Best Tent Camping near Houston, MS

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.

This is the first campground we have stopped at this week that had more than one other camper. I’d guess they were 70% full.

Most of the folks we met were local, here for a weekend away and outdoors. Lots of families with kids. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming.

The camp host came by just to say hi and see if we had questions.

We had decent phone service, but slow at times.

Some spots had good shade, some didn’t. Many backed up to the water and none were a far walk from water access either bank or dock.

Only 4 miles from the Natchez Trace. Not sure what amenities are available in nearby Houston, but Pontotoc had plenty of provisions. Not super close, but doable.

The lake itself - muddy brown water and not too much to look at it. But in fairness, it still is winter.

Looked like primarily a fishing lake, but I don’t hold a MS fishing license, so I didn’t try any.

What a gorgeous farm, and what a marvelous experience! When we first arrived, we thought we would have to hike down to camp. Nope! Brian met us at the gate, and led us down a perfectly manicured field so that we could park right next to our tent spot! 

He showered us with provisions grown on his farm, including oodles of chanterelles and a couple bulbs of Creole Ajo Rojo from his passion project. We enjoyed a couple hours kayaking on the big pond/little lake with some ducks. We ended up getting caught in a surprise rain storm while floating, but no worries! We were able to make it back and throw up a tarp in no time. There are lots of primo spots to set up your tent, but ours fit perfectly between the two trees our tarp was strung between. 

Brian really thought of everything when it comes to this camp! He provided us with covered firewood- including heat pine, which burned like a match and made building a fire after the rainstorm a breeze. We loved having enough chairs to set up both in front of the water and in front of the fire, so we didn't have to drag them back and forth. 

Oh, what luxury it is to have a running toilet and a hot shower while camping! Both structures are incredibly solid and private, and made us feel human again after a couple weeks camping primitively. 

As for phone service, mine was in and out. This is rural Mississippi, after all. But when I did have service, Brian was incredibly attentive when I needed to reach him!

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

I had a horrible experience at this campsite. Rolled up to find one (miserable) couple there. They were blasting music out of their car which is whatever and I waved hello and they just stared. Multiple cars came thru the campsite at night, shining their headlights every which way. Even though it says don’t enter past a certain point unless you are camping, this is clearly a spot for locals to do what they cannot do at home. At 2am I hear barking and one of my dogs busts through my tent. I go out there and there is a pack of wild dogs scouring the campsite. They weren’t terrifying or coming at us, but it was still scary. No more than 10 mins later two cars surround my tent with headlights, which is really scary for anyone, but I am a young woman traveling alone. Apparently the couple called the cops saying my dogs had been barking all night. There was brief barking and it was the wild dogs who were actually eating the trash the evil couple left out. Even if my dogs were barking, why is surrounding my tent with only headlights at 2am appropriate? I couldn’t see anything. Never saw a ranger, immediately left in the morning. Sorry for the essay, just hope to spare someone a similar experience. It is beautiful tho.

We've camped here twice in the last several months.  Both times we camped in tents and had a great time.  The grounds are well kept, and the park ranger is especially helpful.  There are hiking trails and plenty of places to fish off the bank.  The lake is beautiful.  We used the restrooms and showers and had no problems.  They were clean and well stocked with toilet tissue and paper towels.  The park is close to Tupelo and easy to get to.

This campground does not appear to be maintained. Many sites are in an area that is subject to flooding. There are a handful of sites along the spillway channel that are decent, but I wouldn’t stay here unless I was able to get one of those sites. Unfortunately, this is another disappointing Mississippi State Park.

This is as simple and as it gets, but it does have restrooms. This is primitive camping so there are no hookups and nothing extras, just a nice place to pitch a tent or park. You can not reserve this site but it’s free. There are a few other similar primitive campsites in the park nearby. Nice and wooded.

Yay: simple camping! Very pretty wooded area. Lots of hiking trails nearby.

Nay: no map or info of any sort once you’re there.

Surprise: exceptional in fall!

This place was absolutely gorgeous. I was alone in the campground both nights i was there with a couple of people coming in during the day to have lunch at one of the picnic tables.

I might have worked on my tanlines 🤫

I fit pretty good in my 24' motorhome but woupd be leery of something too much bigger. 

Do not try to come at night. It is pitch black and steep drop offs. 

Really nice set up for tents if thwt is your thing.

The NPS should absolutely charge a fee for the level amenities. This campground is optimized for RVs. There are pull thru spurs with multiple campsites sites but the tables have been moved and monopolized by RVers…including ones with tent pads. Generators running at 3:00 am. On the plus side, heated bathrooms were absolutely clean. Water fountains are distributed through the campground but one spigot to fill a jug. Good access to Little Mountain Trail. There were six empty sites made unusable by RVs parking in between them. Maybe when a camp host is onsite they will clean this up.

This campground was just ok in my opinion. I went through it while traveling the Natchez Trace. It is one of only three campgrounds that can be found on the Trace. I did not end up staying here, but wanted to check it out to see if it was worth staying in the future. The bathrooms were very old and could have used an upgrade. There is a very nice nature trail here for walking and it is the highest point in Mississippi with wonderful views!

Camped for two weeks in mid fall, October 2020. Full hookups, clean bath house. Family friendly. It is dated though. Play area available, small and quant. Roads are drivable of course but need to be funded, come on Mississippi and step up.. 15-20 minutes from a supercenter on West Main Street in Tupelo. Tupelo is lovely and where we actually live. This is the nearest campground my children 13, 10, and 4 stay at. The 4yo loves is, hiking and bike riding is what the older kids do. Nice lake for fishing, no swimming or wake.

Site we stayed at was level, and fully shaded.

The campground is located in a beautiful spot on a peninsula with great views of Grenada lake at both sunrise and sunset. The tent pads are nice and each camp has a grill and a nice marble picnic table. Several camps have fire pits, trash cans, and water faucets. There is a nice public restroom just a short walk from any camp. The sounds of the water crashing on the shores around you and the birds singing at sunrise are utterly calming. The only problem is the occasional truck that passes through to sit listening to music or use the campground road as a turn around. This could be fixed if the gate at the entrance were kept closed and only opened for actual campers.

Tombigbee SP

Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and Tombigbee SP is a good spot to base your exploration out of.

I overnighted here enroute to Alabama. It wasn’t the best maintained or newest park , however it was small and quiet. Something that had me confused my first time around the loop was the orange cones blocking the sites. Then I guessed that meant the site was reserved. The shower house had washers and dryers in the middle area. The building was clean and maintained. It was centrally located. Across the street was a nice big field, playground and baseball diamond. The trails and disc golf was in the same area. There’s also a small lake with a dock. Otherwise Tombigbee SP really wasn’t that memorable.