Best Cabin Camping near Jacksons' Gap, AL

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

We had a two day primitive camping trip at site P109. Nicely shaded site. Water spigot between out site and P107. It had stone fire rings. No picnic grill. Only problem for me was very rocky terrain. The primitive campgrounds only have toilets, if you want a shower you will have to purchase a shower pass for improved campground bath house. Looking at surrounding sites I believe P108 and P120would have been great sites. P108 for a great sunset and P120 for a great sunrise. We stayed in Cabin 3 next two nights. Cabins 1-4 &16 are in one area and provide the best views. For a great sunset view from your patio while cooking out or just chilling, choose cabin 1. There are lots of hiking trails and 3 waterfalls in the park. There is a rich history with the Civilian Conservation Corps here and if you want to learn more there is a quest that begins at the store and takes you around the park. The CCC built the observation bunk house, the custodian cabin and garage, the water reservoir, several cabins, Cheaha lake and the bath house at the lake. All built by hand in the 1930s. An amazing place with amazing views and an amazing history.

Lake Martin is beautiful and there are many places to camp along it. This is the only state park along the lake and the campground closest to town (with grocery, restaurants, etc.). There are nice hiking and horseback riding trails through the woods, swimming beaches, a marina, a little cafe with boat rentals. Lots to do for all ages, from sitting watching the water to riding bikes through the roads. There are many loops to choose from but less than 25% of them are along the water. There are some furnished cabins also. Simple place to camp but quite nice.

Yay: Love the lake and boating around it.

Nay: Sites are a little crowded but there are some trees to improve privacy. Campground feels a little crowded.

Surprise: Check out Pineywood Island, kids will love to run around and entire little island.

PROS 

Site 27- pull-thru gravel. Very nice moveable 6 ft metal picnic table; fire ring with cooking grate; pedestal BBQ grill 

Campground very quiet Sunday-Tuesday nights 

Frequent ranger drive thrus of the campground 

T Mobile 3 bars 

CONS 

Upon arrival, power outage due to storm and lasted until dark. Check-in was not able to be completed so had to return the next day. 

Paid a transaction fee for making my own on-line reservation along with a resort fee and sales tax 

No senior or Veteran discount 

Site 27 greatly unlevel side-to-side 

Fire ring full of ash upon arrival 

Street light at Site 28 that lights up all of 28 and most of 27 and 27A. 

Extremely tight at checkin station. We had to park partially on AL281. There is a very small parking lot at the check-in station with no loop around 

No trash receptacle in either men’s or woman’s toilets 

Campground noisy Friday and Saturday nights. Lots of loud music. 

Bathhouse not serviced over weekend 

Large rocks throughout the campground had been painted

(by children) an unsightly vivid paint 

Don’t Miss 

Climbing to the top of the CCC Bunker Observation Tower 

Hiking out to Bald Rock 

Berman Museum in Anniston 

Watch—some pull-thru sites have the camper door facing the campground roadway with the picnic table and campfire ring along the campground roadway.

Cheaha is beautiful and fit perfect for kids and families! We stayed in the Semi-Primitive space and picked a tent. Very clean and water was code by as well as restrooms. Picnic table and fire ring made cooking and dining simple. Parked right next to our tent spot. Walking distance to pool, look-out tower, and one of the picture perfect views at the hotel. Our first excursion was the lake. Very nice! Beach was clean with plenty of space. Park was there too. My kids loved the diving platform. Bathrooms were nice. It was super refreshing and awesome view! We cooked Chili for supper. Canopy of trees was pleasant and shady for Summer. We hit the lake again early the next morning. Hiked 3 trails with excellent views. All easy and enjoyable for all 3 of my kiddos, ages 6, 11 and 12. High Falls was my personal favorite. Also hiked Bold Rock and Pulpit Rock. Great park! We are for sure going back in the Fall!