Best Tent Camping near Waterford, MS

PROS 

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

Very nice campground. With family gatherings discouraged due to covid we decided to camp. We used site 58. Site has 30 50 15 amp, water and sewer. Concrete pad with extra concrete vehicle parking. Bathroom is directly in front with toilets and showers. Very clean and warm (low Christmas eve and Christmas 23). Concete picnic table, grill and grill table. Fire ring. This site will be waterfront in summer but with the winter let down no water right now. All together a great, well maintained facility. Also the north mississippi fish hatchery is here but closed for the holidays.

We arrived just before sunset in late November (dang Daylight Savings time) so quickly got to our site and set up. Did not see anyone to check in but had reservations as now are required at all CoE campgrounds (a ranger drove through the next morning). The water level looked to be very low, but we still had a nice view at the end of the loop.

Sites are FHU and other amenities include a large concrete picnic table, lantern hook, fire pit, BBQ grill, and food prep table. Sites are paved, generous in size, and spaced a very decent distance apart from each other; even though all the leaves had fallen and there were other campers in our loop, I did not feel a lack of privacy.

The restrooms were clean and although there were paper towels, the soap dispensers were empty (my only beef with this campground)! The showers looked to be reasonable, but it was below freezing the next morning, so I didn’t try them out. There was also what appeared to be a utility sink in the bathroom but no shelves or other place to stage dishes. 

I can only assume that water sports are in-season and not sure about other recreational activities. Because the ground was frozen the next morning, I was able to walk down to the water and get some great photos of the sunrise and birds. 

This was just an overnight stay for us but for $12 (with the Golden Access Pass), it is a real bargain and the reason we often seek out Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds.

Puskus 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.

Some 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...

With all the beautiful views and family recreation offered at Persimmon HIll Campground, you’ll be amazed that these sandy beaches are only a little over an hours drive from Memphis. Accessibility and the cleanliness of the park is why this has been a favorite in our family for many years.

Campground Review:

This weekend we celebrated National Hammock Day, in our Bear Butt Hammock, at site #55. You can book sites online up to 24 hours in advance, or you can show up to camp at one of the non-reservable first come sites. Cost was $20 per night. Each site is well kept with a parking pad, picnic table, lantern pole, fire pit and grill. All sites are generously sized with plenty of room and flat spots to put a tent, plus more than half of the sites have a view of the lake. This go around we were in our pop up, however don’t let all the rigs keep you away, we frequent this campground often with our tent when we need a quick getaway. There are two shower houses in the campground that are aIr conditioned, well lit, and kept clean and stocked daily. A playground and basketball court is centrally located and easily accessable to all families. Behind the playground is a nice nature trail that is lit at night for an evening stroll. While this campground is usually well populated, we’ve only had to camp in the overflow section once in all the 11 years we’ve been bringing our family here, and that was during a Fourth of July weekend.

Persimmon Hill Recreation Area is a well maintained picnic/day use area with a sandy beach. (Between here and the campground is where we usually see deer.) Life jackets are provided at the beach if needed. Besides the reservable pavillion, there are many picnic tables along the shoreline. The lake Is great for jet skis, kayaking, and relaxing on an inner tube. A boat launch is located in the campground. Enid Lake is one of the top fishing locations for crappie. The fish are well stocked, and a visit to the hatchery offers some interactive displays, history on the area, and a chance for the kids to feed the fish. Across the dam is a spillway with a handicap accessable fishing pier, a lakeside grocery store, an additional boat ramp, larger sandy swim beach, and the equally clean campground Wallace Creek.

Overall, due to the family feel and cleanliness, we highly recommend the area versus the few lakes closer to Memphis, and we also prefer this campground over others in around the lake with the exception of Wallace Creek.

If interested, check out my reviews of the area on these sites: Trippin’ Southerners website: https://www.trippinsoutherners.com/single-post/2018/03/06/Lake-Life---best-beach-in-the-mid-south

Campground video: https://youtu.be/fEUVvcr3RVQ