We overnighted here on our way to New Orleans. The office staff were young, inexperienced, and not very knowledgeable. We stayed in the North Campground and it is 4 miles from the entrance. Ground around the campsites was trashy. As a previous reviewer stated you have to choose your site with care. Many are very sloped and short. Would probably not stay here again if we have another choice. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
Camped in North Campground. Made reservations on Internet and luckily picked a site not on the perimeter. Most of the sites on the perimeter are very sloped. Some to the point of being unusable. The staff at office, which is several miles from the North Campground is not very knowledgeable about the sites, suitability for slides, etc. Website is best source for this information. We had a great time visiting the locals who came in great numbers during the weekends. We would stay here again but would choose our campsite with great care. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
We stayed here with another family member for the weekend of Thanksgiving. Very nice campground; we stayed in the South camping section and this was nicer that what we passed through on the north side. Down sides of this park is the restrooms are very old and need a lot of updating. In the womens' there were no locks on the stalls or in the shower stalls. In the men's there were only 1 large open shower with 2 shower heads. Not very nice at all. The only problem that we encountered was that there were kids from 2 other campsites that were having some type of bathroom wars with the toilet paper; and this over the weekend got out of hand. But in regards to that the rangers and the Campground host did address with the families of these kids. If you are looking for laundry facilities good luck, it was a holiday weekend and everything in the town was closed; there are no laundromats or anything in the town of Ville Platte and the only one in the campground was always occupied by people. There is only one in the ENTIRE campground and that is in the north side and we are talking miles away from where we were to get there. If you are traveling in a large home, I would ask the rangers what sites to use on the south side that don't have all the up and down hills that we had on the sites we stayed at. We did ride down to the cabins and there were just beautiful. But overall this was a good campground and we will be back. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Chicot is our home state park as we live only 15 miles away. The most beautiful cabins I've seen in any state park, they are more like luxurious vacation homes than cabins. Only draw back is be prepared to reserve a year or two ahead or it'll be tough to get a cabin. This park has a little of it all, great scenery and wildlife (dear, possum, racoons, armadillos). The campsites are set up well with BBQs, pits, mostly well shaded, and very varied types of sites to accomodate different taste. Excellent nature trails, biking, boating, and fishing. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Hard to find, harder to get into with 40 foot motorhome. Pleasant surprise when you do get in. We stopped overnight and campground nearly empty. After setting up, we enjoyed the many wildlife sharing the park with us. The bathhouse, while dated, was clean and well supplied. Rangers were friendly along with the receptionist. Much, much easier to exit. Just be aware that low, overhanging limbs and narrow roadways make the drive in challenging. The experience was worth the effort. We camped here in a Motorhome.
Beautiful campground, fun times. We did not use the pool (end of November), however did enjoy the playground, nature trails, and quiet, relaxing atmosphere. The campground doesn't offer many activities, however I would camp here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This park needs some work done to it. (I was told that there was a major renovation planed for late 06 into 07) We were with 3 other campers and traveled 3 hours to go. This was our 2nd time at the park. One of the sites we had had a steep drop off from the asphalt pad to a gravel base. It was a bad slipping hazard for any adult and we had children with us. The pool was a whole other problem. The pool was filled to capacity with people so we waited for the "overnight campers only" time at 4:30 and when we got to the pool there were still plenty of day use people in the pool along with many water-logged diapers & general trash under the lounge chairs inside the pool area and around the outside of the pool area. The deep end was closed and the staff was adding chemicals to the pool while we were in it. Needless to say we left really quick. The one thing that put it over the top for me was the lack of "proper" swimming attire. The rules stated what proper attire was- yet there were young women in the pool with white tank tops on and no undergarments..you can guess what that looked like-obscene. I called the state to complain. I was called back by the park manager about 3 days later and she basically told me my complaints were unfounded. So I gave her a good piece of my mind and told her she didn't have to worry about fixing anything for me cause it was not worth the 3 hour drive to go back. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
This is an excellent state park. Fishing is always good. (North Side) Campground hosts are always helpful. Each site is well shaded with pits. During heavy rains there are some site that get flooded, park officals will let you changed site if possible. The playground is nice but on sand. Pool is on opposite side of campsite if your on north side, but the north side is leveled & paved. South side camping are very narrow & on steep paved sites. We never stay on south side for this reason. The park usually has some kind of educational activity going on. Off I49, exit 46. Dont forget anything Ville Platte is about 10 miles away. We camped here in a Fifth Wheel.
I was born and raised within 20 miles and even worked one summer during high school in the park. I have visited this park numerous times growing up and enjoyed it every time. But this trip will be the last. I arrived at the park at about 3 pm and waited in line until 5:30 before I was able to enter even though I had reservations because of the long line of campers to get in. There was only one person working the gates and 2 rangers patrolling the line. One ranger was courteous and understanding when people were complaining to him about the wait but the other ranger had the Barney Fife attitude. I was standing around talking to some other campers waiting in line when "Barney Fife" approached us. When I asked her what was the hold up she told me there was only one person working the gate. I asked her if she or the other ranger could help out with the gate she told me that if I open my mouth one more time I will be spending the night in jail. When I told her I didn't appreciate that she proceeded to give me my "last warning". I returned to my truck and didn't say another word. When I got to the gate I found that the Park Manager was working the gate. I complained to him about the ranger and he just laughed it off and told me not to worry about it. I will never return. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.
Review Rating
[ 7 / 10 ]
2004
$6
Large state park, roads are good, sites paved but all sites are not level. Some sites are way off level. Lot of nice trees and 2000 acres to walk around on. Very large lake in park, fishing should be good here. Play ground equipment close to RV sites. No noise in park. We camped here in a Motorhome.
The rv sites do not have sewer hookup even though there is a dump site. The bath houses were not clean. The park offers primitive camping and rv sites. There is a boat dock for the lake. The lake water was muddy and had a lot of grass in it. We camped here in a Motorhome.