Best Glamping near St. Martinville, LA

Large campground and park that has RV areas and tent camping areas as well. There are a few loops in this campground. Some are paved; the further loop where we stayed is not. Our site was right on the water where were could see pelicans diving for fish and other water birds as well. 

If you are looking for privacy this is NOT your place. Sites are very close together and we had to make sure our slide did not hit the neighbor's truck side mirror! Also not very quiet. If you don't hear boats roaming around then you can hear children playing in the multiple playgrounds or the neighbor's music playing or overall road noise. It is a good place if you just need a night or if you fish or have a boat I suppose. 

Bathrooms/showers are not very convenient and are not very nice.  The shower was full of bugs (dead and alive) and though free you had to consistently keep pushing the "on" button to turn the water on for 30 second intervals.  Also, you have no choice as far as water temperature. It wasn't too cold or too hot but if you want hotter in the winter or cooler water in the summer, you don't get that option. There was also only one hook for belongings and the door wasn't secure.

There is a laundry room but it was so far from us (in the other camping loop) that we did not go to it even though we picked this place so we could take showers and do laundry.

This campground is convenient and cheap and close to town and the highway but I don't think I would stay here again unless I was desperate. It is nice and well maintained and clean but the closeness of people and the distance to amenities is a no go.

There is trash (no recycling) as well as the aforementioned showers, bathrooms and laundry. There is also a beach area, playgrounds  and boating/fishing. There is a fire pit, picnic table and full hook ups at each site for the RVs.

The website is weird because the "off" and "busy" seasons seem opposite and from other reviews they had disputes over the cost, so we weren't sure what to expect, but we paid $20 online for a Monday night and the nice office ladies didn't say anything when we were checking in.

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.

I think this is a very nice camping area for both RV’s and tent camping, but it does have some minor drawbacks. There is a protected area on the lake within the park that you can launch your boat and they do have two restrooms with showers as well as washers and dryer’s to clean your clothes. Bathrooms in nearly every camping area across the country I’ve been to aren’t exactly up to home standards, but it is functional. The people working at the park have always been friendly and helpful. I like to tent camp and even the tent campsites have electrical hook ups. The truly bizarre thing about that is we are located in South Louisiana where the temperatures are absolutely brutally hot and majority of the year and yet they have a rule that clearly states you cannot have an air conditioner in your tent. And luckily, I didn’t see that the first four or five times I stayed there and no one said a word. Why in the world could you not hook up a portable AC unit in your tent considering electrical hook ups are provided and AC units make nearly no noise? Speaking of noise, the park is located in just inside a 90° curve in the highway with two sets of rumble strips in each direction. Being located practically within the city limits of Morgan city, or noise from traffic and the rumble strips doesn’t quiet down until well after midnight and picks back up again in full force around 5 AM. I couple that with the majority of the people here wanting their trucks to make the most noise possible, it’s a bit distracting and makes sleep difficult. Like all camping areas, people are going to listen to all manners and types of music but that quiet down significantly after 10 PM. my last trip about a week ago I noticed that my particular campsite was covered in fire ants that would start to build colonies within all your camping equipment left on the ground outside and they also built a major ant city underneath our tent that wasn’t an issue until I was breaking down the camp and the ants decided to scatter all over the tent inside and out.  the fishing is fantastic down here and the wildlife is incredible. You will see alligators of course along with rabbits, black squirrels, osprey bald eagles as well as seagulls and pelicans given our close proximity to the gulf coast. The office has people working in it every day of the week and and there is a Coke machine at the office and they do sell 8 pound bags of ice for $2. Overall, I really like camping here and then will continue to do so as long as no one says anything about having an AC unit in my tent as I would not consider staying in a tent in South Louisiana without one. 

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).

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

This is a busy weekend park within 2 miles of Morgan City, LA. It sits on the edge of a large freshwater lake and has great views. Many sites appear to be Big Rig Friendly. There are various sections of park to choose from. Easy access to park and paved roads inside park. Includes bathhouses, office area, beach and nice boat ramp with dock space. Not sure of a charge for ramp or docks. The East side of the park is wide open and very easy to access with today’s mega rigs and 5th wheels. A large dog park is walking distance and right along the lakeshore.