Monday) 

  Never saw a camp host or a campsite for a camp host

  Campground quiet hours not enforced 

  Posted "No Swimming” from campsites along lake, but that didn’t stop a sole and no one enforced it 

  Concrete picnic table at end of parking pad, so at the bumper of the camper 

  Sites very close to each other with no vegetation between sites, so no privacy what so ever 

  Street lights throughout campground, so not dark sky friendly 

  Small playground, pool and mini-golf course not walkable from campground 

  Trash dumpsters outside of campground…not walkable 

  Twisty, steep and narrow roadway into campsite...not for novice rig drivers

  Due to short campsites, tow vehicles had to be creative with parking, sometimes blocking most of the campground road, again no enforcement efforts

  No WiFi 

  1 bar Verizon

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• 

  Daniel K.

  Scout

  Oct. 29, 2021

  Tishomingo State Park Campground

  Quaint and quiet

  This is our first visit here. First impressions are that it is a small, quiet park. It turned out to be less than we expected but not total a let down. The drive in and area in and around the park are beautiful scenic areas. We have encountered several trails, a lake, basketball area, pool, and other typical campground facilities. The sites themselves are mostly spacious with rather small camper pads. The green areas around the pads are spacious but mostly in even. We had a hard time finding an area flat enough to put up out tent on level ground. There is a grill, fire ring, and picnic table on each site.

• A

  Artie

  Traveler

  Aug. 22, 2022

  Pickwick Landing State Park Campground

  Rich with wildlife, quiet human activity

  Shaded, private showers, water and electric hookups, tent friendly, and wildlife-fanatic friendly. Though it is his and gets sweaty at night so bring a fan and appropriate sleeping gear if you'll be tent camping. The grounds are well shaded and comfortable so you don't cook during the day. At night you can indulge in the rich atmosphere of southern cicadas and crickets backdropping owls and coyotes (don't worry! Coyotes are scared of people, they just sound a little jarring when you first hear them yipping). Really nice playground next to the bathrooms.

• 

  Justin L.

  Traveler

  Dec. 27, 2020

  Brush Creek Park

  Decent spot on the lake

  Camped here on Christmas Day 2020. It was very quiet and a little windy. I was the only camper but it’s on a disc golf course so I saw a couple of those guys. I went down to the parking lot so I could sleep in my car and have a fire by the water. It was great and quiet except there are parking lot lights which I didn’t see until they turned on. There are picnic tables, trash cans, and portable toilets. All in all a nice spot. I had Verizon and I think I had two bars of service. There’s also a spot a little east off an unmarked dirt road which was ok and had a fire pit. I checked it out but there was just too much litter and a half eaten deer carcass which I wasn’t vibing with.

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• 

  Mo F.

  Guide

  Sep. 26, 2017

  McFarland Park Campground

  Camping in the City Limits

  We pulled in with no plans and drove through the whole campground. There are 60 RV spots, pull thru and not, some parking lot style and some a along a creek. There are no trees or bushes between spots, but the whole campground is situated with forest and creek on one side and the Tuscumbia River on the other. We weren't positive what the deal was so we checked in with the host and paid $14 for one night.

  Primitive tent spots are right on the river. There are fire pits, trees, and picnic tables sporadically placed. We pitched our tent facing the bluffs along the river and our hammock between two trees. It wasn't crowded and it was pretty quiet (no generators, no music, very family friendly and chill). The grass was cut, and though there were small ant piles everywhere, they really weren't in the way or aggressive. The bath-house is...not awesome. It's exactly what you'd expect for an older, gov-run park, with some spiders and leaky toilets, but toilets and showers are there.

  It is a three minute drive into downtown Florence. Most of that is through the park, which is home to a good-sized marina, disc golf course, and (defunct?) driving range. It's super convenient, cheap, and kept up well enough. The view of the water and bluffs is A++, and it's fun to watch the speed boats and river cruises.

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• 

  MickandKarla W.

  Legend

  Nov. 13, 2024

  Whitten Park Campground

  One of Our Favs

  Our RV GPS and Waze brought us south from Tishomingo via MS-25 to MS-4 to John Rankin Hwy. It’s a more scenic and narrower road than just taking MS-25 south, but there were no issues. We had made online reservations earlier that day for this Army Corps of Engineers Campground (CG) where we get a 50% discount per night using the National Parks Access Pass. We arrived earlier than 2:00 PM when the check-in gate opens, but there was a sign to go ahead and set up and come back at 2:00 to check-in. As we had our site number, we headed directly to pull through site 9 with water and electric(50/30/20 AMP). This was our third time camping at Whitten and we were delighted to find that they had combined site 8 and 9 into one long site. This site still had the old site amenities, which meant that we had double electric pedestals, water spigots, patio areas with picnic table, standup bbq, and fire pit. We were able to adjust our 5th wheel to avoid the several unlevel areas in this very long pull through. As with most COEs, water pressure was good and the electric worked fine. Whitten CG has a lot of mature trees, so satellite is iffy. We had no north shot for our Starlink. However, we got 2 to 3 bars on Verizon and the Mifi worked well for our needs to include streaming. There’s no WiFi in the CG. Site 9 has water view and does not bump up to other sites, which we found highly desireable. During our first stay in 2019, each loop had a shower house with a washer and dryer that we had used. Our last stay was an overnighter and we didn’t need to do laundry, so we hadn't checked those facilities out. This time we were here for three nights and had planned on doing laundry only to find the doors locked. We asked the camp host about the washers and dryers. He stated that the washers and dryers had been closed during COVID and now they were no long functional and weren't going to be replaced. We again enjoyed the trail system through out the CG and recreation area to walk our dogs. The James L. Whitten Historical Center is interesting to go through. There are several fishing piers as well. We came on a Wednesday and were pretty much by ourselves. Both Thursday and Friday campers started coming in around 11:30 AM filling up the CG. The camp hosts didn’t seem to mind the early arrivals and even opened up the office around noon for a few minutes to accommodate check-ins.

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• 

  Asher K.

  Legend

  Apr. 30, 2019

  Sipsey Wilderness Backcountry Site (Trail 203 Site A)

  Closest to the Car

  This campground is the first you pass after coming down the road from the parking area. It is located right at the 203 trail junction near the bridge and along the water. On this trip, it was occupied by a family that had walked down the hill at the same time as us and carried in all their gear in their arms with no packs. This is an ideal site if you need an easy to find a campground that is as close as you can get to the parking area. It is on the smaller size but has a nice firepit and plenty of area to put up at least two tents. It is also high enough off the bank for you to stay dry in case of flooding. One small downside is that to access water you will need to climb down a steep slope or walk around to the bridge slightly down the trail. Another downside is that the trail passes right through the campsite so if you are a late sleeper you may get disturbed in the morning by other hikers passing through. If you are able I would suggest going a little further down the trail and checking out the 2 other nearby sites. Read some of my other reviews from this area for more info about backpacking in Sipsey Wilderness.

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• 

  Jeremy H.

  Ranger

  Jul. 17, 2019

  Pickwick Landing State Park Campground

  Great Place To Call Home For The Night

  My son Conner and I stayed at Pickwick Landing State Park on Monday night, July 15. We arrived after dark, but thanks to a park staff member I called earlier, we had an amazing campsite(#18) waiting for us when we arrived. Campsite#18 is located near the bathrooms and shower areas. The restroom and shower building had 8 individual shower rooms with fold down benches. Each of them were big enough to allow someone in a wheelchair to use them. Both the bathrooms and the shower rooms were clean and well stocked. The park staff cleaned them thoroughly the next morning as we prepared to leave. Each campsite has a picnic table, asphalt drive, a fire ring, grill, and lantern post. These sites also have power and water, but they do not have trash cans at the campsite. Trash must be taken from the campsite to the dump station by the campers. If you’re camping here make sure to bring your own trash bags. The sites seemed well spaced and all of them probably have full shade most of the day due to the mixture of pine and hardwood trees that fill the camp. A gas station/bait shop/oyster bar is about a mile away from the camp grounds. Grocery stores and other restaurants are within 5 miles. Though this was a quick camping trip for us(we went to see the Shiloh Battlefield and Shiloh Indian Mounds), the trip was made a little easier by having an efficient, comfortable, and peaceful campsite to call home for a few hours. Be on the lookout for our nighttime visitor Lester the curious racoon. He checked out our campsite after we went to bed looking for an easy meal. Luckily, we had put all of our food securely in the car before calling it a night. This is another 5 star Tennessee State Park campground. Sidenote: We enjoyed a good lunch at a place called the Rib Cage just a few miles from camp. Conner recommends the ribs but not the hot sauce.

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• 

  Michael W.

  Legend

  May. 6, 2023

  Brush Creek Park

  Open free with hot showers

  Just started in campground May 5. Has paved roads in it 18 padded spots with water hookups. Bathroom’s with hot water and shower’s. Has designated dispersed tent spot. Boat ramp. Has another spot for camping with no water dispersed. Everything looked we’ll kept and stocked. Overall great area. Lots of shade close to lake with wildlife too