“wondrous beauty!”
Continuing in the rustic tradition of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), mountainous Desoto State Park is nestled atop beautiful Lookout Mountain in scenic Northeast Alabama and accented by many rushing waterfalls and fragrant wildflowers that will simply take your breath away. Developed in the late 1930s, the hard-working and dedicated men of the CCC made many natural enhancements to the park that have withstood the test of time and will last for future generations. Come commune with Mother Nature as DeSoto State Park offers a family-friendly atmosphere that holds wonders for people of all ages!
Reviews of DeSoto State Park
21 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 8 users | Last reported on April 21, 2024AT&T 4G/5G
Confirmed by 9 users | Last reported on October 16, 2023T-Mobile 5G
Confirmed by 5 users | Last reported on November 23, 2023Clean open sites. Fast wifi. Clean climate controlled bath house. Cable TV ( did not watch). July temps and humidity were awesome up there.
Nightly Rate: $31.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 88
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
The website warns you not to use GPS to find the park. We recommend you follow the directions given on the DeSoto Park website as there is another road that goes to the park that is not big rig friendly.
We arrived on a Wednesday. When you reach the country store there is a place on the right to park. The store is closed Tuesday and Wednesday and there is a sign right there that provides a phone number to call. You just need to call and give your name. You will be provided with the security gate password. When the store is open you can go down and pick up your DeSoto State Park map. The store has snacks, souvenirs and some camping/hiking supplies. Also near the store is a laundry room and a Nature Center. The Nature Center is great for kids.
We had a pull-thru site. The site itself was steep. There isn't a lot of privacy either with this site. Due to the time of year (March) the leaves were not on the trees so we felt a little more exposed. The position of our fire ring was also close to the neighbors site. If we had to do this again we would reserve a back-in site. There are many sites at this park that offered more privacy. We booked this site 2 months ahead and due to the number of days we were staying we didn't have a lot of sites to choose from. Our site was next to comfort station 1. We didn't check out the bathrooms, but there are vending machines and a small laundry room. The laundry room has 2 washers and 1 dryer ($1.50 a load). One of the dryers was out of order. During our stay here we never had any issues getting in to do laundry. There is also laundry in the other comfort station (we didn't check this one out). The laundry down by the store offers more washers and dryers.
The cell coverage was spotty at times. We had a lot of cloudy/rainy days during our stay which we think contributed to this. We have Verizon and with our booster we had 2 bars of 4G. Wi-Fi is offered here and was very good. The only time we had some issues was on the weekends when the campground would fill up and one of the weeks the kids were on school vacation, so it got bogged down a little bit. We were able to steam movies on Netflix with almost no issues.
There are lots of hiking trails around the campground, which we enjoyed. We saw many birds and deer on our walks. Amenities are close in Fort Wayne. We highly recommend making a trip over to Mentone and eating at Wildflower Café. The food was delicious! There is a restaurant at the park, but we didn't try.
The campground offers primitive camping. We walked up to that area and would definitely recommend if you tent camp. There is a vault toilet and the sites looked very nice. It seemed very peaceful.
Overall we were very pleased with our stay here and would definitely recommend. The only thing we would change is the site we chose. Great place to stay!
Nightly Rate: $36.00
Days Stayed: 28
Site Number: 58
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
PRO
Senior discount
Site 40 level asphalt surrounding by gravel
Asphalt pad under moveable picnic table
Metal campfire ring with cooking grate
Campground entrance only by code thru gate
Toilet/shower facilities very clean and adequately stocked
4 trash dumpsters near exit gate
2 washers/dryers in toilet/shower facility and also at Park Headquarters
Quiet except for distant train whistles
Saw lots of deer
CONS
Not a dark sky friendly Campground as there are street lights at every other campsite. Who camps under a street light anyways??!!!
Desperately need some trail management on the trails from the campground to the toilet/shower facilities. One trail had exposed cable. Anyone challenged would need to drive to toilet/shower buildings as trails are not walkable friendly
No privacy from other campsites and the main campground roadway
Utility hookups are at the one end of site 40 need your longest hoses and cords! Don't unhitch until you are sure hoses and cords will sufficiently reach connections. We saw a lot of campers that didn't check and had to re-hitch and move to reach connections.
Campground WIFI worked only outside toilet/shower facilities
Nightly Rate: $43.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: 40
Cell Coverage Rating
T-Mobile 5G
Lots of spaces back in and pull through. Paved sites with fire ring/grill combo. Water sewer cable and 30 and 50 amp service. Gate code required to gain access to campground. Lots of trails and 2 water falls about five miles from campground. Lodge has a good restaurant and a breakfast buffet. Very clean bathhouses
Nightly Rate: $41.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 44
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Campsite #29 in the improved campground loop of Desoto State Park, Fort Payne, Alabama for 2 nights. $42 per night with reservation fee, full hookups plus cable. Cabins, Country Store, Lodge, tent area and Restaurant in the Park. Extensive trails system. Desoto Falls and Little River Canyon National Preserve and Scenic Drive nearby. Very weak Verizon and AT&T. Only had internet in RV with our Weboost cellular Booster turned on (2 to 5 MB/S down). Also our Verizon phones only worked in the RV when they were near our Weboost indoor antenna. Very nice well maintained campground. Did not check campground bathrooms.
Nightly Rate: $42.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 29
Wonderful large level spot. Gravel pad, picnic table, grill, fire ring. The site was fairly private with trees in between the sites. Our site was a back-in, but they did have plenty of pull-in sites. It was perfectly level - I’d say the easiest site we’ve ever camped in. Close to cute Mentone, AL and Fort Payne, AL. Very close to the Little River Canyon, which is why we picked it. There are tons of trails in DeSoto park itself, and DeSoto falls is also close by. I would definitely return and certainly recommend the campground.
Nightly Rate: $33.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 90
The pull thru section is paved with full hookups. You have the city of Fort Payne down the mountain with access to Interstate 59. Little River Falls and DeSoto Falls are close by as well as a short drive to Chattanooga. Camp store is a little sparse but that is not surprising considering that Alabama State Parks have very lean funding. The staff makes up for that with a great attitude and a helpful nature. I did not have to use the bath house but I checked it out. It was very clean with washers and dryers as well as a large sink.
Nightly Rate: $33.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 57
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
Very clean! Great Bathhouses, Tons of trails, Good Staff! Camp store is very lacking it is a little ways back to town to pick up food items (larger) so if you forget it will take you about 45 min round trip to a larger grocery store. Nature is what this park is about and we love it. Stays busy the year round but doesn't mean it feels crowded. Plenty of space between sites and has buddy sites at both upper and lower campground. Also has a large amount of pull thru sites. Internet services is just so-so. Full hookups and also has a dump station as well as rv storage. Visit Little River Canyon National Preserve while there and Desoto Falls. You have a place to kayak above Desoto Falls. Swim below and above Little River Falls. Not to far off of I-59. Some sites are sloping front to back steeply so ask to see the sites they have if that is a concern.
Nightly Rate: $37.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: Upper 32
Cell Coverage Rating
T-Mobile
So during our national crisis, we were so happy to still the able to get away for our 1st camping trip of the season. Fort Payne AL (Home of the Country Music band Alabama) is a nice old town that also has modern stores on the outskirts. Unfortunately, most places were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. DeSoto State Park is located in Lookout Mountain and also part of the Appalachian Mountain. Beautiful views and many awesome hiking trails and falls around to explore. Also right up the road was Little Red Canyon Falls, what a beautiful site. The campsite was very roomie and also had full hookups. Everything was kept very clean and I doubt it was just for this pandemic. Staff that we were in contact with were very friendly and helpful. we are surely keeping this on the our favorite list.
Nightly Rate: $37.00
Days Stayed: 6
Site Number: 77
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
A beautiful park with perfectly marked hiking trails and bike trails. I bit more than I usually like to pay, but with full hookups and great WIFI, totally worth it! The hikes to the falls are fun and not too challenging so the kids weren't complaining. 4g signal was in and out, but I don't have a booster.
Nightly Rate: $39.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 84
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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DeSoto State Park
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Last Nightly Rate
- 43.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 38.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 30.0
- Max Length
- 60 ft
- Max Stay
- 14
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Standard Tent Sites
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Water Hookup
Campground, Restrooms
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