This is my favorite campground for a bigger group here at Chickasaw National Recreation Area. This campground offers a very large campsite, two charcoal grills, and several picnic tables (one of which is super long!) and they are all in great shape! The campsite has a bathroom just up the road a short walk. It’s clean, and well-lit. I recommend taking a headlamp or flashlight and a hiking stave with you when walking at night to the restroom…well when walking anywhere at night. There are TONS of wildlife here and it’s always best to be prepared on the trail.
PLEASE DO NOT HARM WILDLIFE! You are invading on their homes. My recommendation for bringing your flashlight is so you can easily see what you may encounter and the hiking stave is useful for many scenarios…for instance, gently coaxing a tarantula off the walking trail or holding in front of your face while walking between two trees so that you don’t take a spider web across the face.
Back to my review…between our whole group, we encountered a opossum, an armadillo, a skunk, 3 tarantulas, one adolescent King Snake, 2 cats trying to steal food, and one of the world’s most persistent raccoons ever! He knew how to open coolers and such, so please secure your smellables well, including your trash.
Our group consisted of 21 youth and 4 adults and this campsite was a perfect fit. We had lots of tents, hammocks and 3 separate Chuck box kitchens set up, with plenty of room to spare.
The two ends are grassy and great for tents, the middle area around the picnic table/community area is rocky. We had tents in there too, but know it’s rocky so bring a cot and good tent stakes.
Oh, and there’s access to the creek directly across the street. Great hiking trails all around, up to the Travertine Nature Center (gift shop) and to Little Niagara. And if you happen to be affiliated with a scouting group, contact the Park Ranger before you arrive and set up a service project set by the Ranger. We did this this the weekend before May 1st when it opened to the public and helped clean out every fire pit and clear debris from each campsite in this area. In doing so, we were allowed to camp for free and our service hours went to the completion of the Junior Ranger Award. 10 hours of service and education.