Best Dog-Friendly Camping near De Soto National Forest

We were arriving a day early and stuck in bad storms. Thank goodness they had space! The sites were very roomy and level. Utilities were near each other for easy set up. The park had a good sized dog park and lots of green space to play frisbee golf or walk.

This is an RV Park and Living community. No tent camping. A sign out front says its under new management and ownership. I found the folks to be helpful and friendly. We have two issues which may not bother everyone but it did us. Dog poop everywhere! So watch where you walk. As well, a couple of folks that live there let their pets out without a leash. We were greeted by a pit bull without a leash while walking our little dogs.

We reserved 4 months ago, only to get there and find out there may be an issue with our dogs (2 max and we have 3...well behaved dachshunds. When we reserved, they "penciled us in". No deposit and no information, other than our name and dates. Got there for our reservation and told that we cant have three dogs there and either have to board one or leave. When i said we had nowhere to go, they were willing to let us stay one night so we could find other accomodations for the next few days, but after that warm welcome, even one night was not an option. Never were we told pets would be an issue, we never got a confirmation email that mentioned pets, and then to arrive and find out we had to find somewhere else to stay was disappointing to say the least. We were able to stay the night at Shield, so we went over there to work on our plans for the next few days. So glad we did, as the sites were much larger, much more private and the office staff was very accomadating with our last minute reservation. Apparently Keesler is adding sites, so it may be better next year, but currently the sites are close together with a fire pit in the center. For the hour we did sit in our site, we had to keep the windows closed because of the smoke. Another issue...the drive in was sketchy for a high profile 5th wheel, with low hanging trees and narrow streets. Lastly, for those lookong for the security and conveniences of staying at a famcamp, this fam camp is off base.

We planned on hanging out here for around a week but ended up leaving after a couple of hours. There were a bunch of signs posted saying no pets and some other campers told us that they are pretty strict about it. That was enough for us to find somewhere else cause we can’t relax looking over our shoulder worrying about having our dog out. I don’t want to talk down on this place because we didn’t stay there but I will say I wasn’t a huge fan of the vibe in general either. It didn’t feel like a place I could relax but I will say I could have seen myself staying a night or two if I had to.

I like to stay at this park because it’s close to family and the beach. I’ve stayed 3 time in the past year.  They have a pool and putt putt golf available as well as fishing on the property.  Large sites friendly and helpful staff, recently added WiFi.  It’s a private resort and is available for Coast to Coast members. Pet friendly too!

Seriously one of the more relaxing parks we've been to in a while. Plenty of space between sites, lots of trees and water views! We were in site 4, which was quite level and easy to back in to. Also had full hookups!!! No loud golf carts this week either! Our site was around 35 dollars a night with taxes. Family and pet friendly.

Drove in a night so wasn't able to appreciate the beauty until the next morning. Decent sized lake with hiking trails and fishing.. picnic tables which makes for easy cooking when your used to nation Forrest with no amenities. Pet friendly and quiet. The 2nd night we were there met an awesome group of hikers that where on a multi day hike can't remember the name of the trail. Would recommend staying here.

This is the best campground we have ever been in (camping for over 15 years). Customer service is hands down the best we have ever experienced. It started when we made our reservation where the lady was very friendly and helpful. By the end of the call, we felt we had made a new friend. This customer service continues throughout your stay. This is the only campground we have been in that the staff greet you as you pull in and take you right to your site. They direct you into your site which you are greeted with a welcome sign with all family members' names (even the four legged family members). Once you are set up, you then go register. A welcoming way to start your stay. Throughout our stay the staff did everything to make sure we had a wonderful three weeks. They care about the campers and the experience you have. During a severe storm, the owner talked to us to ensure we were aware of which building to use for safety along with written instructions. Clean, safe, convenient, friendly, fun place, cool pool, great gathering areas, great patios and great dog park. The sites are level and hook-ups are convenient. Nice landscaping exists between each site. The park is very quiet, peaceful and relaxing. Trash pick-up is at your site every morning. Bathhouse has 4 guest bathrooms like you would find in a house. Each has a sink, vanity, toilet and very large shower. By far the nicest I have ever seen at any campground. The park is immaculately maintained and is a most "relaxing" place to stay for a few days, a week or more. But the thing that makes this park a clear "ten" is the attention paid to the guests by the owners. They are both the most helpful and accommodating RV park owners we have ever had the pleasure to know. We are definitely going to return for a long stay at this park. We camped at All About Relaxing RV Park in a Motorhome.

Best campground!

This is the best campground we have ever been in (camping for over 15 years). Customer service is hands down the best we have ever experienced. It started when we made our reservation. Angela was very friendly and helpful. By the end of the call, we felt we had made a new friend. This customer service continues throughout your stay. This is the only campground we have been in that the staff greet you as you pull in and take you right to your site. They direct you into your site which you are greeted with a welcome sign with all family members’ names (even the four legged family members). Once you are set up, you then go register. A welcoming way to start your stay. Throughout our staff, Jimmy, Angela and their staff did everything to make sure we had a wonderful three weeks. They care about the campers and the experience you have. During a severe storm, the owner talked to us to insure we were aware of which building to use for safety along with written instructions.

Clean, safe, convenient, friendly, fun place, cool pool, great gathering areas, great patios and great dog park. The sites are level and hook-ups are convenient. Nice landscaping exists between each site. The park is very quiet, peaceful and relaxing. Trash pick-up is at your site every morning. Bathhouse has 4 guest bathrooms like you would find in a house. Each has a sink, vanity, toilet and very large shower. By far the nicest I have ever seen at any campground.

The park is immaculately maintained and is a most "relaxing" place to stay for a few days, a week or more. But the thing that makes this park a clear "ten" is the attention paid to the guests by the owners. They are both the most helpful and accommodating RV park owners we have ever had the pleasure to know. We are definitely going to return for a long stay at this park.

I've spent much of my life here. There's plenty of walking trails, and you can check out the gator alley area where you'll typically see at least one gator. There are plenty of pavilions around that you can rent for larger events, but it's generally pretty quiet here. It's far enough in the woods to where you don't hear much of the city traffic, but close enough to where emergency vehicles could reach you very quickly in case something happened. Safe area for kids, adults, and pets. You're guaranteed to see some pretty cool wildlife and sunsets!

This is a review for BUCCANEER STATE PARK Waveland Mississippi where we stay during  January 2023

Be sure to travel US 90 to Lake Shore Drive to avoid RR track bottom out. 

Lake Shore Drive deadheads into South Beach Drive.

PROS 

Site 109 level 

Site 109 shady 

Treasure Cove toilet/shower facility was heated and clean with ample TP 

Site pedestal grill 

Park roadways easily navigable 

Trash dumpster at campground loop entrance, which was walkable 

T-MOBILE 2-3 bars 

CONS 

Never saw park ranger drive thru campground in 3 days 

Never found a camp host nor were there any marked in campground map

LOTS of noise! Railroad Avenue runs right behind Treasure Cove campground which is heavily traveled Railroad track behind park has 2-3 trains passing by each night 

No privacy from neighboring campsites 

Non moveable concrete & wooden picnic table on concrete slab 

Leash rules ignored by pet owners 

No overnight security gate closure 

Park laundromat had machines out of service 

No park WiFi

With less than 50 spaces, this beautiful little park, just 4 miles from beautiful white sand beaches, is tucked away from the roads and surrounded by a wonderful mixed forest of hardwood and pines. Walking trails are meticulously maintained and provide a wide variety of walking choices throughout this park. There is a pond surrounded by the trails filled with lily pads that was starting to bloom as we left a week ago. There is even a“contemplation bench” on the edge of the pond perfect for sitting and just taking in the beauty of the surroundings. 

The RV spaces are of different sizes to accommodate different sized rigs but all are well spaced, extremely level, and very well maintained. Each space has their own fire ring and picnic table. All of the full hookup utilities are in an excellent state of repair and maintenance. Roads are well maintained and ruts or pot holes are quickly filled with gravel and graded when they appear. 

Aesthetics are important to this park. From the moment you drive in, you are greeted by the very attractive office facility which has a small store of RV essentials and a good selection of shirts and hats sporting the parks’ logo. 

Amenities: Where to start- as I said with regards to the facilities, all of the amenities are meticulously maintained. The park has well priced onsite propane refills. You simply drop off your tank and it is returned to you at your site filled promptly. The laundry and bath facilities are spotless and a pleasure to use. The clubhouse with both indoor and outdoor facilities is amazing! The covered outdoor seating area has a great welcoming fireplace and wonderful ambiance that just feels like home to all who enter. The pool is very nice with wonderful deck seating, lots of shade umbrellas and very nicely landscaped. The enclosed dog park is a great place to give your pups their off-leash time as well. It’s well grassed and maintained and provides a safe and secure place to spend time with your dog(s) any time of day. The WiFi is adequate and is constantly being evaluated for improvements. Just this last year, fiber optic internet was brought into the park and the owners plan to upgrade the service even more this next year. I forgot to mention, you can have your mail forwarded here and they deliver it to your site daily! We just can’t say enough about our experience here. 

Experience: Bay Hide Away has the look and feel of a boutique B&B only for RVs. Randy and Lea, the park owners and seasoned RVrs, go above and beyond to make a stay there a true experience. A wide range of activities for nearly all interests are provided from game nights, periodic“steak dinners”, pot lucks, craft sessions, weekly Happy Hours, holiday parties and dinners, and frequent tours of the local area for nearly every taste and interest. 

Signature experiences such as“We meet to eat” at select local restaurants, weekly men’s breakfasts and women’s lunches provide a great way to get to know your neighbors. It’s a rare night that you don’t see several folks gathered around fire pits enjoying this place and sharing with others. Randy and Lea go above and beyond to help guests with any maintenance activities that may be required as well. Randy and Lea are seen daily in their golf cart in the late afternoon and evenings making the rounds to nearly every site sharing news and laughter with the guests that they all know by name. It just doesn’t get any more personal than this. Randy and Lea have made our stay here the standard to which our stay at other RV parks will be held. 

Afterthought: COVID-19 was a sobering experience to all of us. Randy and Lea acted quickly and responsibly to shut down activities, manage access to the shower/laundry facilities and to set a standard for social distancing within the park. All the while still checking up on their guests on a daily basis. They quickly managed reservation changes to accommodate“sheltering in place” for those that needed that support. Thank you again Randy and Lea for this most wonderful experience.

We stayed here after picking up our new 5th wheel from Dad's Camper outlet. Not even a mile away. I hope this is allowed, Cat Trent and Ricky were great with getting our new 5th wheel ready for us. Check them out for any RV needs. The staff was very nice. The campground was very nice. It is only 4 months old. All the amenities you need and expect from a KOA. The only difference is that it's new and not run down. Pull through sites are level and concrete. As you can see from my pics, it was raining quite hard.

I’m not sure where they got the name from, but if El Colon was still living, he would really dig how this RV parking lot is using the name of his beloved Santa Maria! Located due south of Farragut Lake, right off Rt. 10 and just west of the Pascagoula River, you’ll come across Santa Maria RV Resort Marina. 

This spot offers up just about everything you would expect – full RV hook ups including water, sewer and electricity (30 / 50 amp), level gravel beds where you can just connect, level up and be done with it in under 5 minutes. Unlike most RV parking lots, this place has a ton of space and there’s somewhat good distance between your spot and those on either side of you. And if you’re hauling or driving anything bigger than the standard RV or camper, no worries, this place is spacious enough to accommodate just about any size (and even large group sizes). The campground was both kid and pet friendly. Also, I found the on-site campground management team to be incredibly over-friendly (nice Southern hospitality!) and accommodating. 

From an amenities standpoint, this place is completely full-service (in fact, they’ll escort you right to your campsite!). They’ve got a small, but clean swimming pool, laundr-O-mat, spartan restroom facilities and a propane pump on-site. WiFi is available for free and cable is offered for a small price if you need that. Overall, I found the place to be very well-organized, incredibly clean and exceptionally safe with round-the-clock security. 

With nature in mind, this place is in close proximity to quite a bit – from Gautier, MS who’s moniker is ‘Nature’s Playground,’ there’s tons of wildlife to see, decent outdoor recreation and hiking to be found and bayous all over the place to drop your kayak or canoe into. 

Insider’s tip? Some of the best kayaking was had in and around Mississippi - Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. Closer to the campground though, you’ll find a splendid little Southern town in the City of Gautier, which has some quiet boutique-type shops, Southern restauarnts (I strongly recommend Belle’s on the Bayou or Country Gentleman), farmers market on the weekends, nice municipal parks and even some art exhibits from time to time. All in all, I strongly recommend Santa Maria RV Resort Marina if you’re looking for a decent stop along your travels. 

Happy Camping!

Apríl 2, 2021 Van Camper Clean facility. Well maintained grounds. Huge picnic park
Friendly staff. My site #35 is on the outside of the loop and on two levels. I can see the bayou through dense brush and trees. Little to no privacy anywhere in campground. Lots of car traffic, bicycles, dog walkers constantly passing by. Sites literally on top of each other. Walked with dogs to Nature Trail but found it to be closed due to hurricane damage. Lots of activity at the Boat Launch.