Natchez State Park, Natchez, MS

PeeWee & Charlene at Natchez State Park, Natchez, MS.

CAMPGROUND NAME: NATCHEZ STATE PARK
LOCATION: NATCHEZ, MISSISSIPPI
KIND: State Park
SEASONAL: No, open all year
RATES: 2014, $18
RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED: Yes, via Reserve America
CAMPGROUND WEB SITE
CAMPGROUND MAP
HOSTED: No
PHONE: 601-442-2658
GPS:
Office: N 31.59910, W 091.20918
Loop B: 31.59945, W 091.21662

Fishing pier at Natchez State Park, Mississippi

ACCESS: Paved roads, both to and in the campgro

und
SITES: 50 with water and electricity, 8 primitive, 10 cabins
SURFACING: Concrete and asphalt
PULL THRU: At least one that I saw at Campground B
BACK-IN: Most
MAXIMUM RIG SIZE: Some literature states 32′ but that isn’t right. Many larger rigs were there. I had friends with a 60′ rig including their truck and trailer which were camping there

TENTS: Allowed, but it may be difficult to find a place in many of the sites
LEVELNESS: Many sites are quite level. I used no leveling aids
SHADE: Quite a bit. Campground A may have the most
SPACING: Quite reasonable in most cases
TENT PADS: No
FIRE GRILLS: Yes
PICNIC TABLES: Yes
PETS: On leash

HOOKUPS: Water and electric only: 20, 20 and 50 amp
DUMP STATION: Yes, but no potable water at the station
ELECTRICAL QUALITY: OK (As indicated by my Progressive Industries Power Management System, Model EMS-PT30C.)
WATER PRESSURE: It seemed a little low, but that could have been my system

CELLULAR:
AT&T iPhone 5s without my Wilson Mobile 4G booster:
1 bar, plus LTE. I could not make calls but I could email and use the web
4.30 Mbps download, .93 Mbps upload
Phone signal 0% -113 dBm

St. Mary's Basilica — Inside St. Mary’s Basilica in Natchez, MS.

AT&T iPhone 5s with my Wilson Mobile 4G booster:
4 bars plus LTE. I could make calls, email and use the web
7.41 Mbps download, 2.78 Mbps upload
Phone signal 45%, -86 dBm

Verizon iPad Air without my Wilson Mobile 4G booster:
2 bars plus LTE. I was able to make calls using Skype, email and use the web
Download speed: 13.59 Mbps
Upload speed: .39 Mbps

Verizon iPad Air with Wilson Mobile 4G booster:
4 bars, LTE. I didn’t try but should have been able to make calls using Skype. Email and using the web were possible and worked well.
Download speed: 10.87 Mbps
Upload speed: 1.05 Mbps

TV
Over-the-air: I got about 6 stations
Cable: None
WiFi: None

RESTROOMS:
RESTROOM RATING: Fail (I assign a Pass or Fail rating based on many considerations including: cleanliness, usability, hot water availability, hand soap availability, ease or difficulty of use, condition and function of fixtures, if using the restroom is a pleasant or unpleasant experience, etc.) There were two mens’ toilet stalls in Campground B where I stayed. Neither door could be locked. A drain between them was above the low point and water from a shower with a blocked drain puddled there making it impossible to keep your pants dry when sitting. Gross. Other than that it was OK.
SOAP: Bar soap at the sinks
SHOWERS:
SHOWER RATING: Pass (I evaluate showers in a similar fashion to restrooms. See above.) I used the handicap shower in Campground B. Apart from there being no shelves upon which to place anything it was OK.
TRASH: Yes
WATER: Yes
LAUNDRY: Yes
RECYCLING: No

BUGS: None to speak of when I was there in mid November

Bride: Vidalia to Natchez — This view shows an unnamed bridge that crosses the Mississippi from Vidalia, LA to Natchez, MS. Here, we look toward Natchez at sunset.

NEAREST FACILITIES:
Gas: I’m guessing Natchez
Dump: At the campground
Propane: There is nothing nearby according to AllStays if you search just for propane but River View RV Park across the Mississippi in Vidalia is listed has selling propane when you search for nearby campgrounds. There may be other places.
Groceries: Natchez

This is a fairly nice campground. I stayed there 6 nights on my way south from Minnesota to New Orleans on my See-the-USA-in-an-RV trip. It is wooded with good shade, especially in Campground A. I should say that Campground B is closer to the lake. Campground A is probably a mile up the road. It has an even more wooded feel than Campground B. It is nestled among tall trees. I stayed at Campground B but walked over to A to have a look. I visited the restroom there and discovered the men’s toilet has but a shower curtain instead of a door. I don’t like anything but a locking door.

There is boating on the lake and fishing too, including at least two fishing piers that I saw. There is also hinting in the area, and not all that far from the campgrond!

The park is about 30 minutes from Natchez which has a sad and interesting history. I say sad because, like many other places in the south there was slavery there before it was abolished. In part that’s also why it is interesting, but there’s more than that. The town is right on the Mississippi river where paddlewheel boats reigned supreme back in their day. A photographer and his son that followed in his footsteps documented the town and its people along with the riverboats beginning about 1875. Many of the negatives survived and an excellent exhibit has been created from them at the First Presbyterian Church. The exhibit includes portraits where the men and the ladies posed formally in their finest period costumes and hair styles.

At one time the town was home to over half the millionaires in the US and a number of the antebellum (pre civil war) mansions still stand, some of which can be toured.

Natchez Trace Parkway runs by near the park. It is a 444 mile road running from the Nashville TN area to Natchez. It’s a national park and truly is a park-way. The road-park has a buffer zone on either side and the 60 or so miles of it I drove to get to Natchez State Park was just wonderful–forested on both sides with manicured grass where the trees didn’t grow to roadside. The speed limit is 50, there is one lane in either direction, there are no shoulders to speak of, and virtually no traffic. Just delightful. This is what driving should be. It’s where I first encountered Harrison Brown who was riding his bicycle from Alaska to Florida.

Note: The following spring I drove a little more than half of the Trace from the Jeff Busby Campground to Nashville, staying at both Jeff Busby and Meriwether Lewis campgrounds along the Trace.

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