Best Equestrian Camping near Smiths Station, AL

This is where President Roosevelt came to relax. Warm Springs and Roosevelt's Little White House Historic Site is a short drive away. Calloway Gardens and a drive through animal park are all close by. The campground is nice with lots of trees so there is some privacy. There are 2 campground loops, and a small lake. Most are water and electric. There is s dump station. There is a horse stable, too. Dowdell's Knob where President Roosevelt sometimes picnicked at King’s Gap. There is still a picnic area there, with A life-size sculpture of the former president.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built many of the facilities during the Great Depression, including cottages and the Liberty Bell Swimming Pool which is spring fed.

Green forest on Pine Mountain, this campground is well laid out and has history.  Several projects done by the CCC.  40 miles of trails to hike/bike.  A CCC built pond where you can rent paddle boats or bring your own kayak or canoe.  Equestrian trail rides (and stable rentals) are available.  Water/power, fire pit, picnic tables on gravel sites with some pull thru.  Satellite tv can be received at some sites.  Showers/bathrooms with laundry facility at each.  And several trails to walk you dog.

Life size statue of FDR on Dowdell's Knob, where FDR would come to relax and take in the view over King's Gap.

Grocery store available in the town of Pine Mountain (about 15 minutes from campground).

Great base for area sight seeing:

Roosevelt's Little White House State Park

Warm Springs (where Roosevelt would go for the warm springs)

    In Columbus, GA:

National Infantry on Fort Benning

National Civil War Navy Museum 

Coca Cola Space Museum

This park has great camping with many, many sites of various sizes, all for roughly $30 a night. This may sound steep but the amenities by far make up for it.

Each site has a dirt or gravel pad, water and electricity hookups and are all situated within walking distance of a bathroom. There is also a centralised trading Post in the camp, separate from the main office. The bathrooms are all spotless and each area has a camp host constantly cleaning.

The views are awesome and there is some awesome yoking near by, as well as some very well marked trails in the area.

This review is for FDR #115. Although small, this site has a commanding view of beautiful Lake Delanor. The state park allows 2 tents per site, and we couldn’t have fit 3 anyway. There was just enough room for our Tahoe in the parking area next to the tent pad. Our family enjoyed fishing, walking through the park, and visiting Dowdell’s Knob. We cooked all our meals on our grill and Coleman stove. The picnic table is large and is positioned on a new balcony area, apparently just renovated. The bathhouses are very nice and having a hot shower while camping is really fantastic. Almost every site was occupied during the weekend we were visiting and save a few loud campers on Saturday night, likely off the grid at one of the primitive sites, the main campground was absolutely quiet after 10:00 PM. Some Canadian geese and turtles visited us. The lake itself is stocked with bass and bluegill but no one was really biting. Lovely to sip on your coffee and watch the fog lift off the lake. This state park is a treasure. We loved it and hope to return someday.

We stayed at FDR state park for 4 nights and it was a beautiful park with great hosts and great campsites! Bath houses were well-maintained and sites not on top of each other like some other places. They have horseback riding stables and kayaks for rent (but COVID is not allowing rentals). We took our kayaks and used them in Lake Delanor. Our campsite was #312 and it accommodated our 22 ft camper well, had an additional large tent pad, a fire ring and picnic table. We were located next to a group pavilion which we utilized when the rains came down. For dog owners like us, a big green grassy area was located behind our site to walk our 4-legged kids. Totally enjoyable experience and would love to return to backcountry camp and do some trails.

If you’re into birding, this is a great spot. The campground is located on West Point Lake, where bald eagles soar. There are also two parks very close by that are for ideal bird watchng, even in the winter, where a variety of migratory species congregate! Here is a link to the lake's birding page.

Campsites on the water’s edge provides easy access for swimming, fishing and kayaking, but camping in the fall on the hill with a deck overlooking the lake provides beautiful views of the lake.

I gave it a 4-star rating instead of 5 because the restrooms could use a good cleaning and updating.

I’ll start with a couple of negatives before moving on to the many positives. I camped at site 114, which I was really excited about because it was right on a very pretty lake. However, the pad was very rocky (I’m a tent camper) and the remainder of the site was on a slope that made it far less enjoyable. Even the picnic table was wedged up against a tree to keep it from sliding into the lake. This site has basically zero privacy. In fact, if you like privacy when camping, you probably don’t want any of the sites that have a view of the lake. On to the positives. This is a very pretty campground with a pool, a lake, a nice visitor center with great views, extremely clean bathrooms (showers included), and several pretty trails of differing difficulties. I will return, but I will choose a nice wooded campsite rather than a bare campsite near the lake.