Best Campgrounds near Marion Junction, AL

The Payne Lake spillway is a nice place to have a picnic and view the lake. There is a pavilion with four picnic tables underneath it and then there are isolated picnic tables around the area. They have fire pits and grills nearby for cooking. There are also bathrooms across from the pavilion. The boat ramp for the lake is right down the road from the spillway parking area. No camping is allowed in this area of the campground.

Peaceful! Wish it had more trails but it was nice.

The rv sites look maintained. Tent camping is not. Ground is unkept so be careful of sticks poking holes in the floor. If you have a truck-mounted tent, you will have to get an RV site as you have to carry your tent a short ways. The rest of the park is great.

Had a nice spot right on the water. Lots of fisherman here and each site has a fish cleaning station. Place to put your boat in right when you enter the campground. Lots of mosquitos when the sun goes down so bring your spray.

We had a nice stay in site 67. The campground was renovated sometime in the not too distant past with large concrete pads, as well as water and electrical hook ups. Many sites have full hook ups, all at a reasonable price. It seems like they were able to retain all the trees when they put the pads in, which retains the wooded feel of the campground. Some sites are right on the water. The bathrooms were large but could have been better maintained. All around a very nice campground.

Booked sites with friends months ago for a one night stay on the way to Columbus, MS. As such, we were able to book FHU sites along the water. Very long and level concrete pad. Great Verizon signal and numerous free digital TV stations to choose from.

This review is based on a short-term versus destination campground (CG). When we made reservations, we were told to only take exit 179 off I-65 and follow the GPS directions, as any other way will take you on narrow roads, including gravel roads. We drove the 14 miles from the exit to the CG with no issues. We were greeted by Don on his golf cart, and his wife, Gigi, checked us in at the office. We received a great rundown of the local area, including restaurant suggestions that looked really good. Unfortunately, we were only overnighting here and did not have the chance to enjoy Prattville. We were led to pull through site A with FHUs. Getting to our site was a little narrow but very doable. The site was level and pleasantly spacious both at and between sites. The utilities are in the middle of the pad. We were able to position so we could get to both black tanks with a 10’ sewer hose. We got 2 bars on Verizon, and their WiFi was better than most CGs this size. Both Don and his wife came by at separate times to ensure we were settled in, to include asking if we needed propane. The CG is mainly full-timers that include a small community of retired military. They have dedicated sites for short-term stays. There were transient workers as we heard the familiar Cummings diesel start-ups in the wee hours of the morning. There is some road noise, but not bad. They have a nice dog park. As we travel through the area, we will place this CG on our return list.

Love Gunter Hill! ❤️. Wide open and spacious lots here have us spoiled. Clean bathhouse and laundry plus on site boat ramp to the river make it one of our favorite places. Walking trails are great too!

We are local (30ish miles) but love to just escape here when we have 3 or 4 days and don't want to travel long distance.  Perfect spot to be closer to the river in the summer and in the woods in the fall.  Catoma loop sites are full hookup with concrete pads including both back in and pull through options.  Antioch Loop does not have sewer hookup and these sites are gravel lots but offer some amazing water views.

Amazing cg! Site Catoma 33. Back in site water behind. But cliff is too intense to go down. Gorgeous site, huge, shady, and across from restrooms. Boat ramp. Rode bikes around, but not many places to go besides cg. Friendly hosts and great place!

Wow, this is such a pretty campground! Our site is absolutely huge! I absolutely love all of the trees!! Unfortunately, it’s still 97° out. 🤣 We are in the shade for most of the day. With a fan, it wasn’t too bad sitting outside in the shade. I am so excited to see the lightning bugs. We don’t have them in my part of FL.

We have one bathhouse near our site (across from site 34), which appears to be older. I do love that the water is regulated and will only be on for a short amount of time. The lights have a motion sensor, which is a great idea. Unfortunately as I was getting dressed, the light turned off and wouldn’t turn back on. I had to open the door and flail around to get it to turn back on. Sorry for anyone who may have witnessed that. lol I was covered up, I promise. The water did not drain where the changing area is. The water just puddled there. We ran across the bathhouse by site 71 and that one is way better. It has AC too, which was nice in this heat. Yes, we use the showers at campgrounds. This also has washers and dryers, but both washers are broken. 😞 Our RV shower is really small and I like to actually move my arms around while showering. Please don’t criticize us for our decision.

Our unfortunate event: while sitting outside, something smell really rancid. Unfortunately, people before us lost their dog. We walked down to look at the water and that’s when we discovered the body. 🥺 I called the front office and they were able to confirm that it was the lost dog. We were unable to sit outside most of the time because of the decay smell drifting up to our site. We hoped the ranger would have come here to pick up the body for the people, but they never showed up. Not the camp hosts responsibility at all and I’m not blaming them. I hope the owners were able to get some closure, but I can’t imagine how they feel.

This cg is amazing! We were in Catoma Loop. Huge sites, water in back, 50 amp, FHU. Restroom good condition and directly across from us. Very well maintained and friendly hosts. Very quiet. Plenty of walking, and biking. Has a boat launch. Definitely stay here again.

Third time at Millers Ferry! Water & electric hook ups . Good water pressure, dump station on property. Our site was paved and easily accommodated our 40 ft Rv/ fifth wheel & Dooley. Each site has a fire ring/with top grate to grill, picnic table, shepherd hook.Bathroom clean another one under construction. Nice playground. $1 for washer and dryer. Lots of sites are gravel as well, but level. Lots of people fish-parking for trucks & trailers at water ramp on property. No dog park, but lots of nature walks and paved roads to walk on. Oh yes, Lots of mosquitoes & ants, bring bug spray for a more pleasant stay! Shopping in town about 15-20 minutes away. Several good restaurants. There is a Piggly Wiggly, True Value Hardware, and Dollar stores. Approx 20-30 min to Walmart, next town over. Public lake for swimming, on site, with playground!

If you have a boat and are a fisherman you will love this park. We had a spot right on the water. Views were beautiful. Brought our kayaks but didn’t use them as it was a bit chilly and windy. Would definitely. Return. Only downside - lots of poison ivy!! And the bathrooms were rundown and dingy.

Very spacious sites in Catoma loop. Stayed in site 65 with great access to bathroom/shower house and volleyball net. Beautiful park with some fantastic lakefront sites. Clean, well kept, very affordable rates, and very friendly staff. Some online information suggests the gates close at night. The guard confirmed you are never locked in and can leave at any hour.

We had a great time visiting Payne Lake this weekend! We stayed at a primitive campsite with a beautiful view of the lake. 

My biggest advice is to bring. your. own. firewood. As far as we could tell, there was nowhere at the campground to purchase bundles of firewood, and even the local grocery stores/gas stations weren't stocked with any either. We spent quite a bit of time using a hatchet to cut up down trees to fuel our firepit. 

The campground is organized well and we were able to have our pick of campsites (mainly due to the fact that it was 30 degrees the whole weekend). The primitive campsites all had picnic tables and fire pits. Our group also uses hammocks and there were plenty of trees near enough together for hammock hanging. 

When we got to the campground, the check in area is quite simple. There is a box with envelopes/forms to fill out that ask for your payment (in cash!), car information, and site number. Once you fill out your information, you simply drive and park at your campsite. As far as we could tell, each site had ample room for parking 2 cars within 15 feet or so. We paid $6 a night for the site, as well as an extra $3 fee/day because of a third car. 

The area is quiet and peaceful, and the lake is a beautiful spot to catch the sunrise. On the East Side of the lake, we got a large amount of late afternoon sun, but minimal sunshine until later in the morning. The West Side saw a lot of sun early in the morning. 

We got the chance to meet the Camp Host, who was very gracious and also introduced us to his dog, Reecie. He even offered to take our trash out for us!

We took a walk around the entire campground, and it is clear that the West Side of the lake sees more visitors and is generally kept up with more. The blue hiking trail on the East side required quite a bit of bushwhacking and didn't seem to have much upkeep at all. On our hike, we ended up walking the roads of the campsite and seeing the whole grounds.

It was beautiful, quiet, and the lake was perfect. Would definitely go back!

Great people Always willing to help, loves our long term stay here. Mr. Gerald, Mr. Teddy & Mr. Scott are always more than willing to work with you & help in any way. Loves everything about this place. Family friendly, atv park.

We felt so welcome! Beautiful spot in the country. Gigi and Don helped us a lot and both are so wonderful and nice people

This is one of my favorite places to spend a few days. It is by a beautiful lake and a friendly, well kept campground. It's also close to home so it is easy to run down and get out of town.

We stayed in spot 36. We we're very close to the water with a little cutout to walk down to the water. Bathrooms were clean but had no AC, they we're fairly close to the site. Pull through site was easy to park but required side to side leveling. Verizon cell service was okay, bounced between 1-2 bars with 10-20 mbps. Quite a drive from Montgomery but well worth it for the morning views out over the water. Just a warning that the ants were crazy! We're still cleaning them out of our camper.