Paul B. Johnson State Park Campground

We have heard great things about Paul B. Johnson for years, even before we began our own camping adventures. It was definitely a campground we were excited to check out, so we booked a long weekend getaway with the promise of beautiful spring weather. Unfortunately, our trip here was cut short due to a family emergency, but we were able to scope things out for future adventures. 

It was a bit of a trek from our home on a work night, so we arrived after dark at site 67. This campground does not lock up at night, so this was not a major issue. We entered the campground through what we later learned was a back entrance off of Geiger Lake Road, so we didn’t check in until the next morning at the visitor center. The sites were not well marked with numbers, so we had to drive around a time or two to locate our site (with me occasionally getting out of the truck to read the site numbers painted in yellow on the road). The main entrance to the park has a much “fancier” building than the back entrance and leads you to drive over a spillway (which is TOTALLY safe, so no worries). The roads in the campground are narrow, two-lane roads but are not conducive to two RVs passing one another. We had to get off of the road for others to pass. 

Our site was lakeside on a hill leading down to a pier that jutted into the lake. It also had a grill and wooden picnic table that was movable. Having full hook up was nice! However, the connections were quite spread out with the water pretty far back from the other connections at this site (we needed two water hoses). There was no dedicated fire ring but there was evidence of camp fires, so we just cleared a space and set up our chairs. However, some sites had a metal fire ring and concrete picnic tables. Lower numbered sites are older with newer sites being those in the 100s. The newer sites are more level and have concrete pads instead of asphalt pavement. However, the views aren’t nearly as nice. Site 16 is next to a pier that leads to an island (super cool but everyone can access that, so you’d lose privacy). Many sites have decks, but that really sacrifices “yard space” if that’s an important factor for you. Some sites we were interested in for our next visit included 71 and 84, but we really loved site 67 and would give it another go for a future visit. 

Camp Shelby is nearby, so you’ll hear various noises from that (not overly distracting but I wish I would have known before arriving). There is a splash pad, lake swimming, and several picnic areas near the visitor center that would be awesome for kids and families when the weather is warmer. There are so many species of birds if you enjoy bird watching like we do. We enjoyed watching geese and ducks on Geiger Lake in the morning. There’s also a nature trail that we didn’t get to check out. The views from our camper were beautiful at Paul B, and we would love to visit this campground again soon! 

Beauty to Behold at Paul B

We camped in the Primitive area and enjoyed it very much.  With areas fairly secluded but close enough to the rv'ers you have best of both seclusion and community. 

Paul B.

Easy to reserve a primitive spot. You can be up close and personal with your neighbors or tucked back into the woods by yourself. Showers, toilets, and washing facilities are available near by. Boating, swimming and fishing. All in all a good park for families or singles..

PBJ is a fun place for all

We stayed here for a couple of nights and wished we could have stayed longer because there is so much to do.  The park is set amongst tall trees giving it that nice outdoorsy feel.  The weekend we were there in November was jammed packed but it seems to clear out during the week when kids go back to school.  There were lots of people aimlessly driving around in golf carts, kids running through our site, and plenty of loud music.  A weekday stay would be more out thing as some of the weekend campers were pretty obnoxious.

  

We were camping with some friends and we both have 45' RVs so we picked two side by side pull-thrus.  However, all those pull-thru sites were super close together and right on top of the people on each side of us.  We decided to go find other back-in sites and were glad we did because it gave us more room between sites and we had a great lake view.  Our site was level but not all in the park are.  All the utilities worked well and we were able to get tv over our antenna and our Verizon phone and internet worked great. 

  

We did a small amount of hiking on a very nice, easy trail.  We were only sorry we didn't have time to paddle in the lake and explore more of the park.

Great lake view, lots of recreational opportunities

We had the good fortune of finding this gem as an overnight waypoint on a recent trip to Florida. We found an asphalt pad with full hookups overlooking Lake Geiger for our Sprinter Camper van. Friendly staff. Good value. Primitive sites were still closed. The park features the Lake set in a tall pine forest and was near capacity but did not feel crowded or loud. We were only sorry that we did not budget enough time to enjoy all this place has to offer. We will not make that mistake next time!

Pleasantly surprised 

We’ve camped here often and have always been happy. It gets crowded on popular weekends so book early. There is something for everyone. Park staff are second to none and quick to respond if a problem arises.

One of favorites

Went the weekend they opened in 2020 after a brief COVID shutdown. Full of families having a great time getting away. Really nice campground. We will return.

Family 

Please understand. This is my personal opinion.   Pads were mostly small with biggish drop off from steps to camper usable site. Not my favorite. Every COE site we have been to beats this.  

Personally , I will  not be stopping here again

We do Paul B. every spring &amp; fall for the weekend. Beautiful view of the lake from some campsites. Have a campfire every night. Bathrooms with hot shower available. Lake has some boat traffic, but not too bad. Great place to bring the kayaks. Overall A+ in my book!

Very nice campground

You can tell this was a good park in its hey day. Those days are gone. Staff are all very unorganized. People on golf carts speeding around sites are packed together (depending which area you're in). Doesn't look like the park had had proper maintenance in 15-20 years. 