Sam Houston Jones State Park, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a fantastic spot for campers looking to enjoy the great outdoors with a touch of comfort. The campground has been recently remodeled, featuring spacious sites with full hookups, making it a breeze for RV travelers to settle in and enjoy their stay.

You’ll find clean facilities, including hot showers and well-kept restrooms, which visitors have appreciated. The park boasts beautiful hiking and biking trails, along with scenic views of the surrounding wildlife, including alligators and various bird species. One happy camper noted, “The hiking/biking trails are nice and wide, with lots of water access and beautiful new bridges.”

For those who enjoy a bit of family fun, there’s a playground for the kids and plenty of space to roam. While the campground is pet-friendly, it’s also a peaceful retreat where you can kick back and relax. Just keep in mind that some sites can feel a bit close together during busy weekends, but the overall vibe remains friendly and welcoming.

If you’re up for some exploration, the nearby area offers additional activities, and you’re just a short drive from local conveniences. Whether you’re here for a weekend or a longer stay, Sam Houston Jones State Park has a little something for everyone.

For those who wish to stay overnight, the park offers 8 vacation cabins, 62 campsites and 19 tentsites. The cabins include either one or two bedrooms, a living/dining area, a bathroom, and a fully outfitted kitchen, complete with cooking and eating utensils. Bed linens are also provided and each cabin has central air conditioning and heat. The two campgrounds, located alongside the lagoons, feature improved sites with water and electricity. Dump stations, restrooms, and showers are located nearby

Sam Houston Jones State Park — Sam Houston Jones State Park District II

Lake Charles, LA is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Aside from great camping spots, you'll find hiking and many more outdoor experiences. Thinking of traveling with kids? You're in luck—Lake Charles is surrounded by family-friendly activities. You're sure to find the perfect spot for your Louisiana camping adventure.

Lake Charles

The Best Camping Near Lake Charles, Louisiana

Typical state park campground area to suite campers/rv's & tents.  Must reserve sites for 2-day minimums or more on weekends.  Many of the campsites are shaded.  They have bath houses w/ showers and flush toilets.  Since it is close to Lake Charles, LA and other towns, this park does get used by both locals and others.  SHJSP is surrounded by water on 2 or 3 sides, and has low water areas within the park.  Thus, it is a popular place to go for fishing, canoeing, kayaking.  The birding is very good here most times of the year, and there is deer that live on state park property here.  Mosquitos can be really rough here certain times of the year.  Hiking trails are ok here, but nothing awesome, except a couple boardwalks & viewing platforms are nice. 

Camping, hiking, canoeing, birding at Sam Hou Jones State Park -- sw LA

this park is large enough to enjoy for an entire weekend. plenty of walking trails, bike trails, and places for the kids to play. great rv campground. Very relaxing with great views

great family park!

This park is old and needs some work, but we enjoyed the stay. We were there mid-February 2019 and stayed for a week. It rained almost the entire time we were there so didn’t get to explore as much as we would have liked. However, one day we were able to walk the trail beside the river which was very nice and well-maintained. The campground is small and for the weekend it was full. During the week there were very few campers. We were in spot #53 and I would highly recommend that spot. We only had one neighbor to one side, and it felt a bit more isolated than the others. When things are full on the weekends, it can seem a bit crowded with spots being close together. It never felt like to cramped for us because we had (IMO) one of the best spots in the campground. Some spots have full hook-up, while others are electricity and water only. Ours was electricity and water only. The dump station is nearby and if you need to dump with a tote you could easily do so. Most of the campground is not level, but nothing bad enough that you can’t get level with blocks. There is a very nice laundry room that is free. That was a great perk. There are 3 washers and 3 dryers. Several of the units seemed brand new. We took advantage of that and did some laundry during our stay. Like I said, it rained the entire time, so the site was muddy, but not as bad as we thought it would get. Internet access was good. We had 3-4 bars of AT&amp;T and Verizon. Lake Charles and Sulphur are not far away and have anything you need while visiting. The park has some nice scenery and the trail provided some good wildlife. The main things they need to do to improve it would be fix some of the roads/camping spots that have significant potholes. Also, the camping spots could benefit from some grading to make them a bit more level. It is my understanding that the park has made vast improvements recently and it shows. Give it a bit more time and it will be a great place to stay. Overall, we would probably camp there again.  Cost is $20/night during the week and $28/night on the weekend. These price are for off-peak season.

State park that needs a bit of work

If you like Louisiana Wildlife this is the place for you! I saw a couple of lounging alligators, egrets, snapping turtles,  deer, and a chipmunk!!! I was kind of scared when I saw a sign on the trails warning of the gators! As far as RV camping,  it wasn't a really nice area. The site we were in was 56, I don't reccomend it. Pretty unlevel and very close to other campers. When it rained, the water pooled on the backside and where the picnic table was. There was a shower house. It was old, but really clean. 

Great for hiking, biking, and kayaking 

The State Park was clean grass was cut , workers always walking around picking up trash. 

Clean 

This is my return visit to this park I truly love coming here. 

Nice Park

$20 for site with hookups plus $3/person/night. The sites are level with adequate spacing. Showers are clean and hot but pressure is lacking. They are the push kind so you must continually press to keep the water running. The river walk from the campground is really nice. Office is helpful and kind.

Nice spots and river walk

I'm not one to give bad reviews frequently. And hopefully things have changed. But, back in 2016, this was one of the worst and dirtiest campgrounds we have ever stayed at. It wasn't dirt like normal outdoor activity dirt. It was dirt like the bathroom hadn't been cleaned in a year.

Dirty Campground

This are has been hit by multiple hurricanes, flooding  and fires. The rebuilding process is taking time but it is on it's way. Large viewing ponds of alligators,  turtles and birds are surrounded by walking and biking trails for all different levels of activity.  The sites are only full rv hookup because thats where the money is. Hopefully primative tent sites will open in the next year or two. Laundry, bathhouse and wifi are available.  Ice, camping needs are NOT available for purchase but only an 8 minute drive away. Slight constant hum of traffic can be heard otherwise very quiet camp.

Improvement road 

You feel like you’re camping in a parking but fine renovations clean restrooms with WiFi. $20 night with senior discount 

Good one night stop

They did a fantastic job putting in the new Campground with full hook ups and extra large sites! Bath house is close by but we honestly didn’t use it. Nice wide ￼hiking/biking trails, lots of water access, beautiful new bridges and a nice big playground. We will definitely revisit!

Photos of Sam Houston Jones State Park — Sam Houston Jones State Park District II

Real photos from real campers