Best Tent Camping near Sumiton, AL

*It's been a while since my last visit, but since I camp there every year, several times each summer, I figured I'd go ahead and do a quick review anyway.

Every summer for the past few years I've traveled to Oak mountain, typically going several times each summer (July and August) to run the Southeastern trail series. Although there are numerous back country camp sites, I've always stayed at the campground due to its convenient location, and always stay at the same campsite (B6) each visit. The campground is divided into two sections (A & B) and each campsite has parking right at the site itself.

Although the first few tent sites on the B-side are located right off the road, they're set back far enough that they feel pretty secluded with plenty of trees to give a slight sense of privacy. These first few sites have no electrical hookup or water, but are located a short walking distance from the front bathhouse (bathroom and shower). The bathhouse directly across from my site is rarely busy, and the single shower is clean with plenty of hot water.

Each site has a cinderblock retaining wall, a picnic table, and a steel fire ring with a flip-top cooking grate. If you're tent camping, the pad is dirt with a layer of pea-gravel, so a sleeping pad is a must. Firewood is easy to find in the surrounding woods if there hasn't been a lot of people thru the area. Otherwise, wood is available at the store at the entrance to the campground. The campground is easily accessible from the parks back gate entrance, which is only a short driving distance to pretty much anything you could need (restaurants, gas, groceries, etc).  There's even a small beach area at the back of the campground exclusive to campground guests. The staff is always friendly and reserving a campsite online is easy.

One of the great things about Oak Mountain State Park is that there's plenty to do aside from the camping; hiking, mountain biking, horse stables, a BMX track, an archery range, canoeing, paddle boats/ paddle boarding, several lakeside beaches with playgrounds, a wakeboarding course, a wildlife rehabilitation center, and a treetop nature boardwalk which features several enclosures where you can view birds of prey up close. Also, if you're into trail running or mountain biking, there are several race series held at the park each year.

All in all, I love this park and already have my reservations made again for this summer!

Campground Review: 

Tomahawk Primitive Campground is located near Cullman, AL right off of Highway 278. The campground is primitive, and has no electricity or water pumps or hookups at the individual sites, but there is a common room area attached to the back of the owner’s house that has a clean bathroom, a coffee maker, and electricity. There are 3 campsites with fire rings as well as a large, open field at the main campground area, and additional sites by the creek, about a 10 minute walk from the main area. The trail to the creek-side sites was partially cleared, but there were a few fallen trees blocking the path that could make it difficult to carry gear to those sites. My husband, puppy and I stayed at one of the tent sites in the main campground area. If you are staying in a tent, I highly recommend air mattresses for this camp. While the ground has been somewhat cleared, there are still large stocks sticking one or 2 inches out of the ground that would make sleeping without an air mattress very uncomfortable. However, the bigger issue making sleep difficult for us was the road noise from the highway, which stayed busy throughout the night. I assume that if you are in a camper you won’t notice it as much, but in a tent it made us feel like we were camping on the side of the highway and not at a camp. Another problem that we ran into, unfortunately after we set up camp, is that our site had a ton of fire ants. I’m not sure if this is a problem at all of the tent sites or if it was just ours, but I advise caution when choosing your site and where you set up your tent. Our favorite part of this campground was the creek. It was beautiful and clear, perfect for our dog to play in, and had good locations to set up a hammock and enjoy the peaceful creek sounds. If we were to stay at this camp again, we would bring gear that could be hauled to the creek-side campsites. 

Gear Review: GCI Outdoor Pod Rocker with Sunshade 

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I sometimes get gear to review on my camping trips. For this trip I got the GCI Pod Rocker with Sunshade camp chair. I LOVE this chair, and so did my husband and dog. The chair comes in a durable carrying case, which is great because I’ve had many camp chair bags fall apart after just a few uses. The chair was a little confusing to set up/take down at first, until I realized that easy-to-follow instructions are attached to the bag. The chair is larger than most camp chairs and provides more support. The sunshade is adjustable and can be moved in several positions as well as completely collapsed. The only complaint that we had about the Pod Rocker is that the included cup holder is a pouch that doesn’t seem like it would actually prevent your drink from spilling. For me, the benefit of having a camp rocking chair far outweighs this one detractor. This chair was wonderful for camping but would also be perfect for outdoor sporting events and concerts. I highly recommend the GCI Pod Rocker with Sunshade! Here is the link for the GCI Pod Rocker with SunShade:  https://www.gcioutdoor.com/rockers/pod-rocker-with-sunshade/

This is a very small campground- 13 improved sites (nine of these have 50 amp electric and can accommodate all sizes of rigs; four are designed for smaller units and have 30 amp electric) plus five primitive sites, which have communal water only (no electric). There is zero privacy/separation between the improved sites, which would make the unimproved sites possibly more appealing (but further from the restroom and it was pouring when we were there). Improved sites are gravel and include a BBQ, fire ring, and a very large picnic table. Rates are $16 for a primitive site/$29 for an improved site plus a $4.75 processing fee for the first night of your stay. Senior discounts are given. 

The restrooms are functional and clean but basic. There was a leak in the roof from the pouring rain that could pose a slipping hazard. 

There are a large picnic pavilion and two short hiking trails of about a mile each. We hiked the Fossil Mountain trail, which is very rocky. The main draw to this park is the cave. Tours are offered four times daily, January through November. If you camp, you receive a discount on the tour. The tour is worth doing.

Oak Mountain State Park is Alabama’s largest state park. Located just outside of Birmingham, it’s easy to escape to nature without being too far off the beaten path. This park is HUGE! There’s so many things to do here, we plan to return when we have more time to explore!

We saw several hiking trails, a horseback riding area, a golf course, a lake with a beach and swimming area, plus kayak and boats, we also saw some kind of skiing tow rope area! It was really cool, I’d never seen one of those! I read the park is known for mountain biking also, and I noticed a few road bikes in the bike lane driving in.

We originally booked a tent site without electric, but it was blazing hot, so we decided to move to a site with electric so we could have fans in our rooftop tent and ended up in site A06. The site was shaded and there was no one in that area so we had great privacy. Our site backed up to the woods, so it was nice.

The tent (no electric) sites are the best in my opinion. Most are back in the woods and shaded. I don’t believe you can reserve a specific tent site, as they assign you one when you arrive, but there were so many great tent sites, i don’t think it would be a problem unless it was a super busy weekend. Most of the tent sites are walk in also, so if you have a rooftop tent, or car camping, these won’t work.

A loop seemed to have larger, wooded, sites with more privacy. B loop was wide open. The tent sites were great in both loops though.

The restrooms were ancient. They could use some updates, but they were clean and functional, and there were multiple facilities throughout the campground.

There’s a camp store at the check in area, they have the essentials, and they do have ice. The ladies working in there were really nice and helpful too.

Oak Mountain is a great spot to camp, just go when there’s not a heat wave in Alabama, and you have time to explore the park!

I tent camped with two kiddos in spot #30 and we had a lovely view of the woods. Each spot has a gravel platform and some of my stakes wouldn’t grab but the tent held up. It was noisy at night with some folks partying but eventually it died down. Spots are a bit close (you can see the camper parked across the street from us) and you can easily hear comings and goings of other campers. It was May when we camped here and hot and very humid during the day. Cooler but still super humid at night. Each site has a nice fire ring, picnic table and a grill.

The guy at the front gate was super nice and helpful.

My kids enjoyed hiking and the bball court (where some other kids congregated). The nets were barely hanging on but still playable. The bathrooms were clean.

We 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.

The campsites at Oak Mountain are fairly well travelled and can get pretty packed though they provide all the necessary amenities for camping. Most of the tent sites have a level gravel area with a picnic table and fire pit to set up your site. However, the water pumps are often a little bit of a walk and shared between several sites. They are also very strict about the number of cars and this can make it tricky with a larger group. Overall it is a ok campsite but in a great park with awesome hikes. I would still recommend a visit to anyone who is willing to deal with camping close to your neighbor.

This 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.

During my time in Alabama, I kept hearing wonderful things about Sipsey Wilderness, and its many waterfalls, rocky landscapes, and great hikes. Since it's "wilderness," there are no established campsites, and there is a strict "leave no trace" policy. That being said, the opportunity to pick your own home away from home on your backpacking trip leaves you with a plethora of gorgeous options! Be sure to check the water levels before your trip, because while Sipsey is always beautiful, it isn't abnormal for many of the waterfalls to be dried up after a hot summer. Also, if you park at the Sipsey River Picnic Area Trailhead, be sure to pay the $3/day parking fee. They will give you a steep ticket otherwise! I had read about the fee, but upon arriving didn't see where to pay and figured it must have been an outdated post. Turns out, there was just a car blocking the pay station, which is near the chemical toilet when you turn into the parking lot. It's a dated deposit system, where you put your payment in an envelope, drop it in a dropbox, and put the perforated proof of payment tag on your dashboard. So be sure to bring exact change!! I was expecting something a little more modern, so even if I had seen the deposit box, I wouldn't have had exact change on me.

The trails can get a little complicated, as there aren't really any trail markers, so be sure to buy a map of the area and bring it along with your compass. I found a map at mountain high outfitters at the Summit in Birmingham, AL, and it served us well. The 209 trail follows the river and is known as one of the more scenic routes. Nearby sites within the Sipsey Wilderness include Big Tree (the biggest tree in AL), Eye of the Needle, Ship Rock, numerous waterfalls, and several scattered cemeteries. All of these will be marked on a good map.

The area is very buggy, and the trails can get cramped/overgrown in parts, so I'd recommend wearing long pants and lots of bug spray!