Davis Lake Campground Revisited

I would say that Davis Lake Campground in New Houlka, MS is a "hidden gem" but this US Forest Service campground in the Tombigbee National Forest is no secret.  In fact, it is a very popular campground and it is not unusual to see all 26 sites occupied.  Some sites are reservable (recreation.gov) and some are walk-up only.

The campground is just 4 miles off the Natchez Trace Parkway near Tupelo, MS.  This is our second stay at this campground.  We first camped just for an overnight stay at Davis Lake during our Natchez Trace Parkway trip.  

The main attraction for this campground is the 20 acre lake.  It is a "no wake" lake except for Saturday, Sunday and Federal Holidays between noon and sunset.  During that time, people can ski in a clearly marked area.  This lake is primarily a fishing lake and the no wake rule helps preserve the tranquil setting.

Davis Lake campground has a swim area (no beach), playground, and 2 bathhouses (1 at the day use area and 1 at the campground).  This campground is pretty small with not a lot of area to ride bicycles, but the New Houlka "Whistlestop" of the Tanglefoot Trail is only about 5 miles from the campground.  

Each site has electric and water, but no sewer hookups.  There is one dump station at the entrance to the campground.




Neither my Sprint cell nor Rick's C-Spire had any signal here - but I had 4G service just a couple of miles down the road.  We did pick up several over-the-air TV stations.  

We loved this campground and wished it were closer to home.  We camped here (site 14) Labor Day weekend 2019.

Persimmon Hill Campground at Enid Lake MS May 2017

My husband's company held their picnic this year at Enid Lake.  We took this opportunity to stay at one of the COE campgrounds for the weekend.  Persimmon Hill campground is a very nice COE campground that recently got upgraded with sewer hookups.  It has been a couple of years since we have been here.  For my first review, see Persimmon Hill Campground - Enid Lake MS.

On this trip, we stayed at site #16.  Like most of the sites here, there is ample room between the sites.  

Enid Lake is known for its crappie fishing and since we got a new boat this year, we scouted out some of the boat ramps around the lake.  McCurdy Point is the

boat ramp behind the ranger station.  It has a large fish cleaning station and a floating dock.

The company picnic was held at one of the group shelters below the dam.  It was a great picnic with a live band, bouncies for the kids, corn hole games, bingo, homemade ice cream, a cake walk and a petting zoo.

Regular price is $20 per night for full hookups (elec, water, sewer).  There is a dump station and 2 bath house buildings.  Some of the sites are reserveable and some are first-come, first-served.  There is an information island in the campground that is updated with available sites for campers without a reservation.

We really like this campground and will most certainly be back in the future.

Oak Grove Campground at Sardis Lake Revisited

Our first camping trip of 2017 was Easter weekend at Oak Grove campground at Sardis Lake in Mississippi.  We have stayed at this campground several times and I have written about it before here and here 

This is an Army COE first-come, first-serve only campground, for now anyway.  It looks like they are making some improvements like sewer hookups.  It makes me wonder if they will start taking reservations like the other COE campgrounds in the North MS area.  

As schools were out for Good Friday, this was a busy camping weekend at Sardis Lake.  We arrived Thursday afternoon and by Friday, the campground was near capacity.

This time we stayed at site #21.  It was a nice spacious site but had little shade on the "living room" side in the afternoon.


In addition to the sewer improvements that are underway, a boat dock with benches was added for Oak Grove campers only.

The weather was near perfect and we really enjoyed getting away for the weekend.

Tanglefoot Trail from Pontotoc, MS

Tanglefoot Trail is a Rails-to-Trails bike/walk trail in north MS.  At 43.6 miles, Tanglefoot Trail is the longest Rails-to-Trails bikeway in Mississippi.  

We found out about this bike trail when we were planning a camping trip to Trace State Park.  We biked along Tanglefoot Trail from the trailhead in

Pontotoc, MS.  The trailhead in Pontotoc is a nice rest stop if you started at some other point along the trail.  There are restrooms, water fountains and a place for bike repairs.

We parked at Reeder Farm Supply which is across from the trailhead.  This is a rural area and a farming community, so when the feed store is open, please ask

if you can use their parking.  They were very nice and thanked us for asking.





The first day we rode north 5 miles towards New Albany.  This route will take you through part of Pontotoc.  There are quite a few road crossings in town so please pay attention to traffic.

The next day we rode a little over 5 miles from the Pontotoc trailhead north to the Algoma trailhead.  In my opinion, this was a more scenic portion.

There was a nice little rest area between Pontotoc and Algoma with a picnic table and fix-it station.

Tanglefoot Trail is a tremendous asset to the communities through which it passes.  If I lived closer, I would be biking on this trail as much as possible.  We enjoyed it so much that we plan on biking a few miles at a time so we can see all of it.

Trace State Park (2016)

We were able to take a few days to do an extended camping trip so we decided to go back to Trace State Park between Tupelo and Pontotoc, MS.  We were here 4 years ago when we had our bumper-pull camper.  I wrote about our stay in the Deer Run Loop. The last mile of road before you get to the campground is VERY rough.  There are lots of potholes to dodge.  

This time, we stayed in space 26 in the Eagle Ridge Loop.  These campsites have water, electricity and sewer hookups.  

The bathhouse in Eagle Ridge loop has to be the cleanest and nicest one I have seen in a state campground.  In addition to the bathrooms and

showers, there is also a laundry ($1.00 each for wash and dry) and a meeting room.

They had to draw down the water to repair the levee plus we have been experiencing a drought in north MS so the water level is way down.  The boat ramps were closed because the water was so low.

This campground has what I call "good grills".  These are the kind of grills with a cut-out in the front slot so the top flips up.  It allows for easier charcoal pouring and cleaning out.  I wish all campgrounds had this type of grill instead of the kind where you can't flip the top up.

Trace State Park is known for its trails.  We walked the 1 mile loop known as the Jason M. Stewart Trail. 


They also have many miles of multi-use trails called Warrior Trails.  These trails are mainly used by motorcycle and ORV enthusiasts but are shared with hikers, trail bikers and horseback riders.

Since the last time were were here in 2012, Trace State Park has added a new campground loop.  This loop is named the Warrior Trail campground loop and is situated close to the trails.  These sites have concrete pads where the other loops are asphalt.  Most of the sites are unshaded but some are backed up to woods.  

There are stables close to this loop and the bathhouse has a hitching post.

Trace State Park is in close proximity to a fantastic Rails-To-Trails bike/walk trail called Tanglefoot Trail.

 We started out in Pontotoc and rode 5 miles to the north one day, then 5 miles to the south another day for a total of 20 round-trip miles.  I wrote about Tanglefoot Trail here.  This is a great bike trail and I highly recommend it.

Trace State Park has a lot to offer and we look forward to staying here again.

We camped here Nov. 10-14, 2016.  Both my Sprint phone & hubby's CSpire had good reception and data coverage.  We were able to pick up a number of over the air TV stations from the Tupelo, Columbus, West Point area.

Oak Grove at Sardis October 2016

Yeah!!!!  Our first weekend of low humidity, early fall-like weather hit north Mississippi this weekend (Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2016).  Our camper has been sitting unused all summer and we were anxious to start camping again.  This weekend was an absolutely perfect weekend for it.




We decided to go to one of our favorite close-by spots, Oak Grove campground at Sardis Lake.  I have written about this COE campground the first time we camped here.  Previously I have had Fridays off which enabled us to camp on Thursday night-Sunday but I now have a full-time job so camping trips are a little shorter for me.  Fortunately, my husband was able to take Friday off so he set up camp, then texted me where to come after work.

This weekend, we stayed in spot #25.  This was a great spot on an outside loop with a large yard area with plenty of shade trees.  

With lots of mature trees come lots of squirrels, Sally Mae's nemesis.  She spent some time in campground "jail" (the pen) for running after the squirrels.

Right behind our spot was the driveway to the lower lake boat dock.  Just on the other side of the driveway is John Kyle State Park campground.  This is an unusual set up with a state park campground and a COE campground right next to each other separated by a boat dock.  




We never could figure out when "check-in" time was, but "check-out" time is 2:30pm.   

Each site has 20/30/50 amp and water.  There are no sewer hookups but there is a dump station at the entrance/exit.  There are 3 bathrooms with showers which are kept pretty clean.  The handicap shower has a showerhead with a hose that you can take off the wall.  




We really enjoy this campground and recommend it if you are thinking about camping near Sardis Lake.