Joe Wheeler State Park

The park has one campground area made up of three adjacent sections. Section A contains 42 sites of which 10 are pull-thrus. Section A has 24 sites with 50 amp service and full hook ups. The remaining 18 sites within Section A are 30 amp service with full hook ups. Section B contains 48 sites of which 44 are 30 amp service with full hook ups and four are 30 amp service with no sewer. Section C contains 25 sites of which 23 are 30 amp service with full hook ups and two are 30 amp service with no sewer. Some of the sites within all three sections offer lake views. Neither section B nor section C contain any pull-thrus or 50 amp service. Each section had its own restroom building with showers. The restrooms are in acceptable condition but need updating. The showers are free. Section B also has a activity center.

There is also a primitive camping area near section C that is accessed via a dirt road that loops around the area and needed to be regraded. I didn't see any marked sites within the area but there are concrete picnic tables, trash cans, and few hose bibs.

It is about a three mile drive from the park entrance off of highway 72 to the check-in office at the entrance to the campground. The office also has a very small general store, phone, firewood, and laundry. The store accepts credit cards. There are two washers ($1.00 per load) and two dryers ($1.25 per load). Check-in is required even if the was used internet to reserve the campsite. As such, there are five RV parking spaces at the check-in office. Access into the campground area is controlled by a gate arm and requires a code that is provided when checking-in. There is a dump station inside the campground area near the exit.

We stayed at site #A023 during our three night stay which was a pull-thru. The spacing between our site and adjacent sites was sufficient. The site included a fire pit with a grate for grilling and a concrete picnic table on a concrete pad. Connections included a single hose bid for water, sewer, and 15, 30, and 50 amp power connections. The hose bib was only about ten inches off the ground. Connecting both a regulator and the hose was tight but doable. The water pressure was about 42 PSI. We received 13 TV stations via the over-the-air antenna including ABC, CBS, FOX, and PBS. The stated nightly rate was $29 but after sales tax and fees, the rate worked out to be $34.39 per night.

According to the online campsite reservation website, the length of our pull-thru driveway was 65 feet. We were able to fit our 39 foot motor home and Ford Edge without any problems and still have sufficient space for another vehicle. The website indicates there are eight sites, mostly pull-thrus, with driveway lengths of 60 feet or more. The website contains a photo of each site.

Our site was relatively flat left-to-right but did slope front-to-back. Although the front jacks were almost completely extended, we didn't need leveling blocks. The other adjacent pull-thru sites seemed to have similar slopes. Many back-in sites appeared to have slopes as well.

Entering our pull-thru site with the motor home was easy. Exiting by driving forward was not. The loop road curved to the left as it went down a slight slope and joined with another loop road. There was a small ditch on the right hand side. If you have a bigger motor home, fifth wheel, or travel trailer, the easiest way to exit this particular site is to back out of the site.

During our Sunday to Wednesday stay, the campground appeared to be about 50% full. The days and nights were quiet. Quiet hours were from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

The day use area, which is accessible via a pathway and wooden bridge from section A includes a fishing pier, man-made swimming beach area, numerous picnic tables with trash cans but no BBQs and a few pavilions. Also within the day use area are four tennis courts which need repairs to the playing surface, two basketball courts, a grass volleyball court, and smaller sized soccer field. Considering the size of the park, I was disappointed that there was only about four miles of hiking trails.

Also within the park, there is also an 18-hole golf course, a lodge with a swimming pool for guests only and a restaurant, cottages near the lodge, and a marina. There are cabins for rent on the south side of the Wheeler Lake.

The wildlife we saw was limited to a few different bird species, some lizards, and squirrels.

The nearest town with limited services (gas, groceries, etc.) is Rogersville which located just east of the entrance to the park and is about a 10 minutes away from the campground. Florence, which is about 30 minutes away, is the nearest bigger town and has all of the typical services.

The road that leads to the entrance to the park and all of the roads within the park are in good condition.

I have to admit, I thought Alabama was going to be a pass through state but I was pleasantly surprised with this park.
Joe Wheeler is a park that has pretty much everything you could want in a state park. Full hookups, 50 amp, basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, hiking, biking, a swimming beach, disc golf, and a full 18 hole golf course with driving range and practice putting greens.

Not all sites are full hookup/50 amp. I stayed in the A loop. There is plenty of room between sites, not a lot of foliage in between so the privacy wasn't the best but good enough to not feel cramped.

The roads were in good shape and my 34ft Class A fit just fine into the back in w/out any trouble. The campground was very quiet even on weekends. This is not a party campground.

Grocery, walmart etc is 30 minutes away in Florence, Alabama so make sure you get what you need cause that's a bit of a drive.

Site accessibility (easy to back in, plenty of room, pull throughs also available) - 5
Campground location (20 miles off 65 but good roads) - 3.5
Nearby amenities (Shopping 30 minutes away) - 3
Site Privacy (spacious sites not a lot of privacy though) - 3
Campground amenities (Bathrooms/showers were very clean. Laundry was not easily accessible. Had to go to the front office) - 4
Dog friendly (Excellent walking loops and plenty of space) - 5
Activities (Tons to do, see above) - 5
Cost ($24/night for 50 amp full hookups..weekly rate) - 5
Staff friendliness (Tons of hosts..never seen so many onsite hosts. They were friendly) - 4
Connectivity (Decent signal w/out a booster for both ATT and Verizon. Decent OTA TV..ABC and FOX plus random channels) - 3
Total rating = 4.05

Boating, fishing, a beautiful gold course, purported grand lodge and fine dining, all-you-can-eat prime rib buffet on Friday nights followed by a seafood smorgasbord on Saturday. Sandy beach, swimming, picnicking, hiking, tennis, soccer, disc golf, and basketball offers more than an over-sixty nomad can bear. Three sections of full service wooded camping sites as well as a primitive area for those who prefer tenting and remaining literally on the outside. AT&T internet service almost non-existent. Perhaps with a wifi booster it might be manageable, but if I were a working stiff I would not rely on this campground to keep me connected. It is a pretty park, full hookups, heavily treed, good showering facilities, and friendly staff. Just not for me. Florida state parks, I suppose, have already spoiled us.

Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama is a nice campground, wrong weekend. Heavy rains and a terrible thunderstorm last night took down trees and the power. The internet service was already bad and the vicious weather did not help. We gave up trying to watch the latest Trump escapades through our Amazon stick and opted instead to go to bed early. The good news was located down the hill where a campfire had been recently lit and was smoking like hell and then abruptly washed out by the heavy rain. And a trailer down the road about a hundred feet from us had a tree come down on it. Our neighbors directly across the way scrambled to get a tarp over a surprise! now-leaking roof. Forgivingly for us the night was cool and with the windows cracked open and the fan blowing it was one of the best sleeps we’ve had lately. In Apalach from June 1 on we had to run the A/C constantly. We are not A/C fans unless absolutely necessary, and because of the recent heat wave down here in the south having a 30Amp hookup for the A/C was the main reason I found this campground about an hour and a half from our Monday morning destination at the Oliver factory. But last night no A/C was needed and the power returned around 4AM. This morning I had enough of an internet signal to get a little work done and the weather looks dismal again for today.

We had a nice two night stay, and the two grandsons enjoyed riding their bikes around the park. Two mornings in a row there was no hot water for showers, Later in the day the problem was fixed. But two days led me to the 3 rating. We did enjoy walking around the park although our time was limited as we were visiting relatives who lived nearby.

Joe Wheeler RV Campground is very (VERY!) well kept. Absolutely no complaints about the state of the campground/park as a whole. Most of the campsites offer power, water and sewage. Several of them are 30 Amp. fuse boxes, most of them are 50 Amp. There is a plan to upgrade several more to 50 Amp, not sure about the timeline for that.
Our primary problem with this facility is the website is very misleading about the sizes & inclines of the campsites. We arrived early evening having booked site C-5 online. I use the term "site" loosely because it is not a site at all, it's a wide spot in the road. The website lists this "site" as a pull-through site, this is certainly a gross exaggeration at best. We parked our 31' Coleman RV on this spot, hoping we were just missing something. The camper was parked with the slide-out facing away from the road. If we had parked it the other way around we would have been running the risk of having somebody knocking the slide-out off thereby destroying our RV. I am not over-stating this situation in the slightest - I have pictures on my phone that clearly show how close to the main thoroughfare our front doorway actually was. The fold-out steps were 2-3' from the actual road, there was no median or any other structure indicating people need to steer wide to avoid hitting people coming out of that door. We did not have small children with us on this trip - if we had, we would never have even entertained staying on this particular site. Passersby were actually asking us where our actual site is supposed to be. After reviewing our circumstances, we decided to take it up with the park management. We simply refused to risk our lives staying overnight in unsafe conditions. My wife, a highly experienced and seasoned RV camper stated she had never seen anything even remotely similar to our situation.
The campsite management staff was very helpful and understanding for the most part. They told us we could change sites to a non-sewer site (the 'wide' spot had sewage), but we would have to change sites TWICE! to accommodate somebody else's reservation(s). By the time we got ready to move, it was dark and we were very tired and hungry. We were forced to hook-up in the dark, pull the trailer to a new site (B-45), unhook it and set it up in pitch-black dark on a fairly steep incline. It took a long time to get the camper level on the pad. Needless to say this was very stress-inducing and time-consuming for me and my wife. I honestly do not care to recreate the experience ever again. The following morning we were again forced to pack it all up and move the camper to a third site (B-48), which proved to be the best site of the three we "sampled." This site was very level, easily accessed and spacious. Neither B-45 or B-48 currently have sewage.
We have absolutely no complaints with the staff at the park, they were all very courteous and professional at all times. Three of the four people we talked to acknowledged the problems with our original site (C-5), stating that they understood our concerns about staying there. They even allowed us some extra time to vacate B-48 on Sunday morning/afternoon when it was time to check out.
In summary in my opinion, site C-5 should not be designated as RV-compatible. It's not safe to setup an RV 2-3 feet from a main road. Doing so creates ideal conditions for some kind of tragedy, certainly parents with small children and/or pets should be aware of what they are getting when reserving this space. It should be made available as a primitive site only, a medium size car or truck could probably be placed here without too much concern. I urge everyone reading this to be aware and thoroughly research this campground (and all campgrounds) prior to booking anything. This is a very popular place, the campground was booked solid on this particular weekend. We were lucky to be able to change sites, in spite of having to setup three times in three different places. Otherwise we would have experienced a very late drive home filled with disappointment and frustration. Buyer beware!!!

We stayed for 2 nights / 3 days with our kids. The campground is pretty nice, and generally pretty quiet. There’s a ton of deer out and about, which gives it a nice feel when your out exploring. The paved section of the site was ok, but what made me give it 3 stars was the sewer and power. The site is full hookup, but the plug on the power tree was so loose the plug wouldn’t stay in. I had to ratchet strap it to the post. The water was fine, but the sewer was not good at all. The dump was about 6” to 8” higher than the pad. I don’t know about you, but I’m not all about a life where I have to disconnect my line and spill to get the hose to drain proper. I read somewhere they’re updating some of the sites, so hopefully it gets fixed. I’d just be aware that all the sites I could really see in C we’re pretty similar. The power, water, and sewer were all pretty close to the middle of the pad...which is nowhere near the location of any black or grey tank dump I’ve seen on a camper. Not sure why they weren’t back a little. On a positive note, the sites all have fire rings as well as concrete picnic benches. None of the trees were too close to the pad, but they were all close enough to give good shade.

We were close to the bathhouse which was ok, not great or anything. It was kept up, but could definitely use a renovation.

The laundry is at the camp store where you enter the campground. Host was super nice, and the shop had the essentials. The laundry room is up there as well, connected to the store. That was nice because if someone leaves machines tied up, they can take care of it pretty quick if they need to.

Playground is small but the kids loved it. Big old metal slide, two swing sets, and one of those rocking things that 4 kids sit across from each other on.

Cell service was spotty. Sprint would come up with 1 bar 4G, then go analog voice one bar, then no service on and off the whole time. There’s WiFi somewhere, we never could pick it up though.

We will probably go back again, but might try a different section to see if the lads are updated.

We arrived after dark, just before the rangers station closed. We followed the map to our spot, and my husband gets frustrated parking in the dark and it was SO DARK. There's suddenly 2 trucks on the road, so now he's really getting stressed. I explain that everyone here is an RV person, so I'm sure they don't mind waiting while you get parked. To our surprise, the people get out, and they work there. They have flashlights and are leading him in. How nice!!

We got set up quickly, we were really only staying 1 night, although there's a 2 night minimum reservation policy. We were on our way back to St.Louis from Destin and needed to break up the 12 hour drive for the dog.

I would stay here again, although the bathrooms definitely need some improvements. I didn't check the showers out, because they only have a shower curtain, which made me feel unsafe. We only stayed one of the 2 nights of our reservation, so skipping a shower wasn't a huge deal. Also, the bathroom stalls had no locks, and the toilets didn't flush so great. One of the toilets sprayed water all over when it flushed. I do plan to share this info with them in the survey they emailed me.

There were some folks in the primitive campground that were oblivious to the way their voices were echoing across the water. It wasn't the end of the world, though. They were having a good time.

The campsite we were on had a beautiful view of the river. Campsite is well maintained and exceeded our expectations. Cannot wait to come back after the renovation

Check-in was a little slow as the attendant was on a smoke break and didn't come in for 5 minutes. There are three loops: A, B, and C. We stayed in A (the "original" loop) since it had trees (trees in B&C were knocked out by a tornado a couple of years ago). Our site was good, lots of shade, as described, away from everyone else, very quiet, new gravel, only a bit sloped. Many sites, ours included, were full hookups. Our electrical pedestal was falling apart, and required three bungie cords to hold the surge protector in place (the outlet was upside down?). The bath house was awful: dirty leaking pipes, rust stains, filthy toilet--and it was not cleaned from Wednesday at noon until we left Friday at 10.

We hiked 5-6 miles on some very nice hiking trails, saw a decent enough golf course, and the usual lodge restaurant, tennis courts, dump station, etc.

Meanwhile, Loops B&C have brand new bath houses which were squeaky clean. Those loops have very nice pad sits with clean, fresh gravel, motion sensor lighting, new roads, and new everything. But very few trees, mostly B1- B8 or so, but several sites have a good view of the lake. When we return, we will stay in Loop B in the late fall.

The park is very clean pad sits are nice and level. The hook ups are easy and nice very well done. The beach is great the lake is incredible easy to get boats in and out. Swimming is very nice all sites well maintained.