Dora is an ideal place for camping adventures of all kinds. Dora is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
"My 3 kids and I pitched a tent at the camp ground and then took a dip in the lake. Lake was a short walk from our tent, we stayed an hour and all enjoyed the refreshing water."
"There was a sturdy fire ring with grill at every site. NOTE: ALL tent sites in this campground are considered walk-in only, meaning that you can't drive right into the site with your car."
$24 - $75 / night
"Very spacious with a huge fire pit. Easy walking distance to bathhouse. Great hiking as well. Day use area was closed due to pandemic."
"We stayed on site 101 on Bear Loop. Clear Creek was a beautiful and quiet facility. Staff was kind and helpful."
$18 - $50 / night
"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."
"Well designed campground in the hills of Northern Alabama. Sites are well spaced. Well maintained. The lake is pretty. Each site has fire pit and table."
$20 - $30 / night
"Two night stay on site 39. Love the large sites that are nicely separated from neighboring sites and overlook the water. Friendly staff and clean bathhouse."
"Water and Electric for 28.00 a night . Every site has a grill , fire ring , picnic table and table. Some have decks."
$5 / night
"There are dirt bike trails, a zip line, an air soft course, a pond, and stunning views of the valley below."
"We are the only ones here so we pulled up to the bath house. They will be out to turn on the hot water in a bit. Quiet. Relaxing after a day of seeing the sites. I have 2 bars on my Verizon."
"We did not check out the bathrooms or laundry facilities, but there are several of them."
$99 - $150 / night
"This campground is set up mostly for people who either want a long term space for their RV or to stay in a yurt for a couple of nights."
$25 - $125 / night
GuideMy 3 kids and I pitched a tent at the camp ground and then took a dip in the lake. Lake was a short walk from our tent, we stayed an hour and all enjoyed the refreshing water. Beach area was not crowded but me most enjoyed the doc where my kids could jump off. I swam as well and loved it. View of the mountains was very nice.
We cooked dinner at our tent and scored a spot very close to the bath house which included a utility closet with a sink for cleaning dishes, etc. Tent site was well marked and orderly. Including a fire pit with grill attachment. Beautiful canopy of trees making for great shade. Beautiful evening, very quiet and orderly.
Enjoyed cooking breakfast the next morning followed by hiking and a trip to Peavine Falls. Very nice and highly recommended.
Staffing at Oak Mtn was great. Plenty of folks patrolling and looking after the camping community ☀️⛺️
LegendPROS
Senior discount
Reserved 363 days prior to arriving
Very friendly check in staff H
Huge park…very nicely landscaped and neatly mowed
Quiet
Regularly saw ranger driving through campground
A30 level site and nearly full shade coverage
Moveable wooden and metal picnic table
Metal fire pit with cooking grate
Campfire wood for sale at park office
Don’t miss the TREE TOP NATURE TRAIL!
Good food at The Grille at Oak Mountain State Park inside the Pro Shop at The Oaks Golf Course
All major shopping and eateries just beyond the park boundaries in Pelham, Hoover and Birmingham
CONS
$5 reservation fee for making my own on-line reservation
Street lights throughout campground
Toilet/shower facility heavily used which badly needs updating
Campground trash dumpsters are beyond the campground gate…not walkable
Poor signage upon entering Park. We stopped at the first building on the right, as it was marked RANGER OFFICE with a large, rig-friendly parking area, but it was not a check-in for campers. Then we went through another gate on the main roadway and it wasn’t the campground check-in either. Campground directional signs after we got through that gate. Glad we didn’t arrive in the dark!
Limited and very tight rig parking at campground gate check-in
No notice by park on the south entrance roadwork and roundabout construction...horribly tight to maneuver... recommend North entrance/exit until construction is completed…that’s how we departed.
Never saw a camp host
No WiFi
2 bars Verizon
TravelerReally enjoyed the group camp site. Very spacious with a huge fire pit. Easy walking distance to bathhouse. Great hiking as well. Day use area was closed due to pandemic.
GuideVery expensive, crowded and noisy but what do you expect. The hot water was out in the bath house so no showers. $10/day to enter if you have more than 2 vehicles. Everyone wants to be outside and camping most in large RV's with all the amenities and a dozen loud kids per. This is typical if you are looking for something else you will have to keep looking. Night time quiet hours are not enforced. Spaces are a little closer and tighter than other campgrounds.
ScoutWe spent the weekend in site A59 with two tents and three people. It is a nice, level site with plenty of room for everything we needed. Most tent sites in the campground have cinder block retaining walls build in that make the sites level and are very convenient for setting up your kitchen area. The picnic table was old, but large and quite serviceable. There was a sturdy fire ring with grill at every site. NOTE: ALL tent sites in this campground are considered walk-in only, meaning that you can't drive right into the site with your car. Some are closer to the road than others, and it is hard to tell this from map. A59 was maybe 75 yards uphill from the parking spot on the road. Not a problem for us to carry our gear up, but it might be for some. We really liked this site because it backed up to the woods and was nice and shaded. Other tent sites were visible, but not close enough to feel crowded at all.
Check in was easy. You do not have to pay the park entrance fee if you are camping over night. Maps are available at the store. Staff was very nice and friendly. Firewood is available for $8 a bundle, but it was green and would not burn. I will take the propane fire pit next time.
The bath house was fine. Not luxurious, but not bad at all. As always, take your own toilet tissue - better safe than sorry. The bath house was warm and cozy, the toilets worked, and there was hot water (very hot) and soap. The hand dryer in the men's side was broken. As far as COVID precautions, there is a sign asking that only one person go in the bath house at a time, but that is not really practical, so a mask is a good idea.
The activities in the park are fantastic. We hiked for 5 hours and never had to cover the same ground. Views are glorious. There are dozens of other things to do, also. The kayakers seemed to be having a great time, as did the mountain bikers. People are friendly here. Lots of dogs, all responsibly leashed.
GuideI 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.
ScoutBeautiful park and very well kept. If you can’t find something to do here you aren’t looking. Mountain Biking, road biking and very well payed out lanes. Tents, cabins, pull thoughts for classA’s. Just a beautiful park!!
LegendThis state campground in the Birmingham AL metro area is a quick getaway for city and suburban dwellers. We were looking for continued warm fall weather on a slow trip north; this met the warmth and fall criteria in late October. The proximity to the city made it a good choice for exploring Birmingham.
Campground as Hotel
We left in the morning and came back in the evening. Using the campground strictly for accommodations worked out well; it wasn't a place where we would have wanted to hang around the campground all day. The large RVs crammed on sites that weren't very large gave us a closed in feeling. We pulled down the shade in our teardrop to avoid the light pollution from the campers who leave ground lights and other decorative lights on all night. (Do they leave their outdoor holiday lights on all night at home?)
Tent Only Sites
The tent only sites are the best feature of this park. You can pitch your tent among the trees away from the RVs packed together in the rest of the park.
There's no power or water at these sites.
These sites are listed as tent only, but the park office attendant told us there were a few where we could fit our vehicle and teardrop. We declined because we thought we'd be too close to the road although we later saw several that would have been fine
Site 42B is the BEST SITE IN THE PARK! You walk down to the site from the parking area, and then there's a great view of the water. I took a photo looking back at the site from the beach area.
Other Sites
All sites not designated tent only have electricity and water. There are some sites with sewer hookup as well as 50 amp power. See site map photo.
Loop A's sites are more spread out than sites in Loop B.
Loop B: B33 was ok. I recommend sticking to the outside of this loop because there are two roads down the center where you'll have sites on both sides, across the road and behind you. Inside the loop seemed crowded because there were large RVs.
Restrooms
Several restrooms are spread throughout the park. They each have a couple toilets and a shower along with hot and cold water in the sinks. Restrooms are clean and a checklist indicates they're inspected 2 or 3 times per day. Everything works fine, but they could use an update inside. If the usage at the end of October is any indication of overall usage, this park is heavily used. It's close to Birmingham which has over a million people, one-fourth of Alabama's population. The state of Alabama should step up and do some renovation.
Site Taxes are HIGH
Be prepared for a significant jump to the cost when taxes are applied. Our campsite fee was a reasonable $22.65/night which included a 15% senior discount. Regular price is $26.65. Taxes and a $4.50 one-time fee were added for a grand total of $85.62 for 3 nights. If you're counting, that's 20+% in taxes.
Things To Do In The Park: boating, fishing, swimming, hiking. You can purchase a detailed hiking map for $1. If you aren't from the area and want to take in some Birmingham history, there are options.
Red Mountain Park has hiking trails along with old iron ore mines. There's an adventure park with zip lining, climbing, etc.
The base of Vulcan, Alabama's entry in the 1904 World's Fair, is the best place to see Birmingham. The museum next to the statue was well done; it provides a history of this steel city.
The park across from the 16th Street Baptist Church (site of the bombing on 9/15/1963 that killed 4 young girls) is a window into the sad part of Birmingham's history. There's also a civil rights museum nearby.
The craft breweries (Good People and Avondale) were good. And great barbecue at Saw. Pizza was good at Post Office Pies but they need to put more basil on a pizza advertised as a white basil pizza, not 5 little scraps.
GuideI had booked a tent site at Oak Mountain - site unseen.
The tent sites were across from the RV sites (the RV sites in this area were very close together- there were other RV sites with more distance between). My site had power and water. There were two section on my site. One higher (I assume for tent setup) and one lower, surrounded by a wall of cinder blocks . The power and water hookup was just above the cinder blocks so I assume that area was for table/kitchen set up, or canopy/screenroom. I chose to setup my tent below the wall due to the ground being more level and flat (and a bit more privacy). The site was completely shaded so great for camping in warmer months, and the tent sites were spaced a good distance from each other.
My only drawback was that this was a carry-on site. You couldn’t park directly on the site. It wasn’t too terribly far of a walk, but it was up and down a steep hill. So me being unaware, did not bring appropriate way to carry my heavy gear 1000 feet or more , up and down a hill. Not a problem if you have a strong man with you, but for this 60 year old bird-it was a challenge.
All in all the tent sites are fairly spacious (don’t think you could put an 18 person tent tho) have good space between each site, have power and
water and are shaded.
Drawbacks would be the distance from parking to setup area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Dora, AL?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Dora, AL is Oak Mountain State Park Campground with a 4.4-star rating from 95 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Dora, AL?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 glamping camping locations near Dora, AL, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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