Wow...have fallen way behind on writing but have not had the opportunity to camp near as much as we would like. I am taking full-time classes at Northwest MS CC and have to fit camping into school holidays or weekends. That's going to go on for 2 more semesters :(
We were able to get away a couple of weeks ago to one of our favorite campgrounds near to home - South Abutment at Arkabutla Lake. I still had to leave on Friday morning and go to my Calculus class, but we needed a few more supplies so I did a little shopping on my way back to the campground.
We camped in a new spot this time - an interior slot, not backed up to the water. It can get very windy on the water spots and this one had good shade and lots of side yard area.
We were able to do a little bike riding around the campground loops and even went across the dam into Dub Patton campground. On one of our walks around the campground loops, we met the volunteer camp host and found out she had lived not too far from us before her husband and she had sold their house to workcamp at Arkabutla. Had a great surprise Saturday morning as youngest stepson and grandson came for a visit.
If the weather holds up, we hope to squeeze in another outing here before Thanksgiving. This park is very close to home, but it's just so much more relaxing to spend your time in a chair next to the campfire.
Blue Bluff Campground is a Corps of Engineers campground on the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway just north of Aberdeen, MS. In addition to the campground,
the recreation area has a swim beach, day use picnic areas, playgrounds, boat launch and dock and there is a Lock and Dam for barge traffic.
To get to the campground, you have to go through an old section of Aberdeen, MS. I got a picture of this great old house as we were driving by. If you need to pick up a few groceries, there is a Piggly Wiggly close by but it appears that they roll up the sidewalks at 7pm.
The campground consists of 92 campsites, each with water and electric hookups. The central dump station can accommodate 2 RVs at a time. The campsites are arranged in 2 loops, each with a shower facility and laundry. Most of the campsites are shaded.
This was our favorite campground out of the 3 we stayed at on this trip. The other 2 campgrounds were Paul B. Johnson and Fort Pickens. The main reason was that this was the only campground where our site was shaded. It was a welcome relief in the hot summers we have in the south. Our site (#84) backed up to the waterway and we were able to sit out under the shade canopy and enjoy the view.
The RV pad was level side-to-side and the picnic table area was white rock gravel. Most of the sites looked large enough to accommodate whatever size RV you have. Some of the sites were a little close together, but the abundance of trees made them seem a little more private than they would have with no trees.
There were plenty of fishing piers and places to dock your boat close to the campsites. The majority of the waterway in the campground has a seawall which Sally Mae loved to peer over.
The swim beach is fairly small and not in the campground. You have to drive a bit down the road to get to it. When we went to look at it one morning, no one else was there but when we drove by later in the afternoon on our way to see the locks, it was packed.
This is the second campground we have stayed in along the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway (the other was Pickensville in Alabama). These campgrounds are very
nice and tend to be very popular with boaters and campers. I hope we can camp at more campgrounds along this waterway in eastern MS.
I will start out by stating that summer is not my favorite season to camp. I much prefer the cool, crisp fall temps. But, we decided to take a week to go camping this summer and one of our destination stops was Fort Pickens campground located in Gulf Shores National Seashore on Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FL.
It was fairly easy to find, as we were somewhat familiar with the convoluted way to get to the Pensacola Bay Bridge (dog leg through downtown). There are some additional fees in addition to the campground site fee. You will most likely cross a toll bridge - our path took us across a $1 toll bridge near Gulf Breeze and there is an $8 admission to enter the Gulf Shores National Seashore. This admission is similar to what you will pay to get into Yellowstone. It is not per person, it is per vehicle and is good for 7 days.
The road into the National Seashore reminds me of Pidgeon Forge in Tennessee - very commercialized and built up but once you get into the National Seashore, it is a different story. Miles and miles of sand on each side of the road. It is a unique experience to look to the right and see the Pensacola Bay and then look to the left and see the Gulf.
The campground technically consists of 5 loops; however, loops B,C, D and E are part of one big loop. Loop A is by itself. Each loop has a bathhouse and there is a campstore with laundry facilities. Don't expect much from the campstore, mainly bread and ice. The bathrooms and bathhouse is not air conditioned, there is actually no air flow in the building. By the time you took your shower and got dressed, the outside actually felt cool compared to the inside of the bathhouse.
There are 200 campsites at this campground. If you are in an RV, I would HIGHLY recommend that you check out the length of the pads on recreation.gov before you reserve. Quite a number of the sites are much shorter than what we were used to seeing.
The majority of the campsites have no shade. The relentless heat and humidity made it difficult to sit outside. That being said, we saw a lot of people tent camping. Honestly, I don't see how they do it in the suffocating heat. I did see some people who had 110 window AC units blowing into their tents. Each site has water and electricity. There is also a central dump station.
On to the things we enjoyed about this park. Of course, the beach. I really enjoyed getting out into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and getting knocked down by waves. The water is clear and the beach is beautiful. Unlike the crowded
beaches along the highway in Pensacola and Gulf Breeze, the beaches in the park are not crowded at all. We brought back a bag of shells that I plan on making a wind chime with.
This park also has a bicycle trail which is paved with limestone and runs from the group camp near the front of the park, through the campgrounds to the old fort and on to the fishing pier at the end of the island.
There are several "batteries" that you can explore throughout the island. The fort is located at the tip end of the island. We enjoyed exploring this historical building (actually a series of buildings). There are guided tours but we did a self-guided tour with the help of a brochure that points out several features.
This campground is right across the bay from the naval air station in Pensacola so you will hear jets. One afternoon, my husband got to see the Blue Angels perform some of their air show maneuvers.
Camping at Fort Pickens was a great experience and if you are a hot weather person who loves the beach, this is a must see for you. While we enjoyed what this park had to offer, we would need a compelling reason and cooler weather to go back.
We took a week-long camping vacation last week (third week of June). Our first stop was Paul B. Johnson State Park near Hattiesburg, MS. This state park is super easy to find - right off Hwy 49 South about 15 miles south of Hattiesburg.
Paul B. Johnson State Park is a large park with lots to do. If you have kids, they will surely enjoy this park. There is a 225 acre lake where we saw people skiing, fishing, and just enjoying the water. There is also a designated swim beach, playground, disc golf course, nature trail and lots of paved roads to ride bikes. The park has a huge day use area with lots of picnic sites as well as group pavilions. The park office is inside the Visitor's Building adjacent to the swim beach and has a game room with video games, pool tables and a sundeck.
The 125 campground sites are sectioned into 5 loops. The first section is across from the Visitor's Center and consists of several pull-through sites that are very close together with no privacy. It reminded me of a parking lot with some grass. The next two sections are traditional campground "loops" with a bathhouse containing laundry facilities in each loop. Some of the sites are well spaced. The next section, called the straightaway is a roadway with camping pads on both sides. One side borders the lake. Some of the lakeside sites in this section have gravel "patios". This straightaway section has a circle at the end with 3 campsites that back up to the lake (this is where we stayed). The final section, called the North End campground, looked newer with level concrete pads. But, this section had no shade and not much privacy between the campsites.
There is a primitive tent-camp area located behind the North End area. Each of the RV campsites have electric, water and sewer. There is also a central dump station.
Our site (#85) had a beautiful view of the lake but had little shade. If we were to camp here again, we would opt to stay in the first loop in a more shaded spot. We fished from the bank but it was "guarded" by crafty turtles. If you ride bikes, be prepared for some challenging hills (at least they were challenging to this out-of-shape middle ager).
The large lake and close proximity to Hattiesburg make Paul B. Johnson a big draw for local campers on the weekends and the park was full both Saturday and Sunday. By Monday when we left, the park had thinned out a bit.
We used this park as a rest-stop on our way to Santa Rosa Island outside Pensacola, FL. It was a nice park with lots to do.
We have had an unusually cold and long winter in north Mississippi this year and did not have a chance to go camping after our stay at John Kyle State Park at Sardis, MS last fall. We decided to stay close to home for our first trip out this year so we chose Hernando Point COE campground at Arkabutla Lake.
The Army Corps of Engineers operate several campgrounds around Arkabutla Lake. The one we usually stay at is at the South Abutment but we decided to stay somewhere we have never camped at this time.
We had a site (#7) right on the lake. It turned out not to be such a great weekend to be on the lake. It was extremely windy with constant wind and gusts over 20 mph. The wind made it impossible to enjoy sitting outside for any length of time.
On our walks and bike rides through the campground, we found that there were several sites in the "interior" sections as well as along the back loop that were protected from the wind by trees. If we ever go back to camp here again, we will opt to choose one of these sites instead of a lakeside site.
This is a nice COE park with 83 sites and 3 bathhouses with hot showers. Each site has water/electric hookup with most being able to accommodate large RVs. Sites 25-64 are non-reservable (walk-up) only sites. The rest can be reserved through recreation.gov.
There is a day use area with a swim beach but it was closed. There is also a well-used boat launch area. This campground does not offer a lot in the way of
things to do. No hiking trails, disc golf, etc. But, you can take a very nice walk along the beach or walk and/or bike ride through the campground.
We stayed here April 11-13, 2014.
