Palmetto Island State Park Campground

What a wonderful surprise this park was! It was our first stay at a Louisiana state park, and will certainly not be our last. This fairly new park offers up nearly 100 sites tucked into a semi-tropical forest filled with giant palmetto palms. The sites are all good sized, and some have decent privacy and separation. The facilities are nice and well maintained. They even have free laundry on site! We enjoyed all the hiking and biking trails, and one day rented a canoe (a deal at $5/hour) to explore the lakes and canals. Overall a very nice park.

We very much enjoyed our night at Palmetto Island. The park is beautiful and the facilities well kept. There were bear warning signs around the park but we didn't cross paths with any, although we did see wild pigs and plenty of armadillos! There were only a few other campers while we were there but sites are well separated from each other so even if it was full I don't think this park would ever feel crowded. Electric and water hookups on each pad but no sewer.

One of the nicest state parks I've been to.
The sites were large and fairly private, walking trails were short but fun and the local wildlife was plentiful. The grounds are very lush and peaceful.
The hosts picked up trash at least twice a day and kept the place immaculate. The free laundry was in good shape. Showers/bathroom also very clean.

There are plenty of bear warning signs but also watch out for the feral pigs. I don't know if they're aggressive or not but hearing them snorting at you as you're walking through the woods is a bit unusual.

Abbeville is a small but close town to get anything you need. I would also recommend Shucks for dinner if you want some great seafood.

Please note the roads around this park can be pretty horrible. I found this common through Louisiana. I would highly recommend you follow the directions listed on the park website to get in and out of the park. I followed my GPS on the way in and it was extremely rough. I followed the park instructions on the way out and it was well worth the extra 15 minutes travel time considering how much better the roads were.

Site accessibility (Easy to get to. Roads inside the park were great. Level sites) - 5
Campground location (Good location if you want something remote. Fairly close to Lafayette for bigger town stuff and Abbeville for small town stuff) - 4
Nearby amenities (Everything you could need was nearby) - 5
Site Privacy (Spacious sites and fairly private) - 4
Campground amenities (Free laundry, trash cans near every site, clean bath/showers) - 5
Dog friendly (Great walking loops and plenty of space) - 5
Activities (hiking, biking) - 5
Cost ($18/night for 50 amp W/E) - 5
Staff friendliness (Very nice and helpful staff) - 5
Connectivity (Good signal w/out a booster for both ATT and Verizon with good download speeds. Great OTA) - 5
Total rating = 4.8

The camp hosts and park staff are friendly and do a really good job keeping the park in great shape. We were really surprised at the quality of the park considering how inexpensive it was. We passed so many private RV parks with reach-out-and-touch-your-neighbor spacing that were far more expensive. It is a mystery to us why someone would choose those when the LA state parks are so nice.

The RV sites are a good size and most of them have significant vegetation for privacy. Each site has electricity, water, picnic table, fire ring, and a solar light on the site number sign post. No sewer, but there is a dump station with two ports on the way out of the park.

Some of the sites have a tent pad with them (the web site marks which ones do). This is nice for setting up a canopy. If you really want to tent, I would recommend the backpacking sites as they are on the lagoon. Tent site 1 is especially nice because it has a lot of privacy.

The bathrooms are clean, climate controlled, and the showers are nice. If you are the first of the day to take a shower, you will have a long wait for the hot water to show up. Just be patient. After 2-3 minutes, it will be warm enough to start using. Another 5-6 minutes after that, it will reach a nice hot temperature.

The laundry facilities are free, and the laundry rooms are bright, clean and have folding tables. The laundry room at Comfort Station 1 (I never remembered to check Comfort Station 2), has a bookshelf with a borrow/exchange collection. Most of the books are either romance or children's, but there are a few others scattered in.

There is a small playground at Comfort Station 2 (the one near site 43), and there is nothing for kids at Comfort Station 1 (the one near site 90), so pick your site accordingly. There is a large playground at the Nature Center, but that's probably too far a walk from the RV sites for a kid. One thing to note with the various buildings is the railing design - they have built in a palmetto design which is a nice touch.

There are plenty of walking paths - some are improved and some are primitive. The primitive ones get really muddy after a heavy rain. We felt safe walking and biking on the road as well.

The boat ramp, parking area, and bathrooms are good - no overhead lines to annoy sailboat launching. We didn't end up putting in just because it would have a long bout of motoring to get where we could put the sails up in the bay, and the current was fairly strong, so it would have taken several hours with our wee motor to get back up the river. For a power boat, it would be a nice experience.

There is also a canoe launch and canoe rental. They have some "canoe paths" which are canals between the various lagoons.

We saw lots of armadillos, an army of vultures, and a few pigs - no bears or alligators. The mosquitoes were pretty bad the first day, but a hard freeze cleared them up for us.

We were at the park after New Year's, and it was fairly empty. We heard from the camp hosts that it can get rowdy with locals on the holidays, but for us, it was one of the more quiet experiences we have had.

If you arrive after hours, just pick a site to stay in overnight (use the web site to see which ones haven't yet been reserved) and settle up at the office in the morning.

One interesting bit: to get to the park, you go by many rice fields. We saw what looked like little traps in the fields and wondered if they were perhaps crawfish traps. After looking it up, we found out that this area of LA is known for this type of aquaculture. It's actually fairly fascinating how it works, so I encourage you to read up on it so you know what you're seeing.

Sites are level (a few are concrete, most are dirt/gravel), and well-spaced. There's a lot of plant life keeping the sites private and well shaded. The restrooms are huge, modern, and very clean. We had 3-4 bars of Verizon and 4-5 of AT&T. The park WiFi is pretty good if you're close to the tower, but don't count on it.

There are almost 100 sites, and while we were here, there were no more than 10 taken, so we only saw other campers while walking the dog. Lots of trails, but watch out for the feral hogs and black bears. We didn't see bears, but the hogs are most definitely around.

Resident dragonflies keep the mosquitoes down in the mornings, but the mosquitoes can be pesky in the early evening. Rangers and campground hosts are extremely pleasant and friendly. The only sounds you hear are the birds and treefrogs.

Good, relatively central location for Lafayette, New Iberia, Abbeville, and surrounding areas. Oh, I almost forgot -- free laundry facilities!

I wish we had more time to spend in this area. The park itself was lush and green, even in the middle of February. The campsites are huge - ours was 75 feet long, and at least 25 feet wide. If you can drive it in, you can park it here. The sites are nestled among the trees, and have good privacy. There are excellent restrooms, showers and laundry facilities in the park, as well.

Close by in Abbeville, Louisiana, we like Shuck's Restaurant. Always busy, it had the freshest oysters and great cajun food served in a family-friendly place. Avery Island is nearby - don't miss the chance to stock up on Tabasco stuff and tour the facilities.

Palmettos Island has a number of recreational opportunities - trails, canoe and kayak launch areas and a boat ramp. The park allows individuals to drive golf carts in the park.

If you're so inclined, there are get-togethers at the park. One Saturday morning, there was a pot-luck Dutch Oven breakfast.

All in all, a very pleasant place to stay for a while.

The other reviews cover this place well, I just wanted to mention the FREE LAUNDRY at this park. I must have done 12 loads while here, just for fun. If you have the time, do the kayak/canoe trail as well. It is not very long, but pretty as heck.

PS - scout your site ahead. Some sites have street lamps right in them. On top of those lamps are the Wifi antennas. With a little planning ahead, you can get a great Wifi signal too.

There were a bunch of armadillos here - let's start by saying that.

Also, free laundry, so we stayed right next to the bath house / laundry area. 2 washers and dryers per bath house. The first day we made up the cost of the site with 6 loads of laundry.

Getting here was a bit of a drive off our path as we traveled from Mississippi to Texas, but it was a pretty nice place once we got there.

The sites are all back in and electric and water only. Every site is private, some have tent sites as well, but plenty of space.

There were not a lot of things for the kids to do, but we think that was based on the weather. There is a splash pad and many hiking trails - just not the right weather for us.

We would go back again for sure. Oh yeah, friendly staff!

We arrive at Palmetto Island State Park between boon-docking trips with family in South Louisiana. Prior to departing on our Westward bound trip, we thought it would be a classic S. Louisiana spot to check out.

The only uncomfortable experience I would expect would be staying here in warmer months; not so much from the heat, but from the mosquitoes. Even in February, the warmer days bring out the mosquitoes.

Since we arrive in February, the Park is mostly empty; no reservations needed. The staff are friendly, camp hosts (3) are available to assist if needed. The camping spot are level, large and spread out for privacy. There are a few spots that are close together, which provide those with camping friends to be parked near each other.

Fishing is available in the ponds and bayous connected to the Vermillion River. This is a good park to stay at during February/March to catch the local Mardi Gras parades in the Lafayette area.

After driving down back roads and passing crawfish ponds, we found this great state park.
It's fairly new. It has nice sites that are well separated. Plenty of room to bike/hide. There is a boat launch and canoe trails. The bathrooms have free laundry! We put additional detail on a youtube video ( https://youtu.be/J-gPeaYcnEs )

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