Great FREE and cozy camping

This site is a very popular one night stay about mid-point on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The way the campground is constructed makes this a unique place to stay.

The campsites are very close together causing lots of social interactions. That's the best and worst thing about the campground.

The park service provides nice bathrooms, garbage cans throughput the campground, picnic tables and multiple pullouts.

The park also has a paved road and hiking trail to a viewpoint. The road is less than a mile and the trail is over a mile and has some good elevation changes.

We enjoyed the atmosphere of frequent conversations with other campers. Some kept to themselves…we just waived and smiled.

Nice park with reasonable pricing

Stayed here for two nights. This place has everything we expect in a state park. Good roads, good day use area, great bathrooms, good spacing between campsites, beautiful views and camp store.

Showers were very hot and the bathrooms were very clean!

The best part was the price. I showed up without a reservation and got two nights with water and electric service for real cheap compared to everywhere else we camped for the last 7 months.

Parking Lot Camping

Read that there was a drive-in camp site at this location. Upon arrival, we found a parking lot with a fence all around it. There were a few fire rings in the parking lot.

I was not tempted to stay. There was nothing here but a place to park when you go hiking. The only thing here was disappointment and the realization that I needed to go somewhere else.

Overnight Stop and Breakfast

Went to a free site and found the sites were all hike-in sites. I am old and have a trailer, so that didn't work for me.

So we headed to the Pilot and arrived about 6 PM on a Sunday. There was one parking spot open next to the tire shop. We stayed the evening and made ɓreakfast before leaving at about 10 AM the next morning.

The grass area behind the parking area was covered with garbage. Very gross.

The staff at the Pilot store were exceptionally friendly. Bathrooms were very clean, even at 4 AM.

There was a creepy guy in the parking lot in an old multi colored truck that followed my wife as she was returning from the restroom early in the morning.

The good news is nobody bothered us.

Beautiful and Free!!

Came in on a Tuesday in late October and found about 10 campsites occupied, so lots to choose from. The campsite has two adjoining loop roads. The lower loop has a bathroom with flush toilets and sinks.

The campground appears to be very well maintained. There is not much privacy between campsites as there are only a few trees and no shubbery between campsites.

We met two other camping groups that were simply delightful Americans.

Beautiful location just off a paved road

We came in on a Friday late afternoon and there were only a few camping sites available. We found a spot right on the lake.

Our first morning a heron was fishing in the lake less than 100 feet from us. We saw him catch a fish. There were woodpeckers, hawks and several other birds I did not recognize.

The view of the lake from our camp site was amazing. Very picture worthy!

The campsites are pretty close together providing less than optimal privacy. Some of the campers stayed up late but they kept the noise level down.

While there we saw one group hang a deer carcass in a tree. Good times!

Scenic and secluded

Tented a cabin for two nights to hide from bad weather. Cabin had electric service, a microwave, electric heater, refrigerator and lights. The campground had no other guests during our stay.

The campground is long and narrow bordering on Abrams Creek. We took daily walks to the end of the campground and enjoyed the scenic views.

The campsite has port-a-potties for each cabin and for groups of campsites. Water was clean and had no oder.

The only concern noted was the bath house. It was poorly lighted and made of what looked like left over materials.

The gentleman that checked us in was a wealth of knowledge. He told us all about the campground and told us they offer an outdoor shower. Their were two outdoor shower stalls which were shower curtains next to the shower house.

Great Disbursed Camping

There are numerous disbursed camping sites at this location. We arrived on a Sunday and found all the sites near the vaulted toilet empty.

The campsites are boarded by boulders. The toilet was one of the cleanest I have seen. Most sites have good shade while still open to the sky.

Sites are level and have good back-in driveways. Fire rings are large. We removed lots of trash from our fire ring, mostly aluminum cans.

Convenient off the road boondocking

Sites are located less than a mile from the paved highway. We found 5 spots just off the road. All were easily accessible by cat or with a small teardrop trailer.

True boondocking, haul it in, pack it out. Evidence of a cat hole in the site we picked

Sites were quiet at night. Some traffic related to logging activity. Looks like a popular weekend camp spot for locals.

We camped during the week and had nobody else camping on weekdays.

Nice disbursed spot

Came in on a Sunday afternoon and nobody was there. Several hunters drove past but no other campers.

There is no vaulted toilet at this site any more. Repeated vandalism resulted in its closure.

Overall a nice secluded camping spot.

Urban Camping in crazy town

The physical facilities are in good condition and are well maintained. The park is very big and is located inside and urban area.

The campsite appears to be designed as a disbursed camping design. However, there is not enough trees and folage to provide any privacy.

The camping area is located on a loop road I would estimate to be about a mile long. There is one restroom/shower house. Some campsites are close but our site was a 1/1 mile away.

The strangest thing is that hunting is allowed in the state park except on Sundays. There was a sign near our camp site saying don't shoot here because there is a city street 40 yards away. However they don't seem to mind if you shoot towards the camp sites.

Other campers near us were LOUD and stayed up well past the quiet time. They were annoying!!

Top Quality State Park

Beautiful state park campground with all the amenities you expect, located on the Hudson River.

The state did an excellent job designing sites with dense foliage as sound and site barriers creating good privacy for campers.

Sites are all within 200 feet of the bathrooms. The bathrooms have good showers and were very clean during our stay. There is also a dishwasher sink and even bookshelves with books available to borrow.

Our favorite feature was the day use and boat ramp on the Hudson River. We saw many larger boats (maybe smaĺl yachts?) during the day. The view from the boat ramp area was amazing. However, stay away if you see boat going by. The boat ramp dock turns into a death trap when a big wake from a boat hits the river bank!

Super quiet and lots of privacy

Came into the area after 7 PM on a Tuesday and found several open sites. We stayed one night in campsite 9. This site is about 90 yards from the fire tower trailhead.

Site #9 goes back about 70 to 80 feet back off the road. There appears to have been a longer site, but the Forest Service placed boulders blacking vehicles from going further. Just past the boulders is a large fire circle with room for 6 to 8 campers to sit around the fire.

We were able to collect sunlight onto our solar panel from the site.

The camp site are all disbursed enough that we did not hear any other camping sounds at all. It was so quiet I could hear the sound of crow wings flapping as they flew by.

We enjoyed a spectacular view of the Blood Super Moon from the campsite. Overall the site was open to the sky nea3 the road yet protected from the wind.

The only downside was the lack of any other amenities. As far as disbursed camping in the national forest, this place is not a decent unpaved road and our campsite was only about 3 miles from the highway.

Beautiful view but no toilet

Came in on a Wednesday afternoon in late September and found several available camp sites.

There are no amenities at this campground. It is an open field on the left side of the road with two or three sites on the right side of the road that are walk in sites.

The scenic beauty of this place is amazing. There was some color in the forest but most of it was still green. There are wide open views of 3 mountain ranges. There are many flowering plants, wild apple trees on the right side of the road. Lots of birds, butterflies, and bees (they were not agressive).

The campground was very quiet at night except for an occasional owl hoot.

We were fortunate to have perfect weather for our stay. This would be an awesome place to see the fall colors.

Beautiful Park Like Setting

We came into the park on a Wednesday in mid September and found that over half the spaces were open. We grabbed a spot about 60 feet from the lake.

The camping sites are large enough for a tent and a couple of vehicles. There are a few larger sites here and there. Sites are very close to neighboring camp sites so Privacy is poor

There are very nice bathroom facilities with hot showers, dish rinsing sinks and hot showers.

The view from the lake is amazing. We walked to the beach every morning with our chairs for coffee. VERY RELAXING!

There is a building near the entrance of the state park that says its a store but it looks pretty old and closed.

The young lady who delivered our park permit was exceptionally friendly and helpful. However, the people that clean the restrooms are about as polite as construction workers in Queens. They do have a garbage dumpster but it is located about a mile from the campground. Not very convenient for tent or van camping.

Overall the price charged for the sites seems higher than the value received.

Small campsites/No amenities

Drove in on a Wednesday afternoon and drove past 4 or 5 sites, which were all occupied.

Then saw a car ahead that was backing up. Long story short, they were afraid to drive across a dry wash in their new Jeep. No place to get by. Had to back my trailer about a quarter mile, so they could get out.

Camped in a very small spot, just barely enough room for our SUV and small teardrop to get off the road.

There was only a 20 foot by 12 foot space to camp jn with no water, no dumpster, no toilet, no view of anything and lots of other campers that appear to be long term residents.

OK for an overnight stay but not a desirable camping location overall.

Somewhat secluded but Quiet

Picked this location because it was close to several locations we could take day trips to the coast.

Visited Bar Harbor, Eastport and several places in between.

Because of those activities, we spent most of our time here sleeping and preparing 1-2 meals a day.

Evenings here were pretty quiet and not much traffic after dark. Bathroom was good but no water or garbage service.

Amazing Beauty, Amazing Camping Experience

Stayed for two nights after Labor Day. Only one other camper in the park and we never saw them but occasionally we could hear a voice. Other than that, it was quiet.

There are about 9 campsites, each with a picnic table, a fire ring and a large camping and parking area for each site.

The best feature of this campground is the view. There is a Lake on both east and west sides of the camping area. Three sites are view of both lakes from the camp sites. I woke up to a view of one lake and my wife saw the other lake from our camper.

The campground has three pit toilets. The large size of the camp sites makes it feel more secluded than it is

We did hear something like a lumber mill operating one morning. Not sure what that was all about.

A Ranger stopped by and visited with us. He then offered us a brochure on the camping area we are planning to visit next. Nice customer service right at our camp site!

Beautiful location on the river

The main camping area has about 10 long narrow sites that have large rocks bordering each site. Each site is bordered by the road. There is a single vaulted toilet.

The paved area of the road ends just past the campground. Lots of people drive just past the pavement and then they turn around.

Across the road from the campground is a beautiful river. The sound of the river put us to sleep and greeted us the next morning.

Good stopover location

Only the first section of the campground was open due to flooding. As a result, there were puddles everywhere.

Campsites are listed as disbursed but there are only 7 trees to separate 9 camp sites. The campsites are all next to the road and have fire circles.

There is a single pit toilet at the end of the camping area. No garbage service, no water, no cell service. Basically a camp site where you can share a fire with the neighbors.