Best Glamping near Lake Charles, LA

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.

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&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.

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.

After the excessive affluence of southern California, this bare-bones RV park felt a little frightening. It is adjacent to a gas station and there's no vegetation, but there are some old mattresses and the like. However, the gas station is convenient, there is a nice little store with personal use restrooms, and a there's a well-kept coin laundry. This is not the kind of RV park where merry couples are enjoying their retirement. Instead, it is a place where hard-working people are doing their best to get by. Despite everyone being actually quite friendly, I would have felt a little more relaxed if I had a large dog with me. Or a very smart monkey.