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.

Hillman Ferry Campground Review at Land Between The Lakes

Hillman Ferry Campground Review
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
Grand Rivers, Kentucky
Visited:  May 15-22, 2015

Hillman Ferry Campground is one of 4 developed campgrounds in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area (LBL).  It is the northernmost campground, fairly close to the north entrance.  Hillman Ferry is a very large campground.  It is the largest campground in LBL with 374 camping sites.  Most have electric and water hookups, some have only electric, a couple of loops have sewer hookups as well and the rest are basic sites with no hookups.  Some of the basic sites can accommodate fairly large campers and some are walk-up tent sites. There are a good number of waterfront sites.  We stayed in site 66 in loop C-3.

Here are some of the pros and cons of this campground.

First, the cons -

Most of the sites are not level.  We saw some precarious balancing acts at some sites in order to get the campers level.  They are all grey rock sites, except for the handicap spots which are concrete and level.

Many of the spots take some manuvering and gritting of teeth to access.  Because there are no pictures of these sites on-line, you just have to see what you got when you get there.  Our site had a fairly steep descent from the roadway to reach the actual "camping pad".  The descent area had a couple of significant ruts in it where the rainwater washes because of the topography.  In order to get un-hitched and hitched back up when we left, we had to extend the front legs of the 5th wheel up very high, much higher than we have ever had to before.

Our camping pad was shorter than we thought it would be.  I think they must measure the "camping pad" starting at the road even though that would include the descent area mentioned above.

Now, the pros (which outnumber the cons) -

The campground is laid out pretty well for such a large number of sites.  There is really no way to describe it unless you see it for yourself.  Some of the sites don't have much privacy between them, but a good number of them do.

The bathhouse that I used was clean and everything worked great.  Even though we used our camper shower most of the time, we did use the bathhouse a couple of times so we would not have to empty our grey tank so much.  There are several different styles of bathhouses in the campground, some with no roofs!  Those were mainly in the full hookup sections (I guess they figure if you have sewer hookups, you won't be using a bathhouse so much) and in the basic "primitive" camping loops.  Most of the bathhouses are your typical USFS bathhouse with private showers that have a "dressing area" and shower area separated by a shower curtain.  Some of the bathhouses also have a washer/dryer.

If you love the outdoors, and like to walk, hike and bike when you go camping, then you will love Hillman Ferry.  There are many, many miles of trails (both paved and unpaved) that run throughout the campground and beyond.  There is a premier biking trail which has paved and unpaved portions.  Of course, the campground is so large, there is ample opportunity to walk and bike even if you just stay on the main roads.  We biked a short paved loop near the pavilion and spotted this deer who was curious, but apparently unafraid of us.

Hillman Ferry has a well-stocked campstore with ice, camping supplies, food and many other items.  They don't price-gouge either.  There are several playgrounds withing the campground as well as a swim beach.  There are also several boat launches within the campground.  Hillman Ferry also has an Archery Target Practice area.

All in all, we really enjoyed our stay here.  If I had it to do over, I would probably pick a site in the "C" section that had full hookups.  The elec/water/sewer sites in the "C" loop are up on a hill which benefits from the lake breezes without having the full-on stiff lake winds.  The sites in this loop also have fairly good privacy between the sites.

Choctaw Lake Recreation Area Campground-part 8 of Natchez Trace Parkway Series

Choctaw Lake campground is located near Ackerman, MS about 13 miles from the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It is in the U.S. Forest Service Choctaw Lake Recreation Area.


What a gem of a park.  There is a large lake (actually 2 lakes) and  a trail that goes all around the campground and both lakes.  

This park has a small swim beach, a playground, and boat dock.There is also a large day use area with a group pavillion

that would be great for parties or family reunions.

We arrived on a Wednesday and there was no one else camping there except the camp host.  He said that Thursday afternoons the bottom loop (lakeside) starts to fill up.  All of the bottom loop sites (2-11) are walk-up, first come first serve only.  The upper loop sites are a bit on the small side.  The campground has 1 bathhouse which is adequate but is dimly lit and could stand a good cleaning.  

We pulled into site #9, a very spacious site, well shaded with the living area facing the water.  The site was a straight back-in. The only problem we had was the site was not level side-to-side, but the view and serenity made up for any inconvenience.  The bull frogs gave us a serenade at night.

I really wish we had more time to spend at this campground as we only got to stay one night.  I would love to go back; however, the first-come, first-serve policy on the prime spots will discourage us from using this as a weekend camping spot.  I am guessing these spots are gobbled up by people who live nearby.  I believe this campground closes sometime in December and reopens in March.  We camped here on Wednesday, May 8, 2013.

We really enjoyed this park and hated to leave so early.  This picture just about says it all:

Davis Lake Campground Review - Part 6 of Natchez Trace Parkway Series

Davis Lake campground was one of two U.S. Forest Service campgrounds we visited on our Natchez Trace adventure.  This campground has 27 camping spots with water & elec.  There is a sewer dumpstation in the park.  Sites 1,3,6,8,9,11-18 are available for reservations through www.recreation.gov  The prime lake-front sites are walk-up, first come first serve only.

Having visited this park previously while it was closed in the winter, we hoped to get spot #5.  We thought that it would not have many campers on a Tuesday while school was still in. We were wrong.  Imagine our surprise when we pulled in and saw this:

The campground was almost full on a Tuesday.  Apparently a Pontotoc, MS chapter to Good Sams was having some get-together and took up the end loop of the campground.  

We were very lucky to get a spot deep enough for our 5th wheel.  We were quite happy with spot #8.

The camper you see in the left background of the above picture is the campground hosts.  They were very nice and gave us advice about their favorite spot for the next campground we were going to visit.

A number of the camping spots that were vacant in this campground were not set up to accommodate large campers.  The parking pads were just not deep enough.  

The lake is a big draw for this campground.  It is quite large and is great for boats and bank fishing.  This part of the lake and pier are in the day use portion of the park.  There are several piers and peninsulas that jut into the lake for bank fishing.  There are nice bathroom facilities in the day use area and a bathhouse in the campground.  I also noticed a washer and dryer at the bathhouse.

The camping fee here was $20 per night and uses a self-pay system.   The camp host WILL come over and see you at this campground.  Wish our stay was longer here.  It appears to be a very popular campground with locals.

We camped here Tuesday, May 7, 2013.  This campground will remain open year-round in 2013.