Best Dog-Friendly Camping near McCool, MS

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.

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 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!

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!

Nice cozy campground on the lake. The campsites are almost all right next to the water, but there isn’t too much tree cover despite very large campsites. This may help a little with increasing breeze since we didn’t have as many bugs as we expected. Yay: Nice little beach for swimming, boating and fishing. All quite clean, water and power at each campsite, great showers. Simple but all you could want.

**Nay: Nice hiking trails around the lake, and other great trails nearby.  **

Surprise:  Saw eagles and some cute little red birds we couldn’t identify :) There is a disc golf course nearby (but we don’t play).

Well maintained campground. The lake was very pretty and had a wonderful trail around it.

Paved pull through sites are first come first serve. They seem to over lap and lots of folk share the sites. So you may need to back up to get out, even if it is pull through.
Flush toilets. Picnic area. Nice nature walk to a view, 1 mile each way.

Clean, we were here Thanksgiving weekend. Loved every minute. Flushing toilets. Free water. NO DUMP SITE.

Beautiful and quiet

Easy trails thru pretty words passing a natural spring. Nice picnic pavilion on top of trail. RV parking allowed but no hookups.

Following Google Maps to this location will take you to a dead end on private property with little room to turn around.

This was a great spot to stop and relax we stayed 3 nights and was very peaceful. The bath house was close because of covid but the rest was good would definetely come back and recommend if traveling the Natchez Trace parkway. We were in a 41’ motorhome and had plenty of room.

This is a very nice clean in every way dispersed campground. Offers bathrooms that are clean with running water and flush toilets. Picnic tables, lantern hooks, fire rings, grills trash pick up and paved pads to park your rig on paved roads into and through the park. This is a 14 day stay and very quiet and private campsites.

This Natchez Trace Parkway free campground offers oddly placed paved parking areas, grills, tall fire rings, and picnic tables (most appeared in disrepair). Bathrooms were clean however older and not heated...and no hot water or soap. The parking is pull through but not clearly defined. Grills and tables were randomly placed. The park is rolling hills and drop offs at the curb side of some sites. No electric or water hook ups but there is a single outside faucet at the bathroom for potable water. Large shade trees made for minimal solar power. Honestly I had an eery unsure feeling during my 2 night stay. It appeared like mostly men were staying there and was just an odd placement of sites in general. I suppose it was the undefined site borders. I stayed in a pull through that was the nearest to the restroom. Had I not watched a YouTube video by 2tiredteachers when researching my trip, I would have been very confused on where the site were to even park at. But the highlight was Little Mountain!!

Went here with my two sons and was surprised with the view. Great hike for beginners and those with kids. We had a blast!

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.

Another free camping site conveniently located on the Natchez Trace near the Historic French Village.

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!