Next May, my wife and I are are heading out of Florida for a Southern US Trip. We will start in Mississippi / Louisiana and Arkansas. I am asking you redwood'ers for ideas of camp sites and places to see in those three states. Once I get an idea I will add some states as we travel to California and up the coast to San Francisco to Reno and on. But, for now I just want Mississippi and Louisiana and Arkansas. I have heard so many bad things about I-10 we will probably travel on I-20 once we leave Florida.

Dave

Last month we traveled on interstate 20 from South Carolina to Dallas and the road surface was in very good shape.

I believe I-20 merges with I-10 in west Texas. We have gone from Phoenix to Houston twice now in the winter months, with no problems other than having to stop for our Border Patrol checkpoint.

I-10 from the Fla./Ala. line to Texas is no worse than most of the Interstates. If you choose the southern route, some of our favorites along the way are:

Fort Pickens - Pensacola Beach, Fla
Buccaneer State Park - Waveland, Ms.
Fairview Riverside State Park - Madisonville, La. (New Orleans area)

Safe Travels

Is the Fairview State Park available for our Redwoods with hookups?

Also a great park in Livingston La, Lakeview rv park on I-12 about 30-45 minutes to New Orleans.
Also a very nice park at Coushatta casino in Kinder La about 20 miles north of I-10 about 30-45 minutes east of Lake Charles.

We have stayed at Coushatta Casino and Frog City Rv park. They will fit your Rv easily. Both in LA.

Dave, I can hopefully give you some ideas in Arkansas. We lived there 35 years but have not camped in our Redwood there (yet) since full-timing.

Some great places:
Maumelle Park (West Little Rock)
Petit Jean State Park (pay attention to length requirements on some of the access roads)
Lake Fort Smith State Park (beautiful park and facilities)
Hickory Creek COE Park (Beaver Lake). Surprisingly there are not a lot of good options in the Northwest Arkansas area except around Beaver Lake.
Lake DeGray State Park (Arkadelphia)
I think there are some nice campgrounds in the Lake Hamilton/Hot Springs area but have not stayed there.
Lake Ouachita is beautiful.
The diamond mine in Murpheysboro is a dirt field (if it's dry) or a mud pit if it's rained, but on occasion visitors pull out some big rocks 🙂
The Ozarks are wonderful but length and grade can be an issue on Highway 23 and some campgrounds. Highway 7 is not bad, US 412 is good and I-49 is good.

Hope that helps!

Do not take the word of any state, local, national park that they are big rig friendly without going to look for yourself, been there done that. Yes most have a few large/long sites, but due to trees & tight turns you can't get to them. We have started spending one night at a rv park & go check the state park out personally before committing to book a site, unfortunately most of them we don't fit. Also at some private parks their idea of a big rig isn't your big rig.

when you get to Texas we spend weeks at 4 parks there. North of Houston @Lake Conroe, west of Houston we stayed at Colorado River, Northwest of Dallas @Bay landing, East of Dallas @ Lake Tawakoni, all were thousand trails and we fit in all. We also stayed in Houston @Traders Village. That one was tight but we were able to open everything up including the awning. It did have concrete pad pull through. we Just needed to be closer to town for family functions.

If you do take the I-10, and need a place to stop overnight I recommend the Cattleman's Steakhouse. It's +/- 5 miles off the I-10 ,35 miles east of El Paso, so it's easy on/off and quite.

If you eat at the restaurant they let you stay overnight in the lot for free. When you drive in, DON'T GO UP THE HILL. The spot by the lake is way big enough (and then some) for our 38FL with slides out and has a view of the lake.

When we've gone (3x times now I think), we park the camper by the lake (have to move the cones, pull in then put them back, they don't care). Then we walk up the hill, put our name on the list for a table and then let security know we are staying the night. The lot is locked and patrolled overnight so they like to know we are staying. If the wait is long we go back to the camper and have a glass of wine and set things up for the night.

If you like ribs I have to add get the "Half a cow". It's a full rack of beef back ribs, IMHO best on the planet hands down! I get it knowing I'll have left overs and I'm glad to have them because the next day is a drive day so easy lunch or dinner the next day. They don't list it on the internet menu, but the menu at the restaurant has it.

Have fun!

One state park (that is definitely big rig friendly) to add to icemans list is Village Creek state park in Wynne Arkansas, one of the best state parks we've stayed at in the US

Is the Village Creek State Park a full hook up?

I appreciate the ideas on camp sites very much. How about some great places to see? I am into photography and would love to hear ideas on places to visit in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas.

Is the Village Creek State Park a full hook up?

Yes, they have full hooks up (50 amp) on the campground up the hill from the lower one which is just water and electric. Most are long back ins but there are a few pull through sites.

Ive attached a campground map, it area "B" that I'm talking about.

We try to get site 55 or 62 to 65, most of these are sat TV friendly.

Last Spring the rates were $28 or so.

By the way, DeGray lake state park in west Arkansas that was mentioned above is also nice (we stay there too) but it's only 30 amp and water.