Pontotoc, MS is a great camping destination for adventurers of all types. Camping, hiking, biking: however you want to spend your days near Pontotoc, you'll find great campgrounds with The Dyrt. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Pontotoc camping trip.
"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."
"We’ve frequented this small space since childhood. It’s very well remote off of HWY 30 in the Holly Springs National Forest."
"No hookups. Nothing. But, it is a free campground so what can you say. It’s rather nice there. This is a very small campground with about 5 spots."
$8 / night
"We reserved campsites 13 and 14, at the far end, behind the restrooms. You have to park in the parking lot and carry your stuff to the site."
"Cars stay in the parking lot, and you walk up to your site. Pretty basic. Running water, flushable toilets, no showers. Quiet area.
Early march, it was raining and I was the only one there"
"Nice little spot with about 8 tent sites. No hookups of any kind for campers. Bathrooms are currently closed, but we’re nice when we stayed there, but old. Drinking water is available."
LegendPROS
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
ScoutThe campground was well maintained. The bathrooms were well kept, including showers. There is a day use area with a boat ramp, pavilion, beach, and playground. The only downside is the sites are very close together! We stayed in a tent and I booked based on the map. The tent sites are not shown correctly. There are 7 walk in sites grouped together. Each site had their own electric box and shared a water faucet. Not much privacy, but my daughter loved running around with the other kids.
GuideI stayed the night in November. It appears to be an old reservoir that has been drained. The site has about 5 campsites with picnic tables and fire rings. Nothing spectacular. The locals do come through to party on the old reservoir.
The reservoir was empty at this location. It seems its part of Lake Enid and there is an old boat ramp, but there was no water in the reservoir.
LegendOur 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.
GuideThe 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.
RangerWe 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:
Cons:
This is an A+ for the price, amenities and location to our home base of Memphis. We will definitely be back.
LegendPuskus 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.
ScoutSome 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...
TravelerWe 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
Tent camping near Pontotoc, Mississippi offers a chance to immerse yourself in nature while enjoying the tranquility of the outdoors. With several campgrounds in the area, you can find the perfect spot to pitch your tent and unwind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Pontotoc, MS?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Pontotoc, MS is Puskus Lake with a 4-star rating from 9 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Pontotoc, MS?
TheDyrt.com has all 10 tent camping locations near Pontotoc, MS, with real photos and reviews from campers.
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