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Best Tent Camping near Belden, MS

228 Reviews

Holly Springs National Forest surrounding Belden, Mississippi offers several primitive tent camping options within a short drive. Tent-only sites can be found at Puskus Lake, a secluded campground located in the heart of the national forest, and at specialized bicycle-only tent camping areas along the Natchez Trace Parkway, including Tupelo Bicycle Only Camp near Saltillo and Witch Dance Bicycle Only Camp near Houston. Graham Lake provides additional walk-in tent sites approximately 30 miles northwest of Belden, while Cox Lake offers primitive tent camping options within the forest boundaries.

Most tent campsites in the region feature basic amenities with varying levels of maintenance. Puskus Lake provides metal fire rings, lantern poles, and picnic tables at most sites, with campsites positioned 50-100 feet from the water. Bathroom facilities are limited, with visitors reporting only one of three outhouses typically operational. Self-check-in is handled at permit boxes, with fees around $7 for camping ($3.50 with an interagency pass). Graham Lake offers approximately five tent sites with vault toilets but no other amenities. Campers should bring toilet paper, drinking water, and be prepared for minimal facilities. Sites at Cox Lake are particularly primitive with no toilets or trash service.

Tent campers frequently choose these areas for their seclusion and natural setting. According to reviews, Puskus Lake campground offers spacious sites where "camping spaces have a good amount of room so you do not feel like you are on top of each other." Weekday visitors often find themselves alone or with very few neighbors, though one camper noted that "by nightfall every site was full" on a Saturday in May. The area features two hiking trails totaling about 5 miles, though they may be poorly maintained in sections. Cox Lake is described as "a good pick if you're looking for a place to pitch your tent for a night," though some visitors report litter issues. Forest Service patrols monitor the areas, and campers should be mindful of local wildlife including snakes.

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Best Tent Sites Near Belden, Mississippi (6)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Belden, MS

3 Photos of 6 Belden Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Belden, MS

228 Reviews of 6 Belden Campgrounds

  • Daniel K.
    Oct. 29, 2021

    Tishomingo State Park Campground

    Quaint and quiet

    This is our first visit here. First impressions are that it is a small, quiet park. It turned out to be less than we expected but not total a let down. The drive in and area in and around the park are beautiful scenic areas. We have encountered several trails, a lake, basketball area, pool, and other typical campground facilities. The sites themselves are mostly spacious with rather small camper pads. The green areas around the pads are spacious but mostly in even. We had a hard time finding an area flat enough to put up out tent on level ground. There is a grill, fire ring, and picnic table on each site.

  • Napunani
    Dec. 13, 2022

    Trace State Park Campground

    Great Lake Views in Deer Run Campground

    PROS 

    No transaction fee assessed for making my own online reservation 

    Site 8 excellent view of lake 

    Asphalt parking pad 

    Pedestal BBQ, moveable wooden picnic table and rock campfire pit. 

    Eagle Ridge campground has 3 washers and 3 dryers $1.50 

    Heated toilet/shower blding. No AC tho - just a box fan.


    1 bar T-MOBILE but we’re able to live stream TV via T-MOBILE hot spot

    CONS 

    No senior discount 

    Site number is painted in the roadway and due to leaves on road difficult to find Numerous large road potholes from entrance gate to campground.  Guess this eliminates any need for speed bumps!

    Not dark sky friendly due to 2 street lights, at site 2 and 13, that light up most of the small campground loop 

    Deer Run campsites very close to each other 

    Site 8 unlevel side-to-side 

    Dirt and sand surrounded asphalt parking pad so during rains (for 2 days) it was a big mess 

    No privacy from any other campsite 

    Due to campsite water spigot being low to ground, insufficient space to add water filter 

    Deer Run campground toilet/shower building is not handicap accessible 

    Trash roll offs outside of camping loop. 15 minute walk one way. 

    No park WIFI

  • MickandKarla W.The Dyrt PRO User
    Nov. 13, 2024

    Whitten Park Campground

    One of Our Favs

    Our RV GPS and Waze brought us south from Tishomingo via MS-25 to MS-4 to John Rankin Hwy. It’s a more scenic and narrower road than just taking MS-25 south, but there were no issues. We had made online reservations earlier that day for this Army Corps of Engineers Campground (CG) where we get a 50% discount per night using the National Parks Access Pass. We arrived earlier than 2:00 PM when the check-in gate opens, but there was a sign to go ahead and set up and come back at 2:00 to check-in. As we had our site number, we headed directly to pull through site 9 with water and electric(50/30/20 AMP). This was our third time camping at Whitten and we were delighted to find that they had combined site 8 and 9 into one long site. This site still had the old site amenities, which meant that we had double electric pedestals, water spigots, patio areas with picnic table, standup bbq, and fire pit. We were able to adjust our 5th wheel to avoid the several unlevel areas in this very long pull through. As with most COEs, water pressure was good and the electric worked fine. Whitten CG has a lot of mature trees, so satellite is iffy. We had no north shot for our Starlink. However, we got 2 to 3 bars on Verizon and the Mifi worked well for our needs to include streaming. There’s no WiFi in the CG. Site 9 has water view and does not bump up to other sites, which we found highly desireable. During our first stay in 2019, each loop had a shower house with a washer and dryer that we had used. Our last stay was an overnighter and we didn’t need to do laundry, so we hadn't checked those facilities out. This time we were here for three nights and had planned on doing laundry only to find the doors locked. We asked the camp host about the washers and dryers. He stated that the washers and dryers had been closed during COVID and now they were no long functional and weren't going to be replaced. We again enjoyed the trail system through out the CG and recreation area to walk our dogs. The James L. Whitten Historical Center is interesting to go through. There are several fishing piers as well. We came on a Wednesday and were pretty much by ourselves. Both Thursday and Friday campers started coming in around 11:30 AM filling up the CG. The camp hosts didn’t seem to mind the early arrivals and even opened up the office around noon for a few minutes to accommodate check-ins.

  • Ryan S.
    May. 18, 2020

    Tombigbee State Park Campground

    Pleasantly surprised!!

    We have camped at several MS state parks near Memphis (Tishomingo, Wall Doxey) and have left feeling like MS didn’t have a lot to offer, but Tombigbee State Park is great. There is a video included in the post which includes the entire campground area. I hope you find it helpful. Additionally, here is a basic overview of pros and cons:

    Pros:

    1. All sites close to the bathhouse
    2. Most sites with full hook up including sewer and 30/50 amp plugs. (see pics)
    3. Multiple updated playgrounds
    4. Very affordable. $24 a night for a full hook up site.
    5. Very walkable. Small campground with access to amenities by foot.
    6. Disc golf course is very fun. It is has an interesting layout in the woods so it is much like a hike.
    7. The park is near Tupelo, MS and there is a Dollar General right at the entrance to the park.
    8. If you are primitive camping, the tent camping area is outstanding. (see pic) There are picnic tables, elevated tent platforms, places for hammocks, a porch swing and bench around a raised fire pit. If you are primitive camping, it is a great place.
    9. There are several docks for fishing and there were signs for the option of boating with a trolling motor, but no one was boating while we were there.
    10. The park office was not open while we were here, but it did look updated
    11. Great for young kids because the campground is small with a flat loop that is easy for bike riding, skating, or scooters. It is easy to see the kids from your campsite and not worry about them getting lost
    12. frequent monitoring by the park rangers. Appears that this park is very well taken care of.

    Cons:

    1. Absolutely no shade on the playground.
    2. Inside loop spots are mostly close together. very little privacy.
    3. We were not able to view the inside of the bathhouse.
    4. only 20 sites and only 4 tent camping areas and were without water or electric.
    5. No SP swag so no stickers, patches, shirts, etc.

    This is an A+ for the price, amenities and location to our home base of Memphis. We will definitely be back.

  • J
    May. 29, 2021

    Tombigbee State Park Campground

    Great for families! Trash location is an issue though

    The campsites were nice. They clouded full hookups, a picnic table and fire ring. The area was clean and surroundings wooded. Neighboring camping spots were adequately spaced. There were lots of areas for kids to play, including a large playground, a baseball/kickball field and hiking/biking trails.

    One big problem, however, was the location of trash dumpsters and cans. There were NO TRASH CANS in the camping area, and the few that were somewhat nearby had signs saying to take your trash to the end of the park road, which was a mile away. This was a problem because we had already hooked up our RV and couldn’t jump in and run the trash that far. Needless to say, whoever maintains the park is being a little lazy and doesn’t want to bother handling trash. Other than that, it was a fairly well maintained park.

  • Dexter I.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 21, 2021

    Puskus Lake

    Nice campground, but might soon be gone

    Puskus Lake campground is a nice campground and could be better but parts are starting to hurt from low use.  The forest service is looking at removing the campground due to low use.  On my visit I was the only one their with the exception of two others fishing out on the lake.  Only one of the three outhouses where open and that was the one by the boat launch.  All the campsites have picnic tables, metal fire rings and metal poles for hanging your lantern.  The campground sit in a nicely forested area just above the lake.  While this might be considered somewhat isolated in the area, if this campground was in Montana it would be packed.  This is a very nice campground in need of a little TLC and more visitors.  Get away from the crowds at those corp of engineer sites and come here for some solitude while you can.

  • Alex B.
    Jun. 1, 2022

    Puskus Lake

    Secluded beauty close to town

    Some sites are over grown and not maintained. One bathroom away from the sites in the "day use" area. Mostly fisherman. The lake has motor oil/ fuel running on the surface. The docks nice, wide with bench seating. Time has been alright to the paths and roads. Lantern poles are available at all the sites. Possibly ring worms in the water, not sure about all that, however there is a drainage site that turns into a stream with a nice little "hole" to swim or fish in. One site has a short cylinder fire ring with a height adjustable griddle. One site has a dock right in front of it, could park kayaks and or a boat, not sure how deep the water is in terms of what boats. Wonderful sunset, most sites are around 100-50 feet from the water.

    NF camp, so $7 for regular people, and $3.50 for those awesome folks with an interagency pass. Concrete boat launch.

    Enjoy, busy on the weekend/end of week...

  • Allie T.
    Apr. 26, 2021

    Blue Bluff Campground (aberdeen Ms)

    Beautiful place

    We stayed one night (4/25/21) at site 78. Our site was on the water and we were able to catch quite a few bream directly in front of us. It seems like the sites which aren’t waterfront are a little more tent friendly, but our tent fit just fine in the gravel area by the picnic table. We used the grill on site and it was well maintained. Bath houses are very clean and in close proximity to most of the sites. There’s also a nice playground. We have Verizon and had at least 3 bars the entire time

  • Shelly S.The Dyrt PRO User
    Oct. 22, 2018

    Trace State Park Campground

    Where’s the lake ?

    Ranger review: RoM Outdoors RoM Pack at Trace State Park, Tupelo, Mississippi 

    Campground Review: I took the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway from Tennessee down into Mississippi and exited near Tupelo to continue into Trace State Park for a camping event I was attending over the weekend. Once you get into Tupelo the signage directing you to the park is easy to find and follow. 

    The park itself needs some work. Recent cuts from the state have left the park in need of road work and the levy repair is taking a while to complete according to locals. Where we camped the lake was dry and full of weeds. You could tell by the shoreline that it would be possible to anchor your water craft very near your campsite in several locations once it is refilled with water. 

    That being said the staff at the park were very helpful and the facilities, which included a showerhouse/multipurpose room and screened porch were very well taken care of. I definitely liked the large shower stalls!

    The sites are spacious, including a fire area, picnic table, electric hookup, water and sewer hook up. The spacing between sites is good too, you have some privacy and depending on your site sparse to full shade.

    Disc golf, multi-use trails, fishing, currently limited water sports.

    After set up our group met in the multipurpose room and then congregated to a nearby site that had more then enough room for all of us to sit around the fire. 

    Tupelo, Mississippi is nearby and I visited Elvis’s birthplace , “Scarlet’s Donuts”(maple bacon donuts, and tamales) and an excellent BBQ place “Clays House of Pig”. So if you like to sneak to town while camping this is a nice area for it. There are thrift and antique stores close too.

    Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger I recently received a **RoM Outdoors ** RoM Pack https://romoutdoors.com/ to use , abuse and review while camping. I explored one of the three main trails in Trace SP. The trails are multi-use (ie. ATV, Horse, Dirt bike, Hikers) so pay attention to the signs and be aware of the area. We hiked 4.5 miles. The first thing you will notice about the RoM****Pack is that it has some weight to it (4.6 lbs)even empty. This is due to the outer water resistant material and the inner, soft, insulated material. There are two detachable bags, and a smaller inner pack to carry them in when you remove them to transform your pack into......a hooded poncho or ground cover , cool idea!

    So obviously this is not an overnight type backpack or something a fast packer would use. It is however a versatile option for day hikes, visits to the park or sporting events and I used it to pack my Dachshund when he was done hiking ;)

    I haven’t attempted to attach a hydration bladder and decided to just place my entire hydration pack into the main area of the RoM Pack. This works in two ways. First if I don’t need the poncho/blanket I have my hydration in easy reach. Second if I do use the poncho/blanket my hydration pack fits fine under the inner pack on my back with poncho over that. 

    Definitely practice folding and unfolding the poncho/blanket . I had my usual dysfunction , just like with the hiking maps, I got it unfolded and user ready but then had issues putting it back into its original folded configuration. I eventually got it back together. There is a video on their site to make it easier. Just remember it will get faster with muscle memory over time.

    Once again this is not a pack I would use for extended deep woods adventures. It’s great for your day hikes with the kids, concert in the park or hike into a picnic spot, would work for hunting too.

    Pro’s: All in one (ie, carry pack, two secure bags, blanket/poncho, inner pack, Molle straps to add other accessories)

    Water resistant outer shell

    Soft warm inner lining

    _Durable material _

    Well made

    Con’s: Heavy

    Limited packing space( the large middle pocket is gone when you unfold it_)_

    _Not for overnight/deep woods(_technically not a con, not the concept of the bag)

    This will be my go to bag when adventuring with my grandkids. I would/will suggest this pack to friends with specific uses in mind. There are currently three color options and several other products to explore on the ROM Outdoors site

Guide to Belden

Tent camping near Belden, Mississippi offers a chance to immerse yourself in nature while enjoying the tranquility of the outdoors. With several options available, campers can find the perfect spot to pitch their tents and unwind.

Tips for tent camping near Belden

  • The Tupelo Bicycle Only Camp - Natchez Trace Parkway is ideal for cyclists looking for a unique camping experience along the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway.
  • For a more secluded experience, consider Puskus Lake, where you can enjoy beautiful lake views and a peaceful environment, though amenities are limited.
  • If you're looking for a quick stop, Cox Lake provides a straightforward camping experience, perfect for those just passing through.

Some prices for tent camping range from $1 to $7

  • At Puskus Lake, the fee for camping is $7, making it an affordable option for those seeking a quiet retreat.
  • The Graham Lake campground is free, offering a budget-friendly choice for campers who don’t mind roughing it a bit.
  • For day use, Puskus Lake charges just $1, making it a great spot for a quick getaway.

Local attractions to explore while camping

  • The Witch Dance Bicycle Only Camp is located near the Natchez Trace Parkway, perfect for those wanting to explore the historic trail by bike.
  • Chickasawhay offers a rustic camping experience without modern amenities, allowing you to truly connect with nature.
  • Enjoy fishing and boating at Graham Lake, where you can spend your days on the water and your nights under the stars.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Belden, MS?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Belden, MS is Tupelo Bicycle Only Camp - Natchez Trace Parkway with a 0-star rating from 0 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Belden, MS?

TheDyrt.com has all 6 tent camping locations near Belden, MS, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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