Best Glamping near Gardner, LA

It's so well taken care of, it's beautiful, and there's so much to explore. It's a welcoming place to experience Louisiana outdoors.

One of my favorite places to go camping, trails bring you right through the swamps of South louisiana. Love walking elevated on the path right over the mush and cypress knees galore!

This park is absolutely stunning. the camping spots are spread out for a more personal experience. Here you can fish, kayak, swim, and dont forget to swing by the Arboretum. very scenic "Louisiana" park

Lake was beautiful. Awesome kayaking. Camp sites are a little close, especially because we usually go to tent only sections. The is none at Chicot, so the loud Rvs trucks and motorcycles were annoying. Like someone said, the raccoons are not your average raccoons, and the mosquitos were not even those of us In South Louisiana say are normal. The next time we go, I think we will rent a cabin.

Overall it is one of the best state parks in Louisiana. Miles of trails for hiking & biking. Even a paddle trail out on the lake. Two campgrounds with bathroom/shower bldgs. Also has scenic primitive campsites that you can hike to and/or paddle to. No swimming allowed here. There is some alligators in the water. Lake is popular for fishing. Lots of birds here. Negatives are the wasps, ticks, and chiggers.

Chicot State Park is located near Ville Platte, Louisiana. It’s a nice place to hangout for the day. This park has bathrooms and showers, electrical outlets, and clean facilities. The campsites are a mixed bag - some are great, others are extremely unlevel, & close to one another.

The park itself is great. Awesome hiking trails, good fishing, and great scenery! There’s a decent sized lake with some good fishing. I recommend kayaking at this park!

We were there November 5th and basically had the whole campground to ourselves. (there were probably 6 other campers scattered around the park). Our site was huge and even if there were other campers we would not have been able to see them.

Not the easiest park to get to but well worth it. At dusk the mosquitoes came out but what do you expect staying in a Louisiana bayou?? Had decent cell coverage w/ T-mobile (3 bars). Have some great trails throughout the park (mainly at the north campground)

Large sites, few trees, manicured landscaping and clean bathhouses. Really quite with friendly park rangers.

Beautiful scenery. The Bayou Campground has a stream with a beach. Toilets are available by the parking lot, but no sinks. Bring extra toilet paper just in case they run out.

CAMPGROUND REVIEW:

Located inside the Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie District, this campground is great. This section of National Forest is home to over 30 miles of nature trails. The trails are for hiking, biking, horseback riding and off road vehicle riding. This campground is just steps away from the bayou where you can launch a canoe or kayak depending on the water level. Fishing and swimming are great pastimes here. The site has a grassy area and fire pit. There are vault toilets and NO WATER so be prepared for that. The day use area offers picnic tables, fire pits and grills. There are 2 different sites for camping on either side of the day use area. The day use area has a lot of local traffic but we did not encounter a lot of overnight campers. It is very secluded and the sound of the bayou is serene. There are lots of wildlife sounds at night but we didn't see anything more than a squirrel. We loved our stay here. We hiked, biked, and relaxed in the low waters of the bayou.

NOTE - Kisatchie Bayou Recreation Complex Camping/Day Use is the same area as Kisatchie Bayou Campground

PRODUCT REVIEW:

As a Ranger for the Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time - today I tested the INNO Aero Light 2 (2 bike) hitch rack.

www.innoracks.com

This bike rack made our trip so easy. It was easy to set up, easy to install (my 8 yr old did it). The simple hitch design slides right into a standard 2" hitch receiver or can be adjusted to 1 1/4". The screw bolt came with it along with a wrench for tightening on the receiver. We easily secured 2 bikes to the rack. Bike weight needs to be less than 33 lbs., have a top tube and a seat tube. Frame size 1/2" - 2 1/4". We loved this rack for its sturdiness and lightweightedness. It traveled great, we drove with the rack on my SUV for over 300 miles and we never had any problems. A great feature is the easy fold down option to allow access to the back of the car. This rack also features great locking mechanisms. You can lock the rack at the hitch as well as lock the built in strap around the bikes. As our little one grows and his bike gets bigger, we will definitely get a larger INNO rack to carry all the bikes. For now, the 2 bike rack is working great.

Pros: lightweight, easy install, easy fold down feature, great locking mechanisms.

Cons: None

I'm going with 41/2 stars! Great facilities, Great fishing, Great hiking, Great Arboretum! The only down side is that it can get a little crowded and noisy on busy weekends.

We camped at site 363, not too bad, definitely needs upgrades. Not enough space between campers to even light a fire. There are miles of beautiful hiking trails, but beware of snakes! The bathrooms were recently updated so they were really nice. Also the laundry facilities were clean! Not too many wild flowers this trip. 😞

Beautiful/secluded bayou campground. Was very clean, secure and had wiFi. Friendly staff and beautiful sites. Highly recommend. Bathrooms were also very clean!

Our family has spent many years at many different state parks across the country, and this is by far one of my favorites!!

We stopped at this campground for one night on our way home. Some of the sites are close together, but we called and they put us in a spot that was very spacious. There were almost no other campers there so it helps to go in the middle of the week. The staff was very friendly and they had a great hiking path and playground for our 5 year old. I biked most of the paved roads in the state park and was able to go 13 miles without doubling anywhere. The cabins looked great from the outside and are located right on the lake. There is a long fishing pier and boat rentals. This is definitely one we will return to. Also, it is located very close to a lot of antique shopping which my wife wouldn’t let me pass up on my way home.

One of the best and longest loop trails in the state! 👍🏻👍🏻

great place to go. very natural and wooded. lots of sights to see. wonderful trails, lots of hiking. good place for bike rides. lots of wildlife.

Secluded and great canoeing.

Stayed for two days in North campground. Campground has bath house with individual showers. 30 amp hookups. Did canoe loop which was pretty easy to follow. Saw some big gators especially by the boat ramp. Campground is a little rundown but serviceable.