Best Tent Camping near Owens Cross Roads, AL

We got a chance to spend 2 nights up at Monte Sano this fall and had a wonderful trip with some chilly nights. The park is one of the best state-managed campgrounds I have been to and is an amazing place for either tent camping or RV camping. On this visit, they were undergoing serious renovations of one of the RV loops that is closest to the tent area so we ended up having even more privacy and quiet than usual. Although there are no bathroom facilities in the tent area they are a short drive or a couple of minutes walk away and are very nice and well kept. The tent sites are all well established and pretty spaced out. Since we stayed from Saturday to Monday we had the place to ourselves on Sunday night. We also arrived after dark on Saturday but they had a great system in place for getting the gate code and info about the site. We spent the whole day on Sunday hiking the long loop around the park. Since the trails connect to the land trust adjacent to the park you can never run out of areas to explore. I highly recommend visiting Monte Sano for your next camping adventure.

Tent site... full hookups... plenty of space

we stayed in a tent site in dec '22'' , the sites are very close together and the tent  site we were on hardly had enough space for our 3 person backpacking tent . there are fire pits, grills, and tables available on each site as well as water  . we appreciated the security gate and extremely clean and heated bathhouses with showers . the park has a nice playground and a pool we were unable to try during the winter months .  the campground is very close to town and as so expect alot of noise from traffic

Great if you want to canoe or paddle board while camping. Has a little island not far by canoe. You can’t drive to the tent spots, but there is a parking lot close by. The tent camping is almost never crowded.

The drive in is beautiful. Primitive Tent sites feel more secluded even though they are not hike in sites. Still reasonably close to the bathrooms/showers. Good price for camping!

Tent camped here on the water, absolutely no shade since the tornadoes brought all the trees down, even with the water nearby, temps hardly ever went below 85 at night. Poor planning on our part, not their fault. Much better for RVing.

The remodel has been finished. All the trees are gone. no more shade. There are all new sites, for RV's only, no more tent camping.  The rates have also increased, so expect to pay $75+ per night to stay there.

Everything is clean. Rangers are nice folks. Minutes from downtown Huntsville, but you feel very far away. I have tent camped and RV'd here. Enjoyed both. Small campstore with necessities. Firewood for sale. Lots of trails, mainly for mountain bikers but lots of hikers as well. Cool overlooks on some of the trails. Recommend.

RV and tent sites, pool, clean bathrooms (running water, showers, toilets), close to gas stations, food, and a dollar general smaller sized campround. the falls makes it worth the stay. easy gravel walking/biking trails. Trails around and beneath the falls.

I'm a local and tent camping saves my sanity from a high preassured daily life. When I cant leave to camp I'll set up at a primitive site here for a week at a time. It's a simple space. No picnic tables at primitive sites. It's clean...beautiful....loads of hiking trails...and great food is a 10 min ride down the mountain to Huntsville.

On top of Monte Sano in the woods and a world away from the town -- although it's close by. So many trails to run or walk and a playground for the kiddos. This has primitive camping as well as W/E/S. Each campsite is well-spaced and the primitive tent camping area is away from the RVs.

You can book all year but be sure to book in advance.

We are staying for Memorial Day weekend. It’s our first time here and it’s really not that bad! Easier to navigate in my opinion that others say. Staff is really nice and welcoming. The sites are a little tighter than most places. Especially in the RV section. We are tent camping and have plenty of room. Make sure you find the trail to get down to the falls. It’s a tough one but it’s one of the easier ones I’ve been on. Well worth it.

Really nice campground, well maintained. Plenty of spots and different options. I stayed in a primitive site no complaints, but I think next time I’ll try the backcountry sites or the wall tent site for a more romantic camp. Desoto falls is a must see and there are plenty of other places to see along the little river, and just 30 minutes or so away from noccalula falls. Definitely worth the trip I love it here.

I stayed at site number 063, which was an RV site with electric and water, and it was adjacent to the primitive sites. This campsite had a gravel pad, and setting a tent up outside of the pad was impossible as all of the surrounding area was a steep slope. The pad was plenty big for my one person tent, but I can't imagine anything bigger than a 4 person tent fitting in the area. I definitely recommend the primitive campsites if you're tent camping. The sites in this part of the camp were pretty far apart, and there was plenty of privacy. The park was riddled with trails (22 miles of them), many of which were also open to bikes. The bathhouse was pretty far from site 063, but they were clean.

This is an amazing place to camp and hike. Most of the other reviews cover all the wonderful amenities so I will mostly just add my photos from a trip here in the fall. Well worth a several-night stay. I personally like the tent sites but they also have paved RV spaces as well. Make sure to check out their Japanese garden as well. If you complete all the trails in the park you can expand to check out the attached land trust. See maps in my review.

Great hiking trails, amazing cave, helpful & friendly hosts, large clean shower/bathroom building. The showers are in the area for tent camping which is a bit of a hike from RV sites - less than a quarter mile. There's a great climbing wall for kids. If you want a break from the world it's great since internet is spotty & slow: I'm able to write this while on back roads in Georgia but couldn't do it there. The hills & some rain kept the temperature cooler while we were there - also a nice break in June. We would definitely plan to go back if we're anywhere near!

My husband and I went on our first camper trip here. It was breathtakingly beautiful! They have a rope course, water activities/rentals, cabins, rv/camper/tent sites waterside, and more. We fished feet from our camper off of the bank. They have a tie-down for animals, fire pit (with grill), all the hook ups for the rv/campers, and even gave us free food upon arrival. It was a perfect getaway for just the 2 of us, but we plan to bring our children next time!