Best Glamping near Lafayette, LA

Chicot State Park is wonderful and well maintained. We had a wonderful weekend stay, and the weather was perfect. Take the time to drive around to the East Landing in the evening before sunset. It has one of the prettiest views of Chicot Lake. Also drive down to the South Fishing Pier below the South Campground. It has a long pier that goes out into the lake. My son spent a lot of time at the splash pad. Be sure to visit the free La. State Arboretum onsite. It has a great visitor center with some fantastic exhibits and nice hiking trails. 

Stayed in campsite#84. It has a nice deck with picnic table. BBQ grill and fire pit are on the other side of the RV spot. Even though it is in the front, it is actually quite secluded with woods all around. Nearest neighbor was at least 40-50 ft. Away. My son could easily walk or ride his bike to the splash pad. Both AT&T and Verizon had poor signal(1 bar each). Was able to connect to the free park Wi-Fi. It was slow, but I could send text messages and make the occasional phone call. Wasn't a big deal, because I came here to camp and get unplugged. We camped at Chicot State Park in a Travel Trailer.

We stayed at spot 38. We we're right on the water with our own dock/deck. Close to the restrooms but not much through traffic. Dumpster was right across next to the bathrooms. Not a lot of street lights throughout the campground made things nice and quiet at night. Spots were asphalt and needed a decent bit of leveling. The water and electricity hookups were on the camp side, which made for an awkward parking job to accommodate for the cord lengths. The site had no Verizon cell service, in order to receive notifications or just make a phone call you have to walk back towards the main road. The hiking trails were very nice with lots of shorts and long options. The canoe trails were also nice with the ability to rent kayaks or canoes. Overall the campground was clean, relativity quiet, right on the water, and is perfect if you are looking to disconnect.

Park is in pretty good shape, although it appears that the state park system is low on funding and resources, as some facilities are closed and maintenance is needed in certain areas.  The park is located within a large watershed/basin, so seasonal rains can have an impact on the area at large.  With that being said, being at the heart of this basin allows for many water borne recreational activities.  Boating, kayaking/canoeing, fishing, observation of diverse flora and fauna.  Besides having access to a boat launch on site, there are several boat launches with access to other water bodies within a few miles of the park.  

Have been to the park a few times over the last 20 years.  Have stayed in the old cabins a few times and have also made day visits to the park.  My most recent visit was my first visit as an RVer.  I stayed at campsite 40, which has water access, with a dock.  This was convenient for launching kayaks.  I found the rv pad to be on the narrow side of things and the utilities (water/electric) were located in an odd location.  I forgot my electric power extension cord and had to pull up on the pad, in order to reach the electric service.  I had to run the water hose under the rv and across the outdoor walking/living area.  I'm not sure if these sites were poorly designed or if intended for drive in setup.  The sites on interior or opposite side of road seemed to be setup with utilities on the "correct" side.  Also, we could not extend the canopy, due to a tree being in the way.  Sorry, I do not have pictures of the site, but I see someone else has posted pics of site 40.

Mosquitos were swarming post rain shower, which occurred each day of the trip.  So, cool weather camping may be preferable, or perhaps when water is not standing in the low lying areas (the whole park is essentially a low area).

We went camping in a tent this weekend at the park and really enjoyed it. We stayed at the south landing camping area in loop A. If you plan on camping in a tent I recommend the spots in loop A and most in loop D. B and C are more for RVs but you could still set up there, those two loops are more open and the spots are closer. Loops A and D are a little more spread out and have trees between some spots. The main bathroom was in good shape and had heat. Trash was picked up every morning by the park. Our spot had a fire ring, water , and electricity. The park allows you to use dead tree limbs for firewood. One thing to know about spots on loop A near the comfort station is that there’s a treatment plant in the center that kicks on every once in a while and makes a good bit of noise at night when the motor runs. It helped put me to sleep but it might bother others. Also theres no cell signal except in one or two random spots of the campground but it was nice to unplug for a weekend . We really enjoyed this campground and park though and will definitely be back .

PROS

$7 Veteran discount 

Wooden picnic table 

No road noise. 

It only 5 miles from Interstate 10 

TMOBILE 2 bars 

Just a couple homesteaders 

Sites 1-12 Have the least pot holes in the roadway. 

Site 4 has a large wood swing at pond’s edge 

CONs

$8 transaction fee which basically cancelled out the $7 veteran discount

Wristbands that had to be worn at all times. We never encountered any wristband police so we didn’t wear. 

Campground road in horrendous condition with non stop pot holes 

Only 2 women’s and 2 men’s toilets for the entire park which are in the pool house. Since we didn’t see any other on the campground map we inquired at the welcome center/office/store and they confirmed those are it for the park. 

Site#22 not level 

Sites tightly slammed together 

Our campfire ring was under the next sites camper slide out, so totally unuseable 

Some site concrete pads have a foot drop off to the surrounding grass/dirt 

Power interruption 

Wifi signal interrupted every 10-15 minutes with only 8 RVs in the park. 

Most sites no shade 

Streetlights throughout park