Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Starkville, MS has a lot to offer. Starkville is a great camping destination for everyone. There are tons of nearby hikes, adventurous activities, and sights to see. Search nearby campsites and find top-rated spots from other campers.
Dewayne Hayes Campground is located on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, on Columbus Lake in Mississippi. The campground provides convenient access to the waterway. There is ample opportunity for visitors to fish, boat or spend the day sightseeing along the banks of the river. The recreation area was named in 1986 for Pfc. Loyd DeWayne Hayes, a member of the 145th Engineering Battalion of the Alabama National Guard.
With playgrounds, hiking trails, multi-use courts, picnic areas and educational programs, families have no shortage of activities to choose from at DeWayne Hayes. Anglers can fish from the shore in search of bass, walleye, crappie, catfish and sunfish. Additionally, hunters can seek out a diverse range of high quality habitats for upland game and waterfowl species along the Tenn-Tom lands.
With playgrounds, hiking trails, multi-use courts, picnic areas and educational programs, families have no shortage of activities to choose from at DeWayne Hayes. Anglers can fish from the shore in search of bass, walleye, crappie, catfish and sunfish. Additionally, hunters can seek out a diverse range of high quality habitats for upland game and waterfowl species along the Tenn-Tom lands.
The Tenn-Tom, as the waterway is known, extends 234 miles from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Tombigbee River in Alabama. The man-made waterway connects the nation's midsection of commercial water transportation with the Gulf of Mexico.
Columbus, Mississippi is right next door and offers antique stores, historic sights and other services and amenities.
$20 - $32 / night
Scenic Choctaw Lake Campground wraps around Choctaw Lake in the Tombigbee National Forest of Mississippi. Its location provides visitors with ample opportunities for recreation, including fishing, boating, hiking and biking. A day-use area is popular for picnicking and has a swiming beach
Choctaw Lake Recreation Area offers a range of outdoor opportunities, including camping, picnicking, hiking and biking. The lake offers boating, swimming and fishing. Anglers can look forward to a catch of largemouth bass, bream, catfish and crappie. An accessible walking trail around the lake is available for a leisurely stroll, as well as a moderate skill level, 3-mile trail, that takes off from the campground. A variety of birds and wildlife may be seen along these paths.
Choctaw Lake Recreation Area offers a range of outdoor opportunities, including camping, picnicking, hiking and biking. The lake offers boating, swimming and fishing. Anglers can look forward to a catch of largemouth bass, bream, catfish and crappie. An accessible walking trail around the lake is available for a leisurely stroll, as well as a moderate skill level, 3-mile trail, that takes off from the campground. A variety of birds and wildlife may be seen along these paths.
The campground is situated between smaller Cabin Lake and larger, 100-acre Choctaw Lake. It is near the Natchez Trace Parkway, Noxubee Wildlife Refuge and French Camp, all popular destinations in the area.
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (662) 285-3264.
The campground is located 5 miles south of the town of Ackerman, 11 miles northwest of Louisville and 20 miles southwest of Starkville. The Noxubee Hills hiking and biking trailhead is located at the Choctaw Lake Recreation area as well. The 26-mile trail has vault toilets at each end and is rated moderate-to-experienced, for biking and hiking. The Choctaw Lake recreation area is also within 20 miles of Mississippi State University. Athletic, cultural and scholastic events abound there.
$20 / night
Town Creek Campground is located on the beautiful Columbus Lake in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The campground has direct access to the waterway for recreational boating activities and is a great place to relax and view the scenery.
With Columbus Lake and Kennedy Lake to explore, this facility has ample water recreation opportunities. Anglers can try their luck on the fishing dock or head off-shore in search of bass, catfish and crappie. Families with children can play on the facility's three playgrounds and go hiking, biking or birding. The nature trail circling the Kennedy Lake crosses the water in a number of places by way of wooden footbridges.
With Columbus Lake and Kennedy Lake to explore, this facility has ample water recreation opportunities. Anglers can try their luck on the fishing dock or head off-shore in search of bass, catfish and crappie. Families with children can play on the facility's three playgrounds and go hiking, biking or birding. The nature trail circling the Kennedy Lake crosses the water in a number of places by way of wooden footbridges.
The thickly forested, sloping shoreline and calm water create a peaceful atmosphere. On top of the hill overlooking the Tombigbee is Kennedy Lake; on the back of the lake, water cascades down a stone waterfall and into a creek that meanders through the park. The Tenn-Tom, as the waterway is known, extends 234 miles from the Tennessee River to the junction of the Tombigbee River in Alabama. The man-made waterway connects the nation's midsection of commercial water transportation with the Gulf of Mexico.
Town Creek Campground is just minutes from the cities of Columbus and West Point, Mississippi, which offer a variety of conveniences such as shopping, restaurants and golf courses.
$32 / night
Davis Lake Recreation Area is home to beautiful Davis Lake, Campground and Day Use Area, popular for all kinds of recreational opportunities, including swimming, fishing, boating, birding and wildlife viewing. The surrounding scenic forests make Davis Lake a picturesque place to spend quality time outdoors.
Davis Lake covers 200 acres and provides multiple recreational opportunities. A grassy swimming beach is situated on the shore, where many anglers cast for largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, crappie, catfish and bream. The campground has 14 sites on the lake, many of them with space to anchor a boat. A 2-mile trail wanders along the north edge of the lake to several earthen fishing piers. Visitors can also spend time birding, watching for a variety of geese and ducks that migrate through the area. Hawks, herons, bluebirds and doves are also plentiful, among many other species. Wildlife viewing is also available, as foxes and bobcats call the area home. The Chickasaw OHV Trail is a newly renovated 12-mile motorized trail that is within three miles of the campground. The trailhead lies between the Davis Lake recreation area and the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is within a mile of the Owl Creek Mounds archaeological interpretive site. It is open between April 1 and Oct. 31, for hunting. The trail accommodates off-road vehicles 48-inches in width or less. Cyclists and hikers will enjoy the Tanglefoot Trail. This multiple-use Rails-to-Trails path is located 5 miles west of Davis Lake. It runs 43.5 miles from Houston to New Albany, MS through Houlka, Algoma, Pontotoc, Ecru, and Ingomar.
Davis Lake covers 200 acres and provides multiple recreational opportunities. A grassy swimming beach is situated on the shore, where many anglers cast for largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, crappie, catfish and bream. The campground has 14 sites on the lake, many of them with space to anchor a boat. A 2-mile trail wanders along the north edge of the lake to several earthen fishing piers. Visitors can also spend time birding, watching for a variety of geese and ducks that migrate through the area. Hawks, herons, bluebirds and doves are also plentiful, among many other species. Wildlife viewing is also available, as foxes and bobcats call the area home. The Chickasaw OHV Trail is a newly renovated 12-mile motorized trail that is within three miles of the campground. The trailhead lies between the Davis Lake recreation area and the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is within a mile of the Owl Creek Mounds archaeological interpretive site. It is open between April 1 and Oct. 31, for hunting. The trail accommodates off-road vehicles 48-inches in width or less. Cyclists and hikers will enjoy the Tanglefoot Trail. This multiple-use Rails-to-Trails path is located 5 miles west of Davis Lake. It runs 43.5 miles from Houston to New Albany, MS through Houlka, Algoma, Pontotoc, Ecru, and Ingomar.
The campground is situated in a hilly, mixed hardwood and pine forest that stretches along the eastern shore of the lake. It is located within 4 miles of the Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history.
The recreation area is located 21 miles south of Tupelo, Mississippi, and 12 miles north of Houston. The Owl Creek Mounds, an archaeological interpretive site containing Native American ruins, is about 50 miles away. The Witchdance Horsetrail is an 18-mile horseback riding trail that can be accessed from both the Payamatha Trailhead (on Highway 32, west of the Natchez Trace and east of Highway 15), or the Witchdance trailhead, that lies on the Natchez Trace Parkway (approximately 5 miles east of Houston).
This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (662) 285-3264.
$20 / night
This is a great place to dump your tanks. Only one problem and we expect it to be resolved soon. The charge is $5.00 but there is no one to pay! The sign claims you can pay in the park, the dump is outside the park, at the entrance or exit. Afterwards we continued to “in the park” to pay with our 53’ rig with car in tow. We looked for a place to pay we gave up and had to try to turn around running over the curb with Motorhome and car we thought we should just mail the fee. A BOX AT THE DUMP STATION SEAM TO BE A SIMPLE FIX.
This campground was amazing. Our site was right off the lake. The scenery was beautiful, it was quiet, the sites are pretty spread out. Camp sites 3-12 is where you want to be. There is a playground for kids, a boat dock if you have one, or you can just fish right off your site. The camp host was a very helpful and sweet man. We loved this campground and will definitely be back.
Busy campground but enough space so it doesn’t feel like your neighbors are right on top of you. Plenty of shade and many spots have a direct view of the Tenn-Tom Waterway.
I love camping spending time with my family
Sites 5 and 8 are our favorite. Really, any site on the small lake is great. Those are the smaller number spots. Almost always one available. Large hands in the smaller lake. I haven't even had a bite in the larger lake. This is our local campground and we go a few times a year. No WiFi and very little cell signal, as camping should be. We love it.
Really nice state park. Recently updated picnic tables. Nice quiet spots. We tent camped on a camper spot. Only complaint is that the showers could use a good remodeling, very dated. Other than that had a great time.
COOL CAMP
Nice state park with many amenities. The campground is located along a lake and many sites have nice views of the water. We were in site 39, a full hookup site with a nice water view. At about 4:00 am, we awoke to find ants invading the trailer. The outside of the trailer was covered with thousands of ants and they were pouring into the trailer. A park employee came in the afternoon and sprayed all entry points around the trailer. We spent all day killing ants in and on our trailer. This continued sporadically over the next few days. The bathouse was clean, but very rundown. If you take ant precautions, this could be a really pleasant stay.
stayed for 5 days in late april. wonderful experience and would go back in heart beat. off the beaten path, which we love. well kept, wonderful camp host. we didn't use the shower house / restrooms, but everything we saw was nice. definitely would go back. do your research on the campsites. some are pretty short and will not accommodate long rigs.
This campground is 5 miles west of the Natchez Trace, and we stayed one weeknight as we were heading south. Some of the sites are reservable and others are first come. I don't think there is a bad site there. The shower and bathroom areas were clean. I suspect it fills up in season, so best to make reservations.
Coming home to Dallas from Alabama and found this oasis…clean and quiet. In and out no problems.
We loved this campground. There is a trail in the campground that leads to a cypress slough and it is beautiful. Some campsites are reserveable and some are first come first serve. There is really not a bad campsite in the campground. We got half price with America the Beautiful national park pass. This is a Corp of Engineers park. The campground hosts were all very friendly and helpful. People camping in the park were also friendly. Columbus, MS is just a few miles away and has anything you may need to buy.
We stayed in Cottage 1 during our Thanksgiving vacation to visit family. The location was close to family in New Hope and the cottage was nice and cozy. The view of the lake was beautiful in the mornings and we also enjoyed a nice game of disc golf. I gave this stay a 4 out of 5 since there was no cell phone signal for Verizon once you entered the park even though it’s so close to the town of New Hope.
It’s a basic KOA with clean showers, laundry, and full hookups. The lake that was a an attraction including water slides and fishing docks is dry and has been for a couple of years.
Well maintained campground. The lake was very pretty and had a wonderful trail around it.
This is local to us and we’ve been a few times. The last time however a barge flooded the area. Caused some shut downs. Lots to do usually though. Hiking. Boating or kayaking. Playgrounds.
We went in April with our scouting troop. Very busy even then. Lots of small hiking trails. Nothing too fancy. Dollar general 10 minutes down the road if you need anything. Several primitive sites. Our troop made friends with some other kids nearby as well. Great for families or alone.
If you get a spot on the lake it is definitely worth it but it is more like an RV resort not really made for tent camping. Very well maintained, excellent for fishing. Hardly any cell signal with ATT but better than nothing.
The customer service was absolutely outstanding! 4 stars only because of lack of amenities for kids, however, they do have games to rent from office. Unfortunately the lake has mostly dried up and no longer hits the shoreline of the campground (apparently been this way for 6 years). They used to have what looked like an awesome beach area, water slides, boat ramps etc... but it has all fallen into disrepair which makes sense now that the water has receded. Our son and his buddy still had fun relaxing, throwing the ball around and playing a few games. WiFi was not great except for AT&T which means there must be an AT&T tower nearby. All stores, Walmart, restaurants etc.. are about a 12 minute drive away if needed. All in all, it was very relaxing. If they added a huge pool, I think it’d be a big hit.
We tent camped in the RV park with 4 dogs. Our campsite (10) was perfect- right on the water, plenty of space, nice even pad for our tent & canopy. The neighbors were kind & the bathrooms well maintained. Definitely will stay again. Nice trails too!
This is very near my home. It's a decent enough area for a day or two but not enough for an extended stay for me personally. Facilities are really only maintained during peak season and even then I've been greeted by dirty showers and restrooms more than once. The swimming area steps are quite slippery as well and muscle shells are ever present so i would recommend aquatic footwear if you plan on using this area.
Lake Lowndes is simply a place that every camper (primitive or RV) has to visit. The staff from the ranger to the park host to the manager and everyone else is friendly and ready to help in any way. The sites are paved, large and very easy to back into. We have stayed at #43, #41, #1, #31 and #35 and we love them all. 31, 41, and 43 are the best. There used to be an ant problem but the staff has fixed that tremendously - good job. The park has a beautiful small lake for Boating, fishing, and other water sports as well. Other things to do include an amazing frisbee golf course, tennis courts, softball fields, children’s playground, hiking, biking, and a huge admin building with many indoor games like pool and ping pong. The scenery is magnificent and we fell in love with the ducks, geese, and deer families that run around every night. Picnic tables, grills, and fire pits at every site. Do yourself a favor and visit this camp ground.
Our stay at site 82 from 3/12/21-3/14/21 is filled with the sounds of people working and playing. Sites are nicely spaced. During the week, we enjoy watching pilots from the Columbus Air Force Base honing their skills. The barges, more frequent during the day, have the occasional after dark run. They are fascinating to watch and quite pretty at night.
We paddle in the area by the campground. Almost all motor boaters are very thoughtful in reducing their wake. Many people are fishing, some are catching and some families are out in pleasure boats cruising on the waterway.
If you enjoy hiking make sure to grab a map and walk around Kennedy Lake (more like a pond) and the primitive sites.
This is a GREAT campground. We camped in a tent on site 88. Right on the tombigbee.
We enjoyed campsite 89 from 3/9/21-3/12/21. We launch and paddle from our site. The walking path is about 3 miles round trip from the the day-use boat ramp and playground to the campground end. Camp hosts are friendly and campsites are well maintained.
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.
Nice park on a lake. Sites could use some work but over all very nice campground. Frisbee golf coarse is a huge plus!!
Camping near Starkville, Mississippi, offers a mix of beautiful landscapes and fun activities for everyone. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an adventure-filled weekend, there are several campgrounds to choose from.
Camping near Starkville, Mississippi, has something for everyone, from families to RV enthusiasts. Enjoy the great outdoors and make some lasting memories!
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Starkville, MS?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Starkville, MS is Starkville KOA with a 4.6-star rating from 5 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Starkville, MS?
TheDyrt.com has all 6 glamping camping locations near Starkville, MS, with real photos and reviews from campers.
