Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Kisatchie National Forest

National red dirt wildlife management preserve inside Kisatchie National Forest. This campground is located along the sandstone trail system. Free camping, no water, flush toilets. The road was ROUGH but the nature and secluded area was beautiful. The trails are the main attraction, miles of hiking, biking, off road vehicle, and horse trails. From the scenic overlook, you can see for miles.

This site is PERFECT for hiking or biking the multiuse trails. Inside the Kisatchie National Forest, Evangeline District. Well defined, marked sites with firepit, picnic table, lantern ring, but NO WATER. there are vault toilets available, but NO WATER. Also, be sure to check out Camp Claiborne while here. The sites are well shaded, even, spacious, and far enough away from your neighbors that you have the sense of privacy.

There is not much to this campground. Located inside the Kisatchie National Forest, Evangeline District. As soon as you enter the area, there is a small loopped grassy area with lots of trees. Nothing else to indicate a campground (other than the sign). If you follow the road/concrete path, you may lose a tire or axil bc the road is in BAD condition. Staying here gives you access to the forrest and multiuse trails.

The Whole campground is missing. While exploring the Kisatchie National Forest, Catahoula district, I searched for this campground. It either does not exist or the location listed here is incorrect. What I did find at this location was some amazing trails. The trails here are long and according to the US forest website, there is no backpacking on these trails. Be sure to contact the Catahoula District before counting on this site.

Inside the Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie District next door to the Ranger Station where you will find all trail maps and forest information. This campground offers water, designated sites, flush toilets, trash disposal and a great starting point to exploring the forest or just traveling down Longleaf Trail Scenic Byway. I would suggest if you will be in the forest for a few days to start here, get your maps and spend some time planning your route. Load up with water because not all campgrounds have it.

Inside the Kisatchie National Forest Kisatchie District. This campground is wide open spaces used as a stop along the Sandstone Trail system. The trail is the draw to this campground 36ish miles of hiking, off road vehicle, horse or biking. There is a $3 camping fee for this site and $5 fee to use the trail. Vault toilets, no water, undesignated sites. Beautiful place any time of year. Be aware of hunting seasons while in the forest and camping. The campground is well marked and easy to find

Inside the Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie District. This campground is aptly named. It is about 5 miles off of the main road, down a red dirt road. There is trail access from this campground. It is very small, with vault toilets and no water. No specific sites and lots of shade. It's a little eerie to be all the way out here. The trail access is why you stay here. The boys loved riding bikes down these dusty roads. The piece and quiet and views were great. Lots of wildlife in these trees.

Isnide the Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie District Lotus campground offers water, flush toilets and easy access to the Sandstone Trail. Each campsite has a fire ring, picnic table and lots of tree roots. This campground is designated for off road vehicle campers as opposed to horse campers. A bit scary when it started raining and we were under those big beautiful trees, but we made it through. Again, the campgrounds in this area are so well marked and easy to find. There is a $3 per night fee to camp here and a $5 trail use fee.

Oak campground inside Kisatchie National Forest, Kisatchie District is a secluded little spot to camp if you have been riding your horse on the trails. (Or not bc we stayed here with no horse). This was the first campground where there was actually other people here. There is no water, vault toilets and lots of trees and space to play. Just down the road, trees are being harvested but that did not interfere with our stay. This campground does not accommodate off road vehicles (they could spook the horses I guess) but there are many more campgrounds throughout the forest connected to the trails that do. The grounds are really well kept.

This campground is aptly named because it is split in half by a major hwy. Yes, hwy 472. There are vault toilets on both sides. It is dispersed free camping in the Kisatchie National Forest, Catahoula district, Catahoula national wildlife management preserve. The grounds are overgrown in places but there are a few cleared out spots with obvious old campfires. There were even places that looked like you could back in an RV. We will be back to this spot during the fall to see the leaves change colors. It feels secluded even if it is on the hwy.

This campground is a designated Hunter camp so if you plan to stay here call the rangers or know your seasons (deer, turkey, etc.).

According to the fs.usda.gov website, "The Highway 472 Camp is a designated Hunter Camp inside the Catahoula National Wildlife Management Preserve. The Hwy 472 Camp allows primitive camping in a predominantly pine setting."

If you like to gamble or just want very cheap spot for your RV this is a great deal. At $19 a night plus tax, this place rocked. Concrete pads and pull-thrus throughout. Pool, lodge(under repair 04/21) and large pond. Nice dog park. Bath/shower house was not the best, but clean enough. Lady at check in was very friendly.

This place is one of most favorite camping spots. Level concrete pads, electric for both 30 and 50amp with sewer and water all next to each other. Wifi is a bit weak. Dog park for your fur babies to play in. Then you have the Coushatta casino and all its amenities, so no need to travel far for fun and food for adults and kids. Pool area within camp grounds area. The casino side has a lazy river and a swim up bar for adults, also slides. There's also cabins to rent for those without campers or for friends to come stay.

Check in was a breeze. Ample sized cement sites with picnic tables. Our 42” 5th wheel has 4 slides and the site was roomy. Hookups we’re good. We were close to dog park which was perfect. Lovely clean campground. The lodge where you register was pretty. Could be marked better as it doesn’t mention anything about registration. There is a guard shack but doesn’t seem to be managed 24/7. So it’s kind of a false sense of security. The pool is large but a long way from the rv park itself. They have a 24 hour shuttle that takes to back and forth to casino. That really is all there is to do here as Lake Charles is 44 min away. We had some people at their camper who felt they should share their music with the entire park. I realize they’re allowed to have loud music until a certain time- however when you can hear it over your TV while sitting in your camper I just think that’s rude! The laundry is very small considering the size of the park and it seemed that people from the hotel used it which I don’t understand as it’s for the RV park. They have 4 dryers only 2 working, 4 washers only 3 working. I had to wait for people to finish with washers and dryers in order to do my 2 loads. Never spent 3 hours doing laundry before. These people were definitely NOT rv’ers! They had suitcases!

Don't get me wrong, I am not antisocial, but when I go camping I really want the natural quiet of nature. It was pretty busy, with many people gathered and partying. Kids driving crazy on golf carts. Otherwise, the property is pretty. The sites are easily accessible (our camper is approximately 30 ft). The showers were not available d/t covid 19, but were there. Our site 12 was level and had full hookups. Pet friendly. Large trees. Store on site and snack shop near the beach. Very kid friendly.

This campground has just reopened Tuesday, after being closed due to "the virus ". Typically there's no problem getting a campsite during the week, but let me tell you, it's full here now! We are in site number 52. Water and electricity only. Bathrooms and showers are open , but not too clean. Our site is good sized and quite level. A concrete table is on site, as is a decent sized fireplace. Pet and kid friendly. There are boat launches and kayak loading areas at most sites. There is a small beach area for campers and a larger beach area open to the public. Hiking trails are a car ride from this site.

Me, my wife and lil dog stayed a weekend on the primitive area in a tent. When looking for a spot to put our tent, we found several peak areas that were very nice. We camped near the lake, watched fishermen and boaters during the day. We had a very nice time and would definitely go back!