Best Tent Camping near Sardis, MS

This place is a gem if you’re a tent camper. We have camped here once, but most of the time it is closed. I am not sure why. 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. A short walk to Sardis Lower Lake. There can be a bit of traffic noise as it is nestled between two roads.

Decent camp ground if the grounds were better maintained, lots of trash at all of the sites. We tent camped and the tent pads were ok nothing to brag right home about but functional. Your also nut to butt with all the other sites, talking some are less than 10ft apart. Also there was a mondo dump left in 2 of the toilets at the rest room near our site.

The view and proximity to the water is truly what makes this spot. All sites are tent sites so you have to be parked in the parking lot but we were the only ones there in early January so was easy to park as close as possible to a spot. There are restrooms at the entrance, all sites have a table, trash can and grill. We went in the off season so it was free!

The 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.

This is a small campground, consisting of five tent sites. The websites states you can bring a small camper here, but in wouldn’t try it. The bathrooms are run down and have a port a potty feel. The roads in are horrible. There are people riding off road vehicles in the lake bottoms quite often.

Now, that having been said... the view is great. You can see out across the lake. There is plenty of space to hike and explore. It is a free campground, so really, one can’t complain.

I have stayed at this campground twice.  The first time (2022) was a rainy day and I didn't feel like setting up a tent in my reserved space, so I upgraded to one of the very nice, and at the time quite new cabins for about $75 total.  I loved the winding drive down to Helena-West Helena. It was beautiful, the rain was not too bad.  The cabin was wonderful.  I had such a happy experience that time, I returned to car camp last year (2023) on my way west. I did not bother setting up a tent, but rented an RV space. It was fine. . . lots of mosquitos in the evening (mid-September) and a construction crew was renting out an RV spot across from me.  There were no other campers, but I felt safe.  The bathrooms (unisex) were not nearly as clean as the first visit, but were ok.  The guys across the way were quiet and respectful.  The whole thing was ok. . . but I did have the thought expressed in another comment that there is just too much concrete and asphalt in this place.  Maybe they are concerned about keeping the jungle at bay, so they paved it . . . but consequently it feels like a parking lot with a beautiful periphery. Is also was pretty expensive for what I needed ($42), since I sleep on a cot in my SUV and don't need electricity, water, dumping, etc.  But that is my fault for not asking for a tent site.

I decided to head there at the last minute, and called the office right before closing to rent via telephone (should have asked for a tent site, cheaper).  I did not have to make the 14 mile drive to Marianna to check in. 

The crew staying in the RV across the way, left vert early in the morning.  It was cool and shady in my spot, so I moved my vehicle to sunny spot (tent area!) and had a nice leisurely breakfast before heading out.  It was mid-week, and nobody else was there.  A ranger (?) drove through pretty early (before I moved my car) and said hi. She knew i had rented a spot.  Very friendly, just as the folks in Marianna had been when I went there in 2022. 

All in all it is a good spot. Quiet and safe.

This campground is in the middle of Holly Springs National Forest on Puskus Lake. The campground itself is quite small but the camping spaces have a good amount of room to them so you do not feel like you are on top of each other. Additionally, I have never seen more than 5 or 6 different sites being used anytime that I have been there. It is also relatively cheap to camp there which is always great! While you can boat or fish on the lake, you cannot swim in the lake so keep that in mind if you are going somewhere where you want to cool off. They do have nice docks over the water however to hang out on. There are 2 trails you can walk on around the campsite but they only equal about 5 miles and are not maintained very well in some areas although they are flat and easy to explore. Overall, this spot is great for a night or two when you just want to go out and tent camp for a great price.

I checked into this park while looking for a place to stay in Memphis, it was a very secure facility right on the state line of Mississippi and Tennessee and it appeared to have good reviews so I wanted to see if they offered tent camping since I had seen nothing about that. I arrived and the staff was very friendly however they were also very thorough in stating it was RVs only.

I went ahead and told them I am a ranger for the Dyrt and also a travel blogger and was interested in passing on the knowledge to other campers potentially looking in the area and they took me on a tour bragging on the facilities which had spacious road that were fully paved and well maintained. The restrooms were large and equipped for handicapped accessibility and there was a neighborhood vibe about this location.

Spaces were a little close together but it seemed as though most of the people here were retirees in larger rigs who didn't want the responsibility of having a lot of space in their immediate "yard". They offer nightly rates along with weekly and monthly however I believe that most are taking advantage of the monthly.

The person giving me the tour, the campground host, did mention that a lot of people misunderstand their RV policy and come in with pop ups or teardrops and those usually are not acceptable. So that s a major thing to know when coming here, you must be in a RV as defined by these standards.

I noticed that the site was incredibly clean. They offered additional storage for sports equipment and other items, a rec center and office and for each site both cable and wifi are available.

All in all this park was great, but not allowing tents or certain types of RVs did knock it down a few notch simply because not everyone would be able to take advantage of this site. I was overall happy to have checked it out for my fellow travelers and maybe one day when I RV across America I will be able to visit again.

Check Out The Official Website Or Make Reservations

Well maintained sites, BEAUTIFUL view of Sardis Lake just across the tree line

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. But it’s a tent-only campground and there were only a couple other tents there so it was quiet and peaceful. Our lots were large.

There was plenty of firewood to be collected on site.

There’s a boat launch but it didn’t add significant traffic or noise.

The bathrooms were…campsite bathrooms. Not the best, not the worst. No locked on stall doors. No soap. But the toilets flushed so there’s that.

Very pretty view of Sardis Lake.

The negatives: The flies!! They were so so bad! And bighty!! My poor dogs were covered in flies, as were we.

Other negative is just about a previous camper. At our site, we picked up literally a case’s worth of Coors beer bottle caps. Evidently they didn’t throw away a single one, even though garbage is provided and literally just right there.

Nice wooded area along the western tip of Sardis lake. We pulled in and the pay station was covered so unable to pay the $10 fee, but the gate was open, bathrooms were open and dumpster unlocked. Got a spot right near the water...well actually we could have grabbed any spot because we were the only ones in the park. 

The park could have been really nice but there was a lot of garbage around the fire pits and in the water, however the bathrooms were clean. 

Stayed one night only. Good cell reception with AT&T and Verizon.

Wow this place is NICE! This is a small, but beautiful campground! There's only 14 full hook up RV sites and 3 tent only sites. All RV sites are huge, have beautiful water views and most have water access. Many of them are fenced to get you closer to the water and still be safe. The small gravel tent and hang out areas was also nice. We tracked a lot less dirt into the camper than normal. The bathrooms are the nicest we have ever used! There are 4 private suite style bathrooms with your own toilet, sink and shower. All are handicap accessible as well. We walked the nature/hiking trail across the street from the campground (Bear Creek Loop). We were shocked to find out that the trees were marked with educational markers. My husband really enjoyed the trail because of this. The park also has a couple of kayaks that can be rented. There is a boat ramp, fishing pier and swim beach all within view of the campground. The campground also has a small courtesy dock to pull up to or fish from. Water appears to be very shallow at this dock.

One of the Mississippi River State Park Interpreters came out and hosted a short campfire chat on bats. Very informative! We also went to the park office to check out the exhibits. Man this place is first class! The walking trail around the office is a lovely 10-15 minute walk. Firewood and snacks can also be purchased here.

This is a nice little spot because of the view. No hook ups of any kind, this is a tent only kind of place. That being said, there was a really sketchy looking van parked with a tent hanging out. They looked to have been there a long while. Bathrooms are closed, and have been for some time. For $8 you could do worse.

Rolling hills in Mississippi but all the sites are level concrete pads with water and electric (50A). There are three circles each with their own dump station and paved roads. Loop 1-36 over looks Grenada Lake with several sites having nice water access. Many have great views but I really liked 14 and 17. Loop 37-61 used to be the tent loop so the sites were a bit closer and the road was less big rig friendly but still quite nice. We were in site 50. The other loop, 62-88, over looks a pond with a swimming area and two fishing piers. Each loop has 10 first come sites so about 60% are reservable. If you have reservations, remember your site number since there is no one working at the gate (there is none).

This place was full of families for the Memorial Day weekend. We just relaxed and did a little people watching. The cg is right next to the earthen dam that you drive over to go to the town of Grenada. Grenada Lake is quite nice with a few day use areas and a State Park CG on the banks of the Outflow Channel. There is a Visitor Center on the other side of the dam that has a nice view of the dam and lake. Within the cg, there is a dam to form a pond. You have to drive over that dam to get to one of the loops. Kinda crowded but a nice place to ride bikes, at least all the kids thought so. Golf carts are popular with the locals.

If you're looking for a place to pitch your tent for a night this is a good pick. Lake area is nice enough, but lots of litter and shot gun shells.