Chemin-A-Haut State Park

I only camped here as a third choice, after two monthly campgrounds in Arkansas told me they didn't take credit cards, only cash or check. It's too bad that we sometimes only learn from our mistakes.

First, this Louisiana State Park charges $5 more than most or all other Louisiana State Parks for off-season rates. A two week stay cost me $211. At other LA state parks...$169.

There are only 26 campsites. None are on or near the water. You have to take a LONG walk or bike ride over to the Day Use Area to get to the two boat launch areas.

Of those 26 campsites, most of the asphalt driveways are not level and/or have deteriorated to the point where there are large holes in them. They're also only about 10 feet wide, instead of 12 feet. I saw one camper leave Site 3 and move over to Site 2 because the driveway was so bad.

Most of the sites are all dirt, which becomes mud when it rains. Only one or two sites have grass. Some have some gravel but the majority are just mud...no leaves, no pine needles, no grass.

I was on Site 1. My picnic table was 15 feet BEHIND my RV. I could only get to it by walking thru the mud. It was also closer to the driveway of the next campsite than it was my RV...less than 10 feet away. Not what I want to do, walk behind my RV, thru the mud so I can sit outside my neighbor's window.

The bathrooms were not cleaned the entire two weeks I was there. I know that because a green razor was still on the floor of the shower I used, the moth in the sink was still there every day, the garbage can was overflowing and NONE of the four stalls had ANY toilet paper in them. At four rolls per stall, that's 16 rolls of toliet paper not replaced in two weeks. The toilets were stained, people were using papers towels to wipe and tossing them in the trash next to the sink. There's also no benches in the showers to put your clothes or to sit on while you dry your feet/put on shoes/socks.

The bathroom building was pretty new. Yet of the 20 outside lights, only four of them worked. 16 lights burnt out. Also, one of the lights in one of the showers was out, another had a mind of its own, sometimes lit, sometimes not. Now...I'm not a fan of brightly lit campgrounds. I want that pitch black experience when I camp. So having a bathroom lit up like a Christmas tree with 20 lights would not have made me happy. It's just the lack of attention to keeping the bathrooms nice that irritated me. There's also a huge hole in the roof where a tree fell on it during a storm last fall that has not yet been repaired.

In the Group Camping/Picnicking area, there is a bathroom. It had burned up during a fire and also has not been bulldozed/replaced. It's an open, accessible hazard.

In the Day Use Area, there is a building marked 'Nature Center'. There's no nature center. It's being used as a storage building. And the door was unlocked.

There is a nature walk/playgound area for kids where I walked my dogs. It's totally gone to pot. Most everything is faded, dirty or broken. A giant Connect Four board is missing pieces. A giant Pachinko board has many broken pegs.

They have cabins for rent. Six small ones, #1-6 and 8 larger ones, #7-14. Most of them are surrounded by dirt/mud. Like the campsites, little or no grass. Only the larger ones are on the water. Smaller ones are in the day use area. If you're going to rent a cabin, I'd suggest #3 and #12 (or #9, I forget). Those are the only two mostly surrounded by grass.

This place is devoid of wildlife. I just came from Arkansas campgrounds - Opossums, raccoons, armadillos, eagles, hawks, seagulls, pelicans, coyotes, owls, deer, beavers, woodpeckers, squirrels, skunks. I saw or heard ALL of them in a two week period there. At Chemin-A-Haut...An armadillo, squirrel and woodpecker every now and then. Nothing else, except...

Gators. That's good or bad depending on your point of view. What's bad is that there are no signs or handouts warning about them. I didn't even know there were any there. I mean, I heard a couple big splashes, at night, when I was walking the dogs near the big cabins but didn't actually see one till I took a walk off the beaten path and saw a snout in the water that slowly backed out and disappeared as I got closer. I don't mind gators. I just have to watch my dogs more carefully.

Now the good things...

- All Louisiana State Parks give 50% off if you are 62+. The booking website says you need an America The Beautiful Pass but they eliminated that. You just have to show them your driver's license showing you are 62+. It's a great deal. You don't even have to be a resident.
- Free Wifi with four Wifi antennas around the very small park. So Wifi signal was always strong.
- Laundry room. Two washers, three dryers. Only $1.75 each. Clean, new machines. And you can pay thru an app if you don't have quarters...PayRange.com.
- The men's handicapped shower is hot hot hot with a very strong stream of water, not like those wimpy ones you often encounter. And the sinks have normal hot/cold handles, not the ones that shut off after five seconds.
- LOTS of open space, many places to walk my dogs.

I also have to add that homeless folk hang there. 11:30 one night, as I was walking my dogs, a small white truck pulls in the campground, parks outside the bathroom. I didn't see the person park or get out but when I came back from walking my dogs, from inside my RV, I saw a woman come out with a towel. She got in the truck and left the park. When I asked about it at the office the next day because they have a gate that's supposed to be locked at night...she told me they only sometimes lock it and that another homeless person, a guy, comes during the day to shower. Then there was ZZTopper.
Two days before I left, an old maroon truck with a camper attached comes in. The guy driving had a long grey/white beard and dark sunglasses on and some kind of hat. Later, as I'm in the passenger side captain's chair streaming, he walks past the front of my RV. He has his hand out and open but very close to his side...as if he's asking for a handout on the sly. I ignore him, pretend to keep watching my stream. He stops, stares at me. Now mind you, he still has on the hat and sunglasses, with that long raggy beard. He goes around the side of my RV, stops and stares at me, then walks back to his camper. The next day, I'm on the roof, cleaning branches and water off the awning and here he comes again, side of my RV, stops, stares at me. I ignore him, climb down, go inside my RV. He circles around the front of my RV, stops and stares at it/me. I see him later, just before I walk my dogs. He heads in one direction, down the road, on his bike. I wait till he disappears, go in the OTHER direction with my dogs, INTO THE WOODS, on a trail. A few minutes later, here he comes down the path behind me. Then, after I get back with the dogs, I see him cut across the campground, walk in front of my RV and stop and stare at me again. He walks up to the bathrooms, which are like 50 feet away from me, stops, turns and squats on the pavement for a few minutes, staring at the side of my RV. Then he gets up, walks back to his camper, again, past the front of my RV, stopping, staring. Mind you, for all these instances, he has on the sunglasses and hat, with his long, dirty beard and never once said one word to me...just stopped and stared. I left the next day because my time was up there but if it wasn't, I would have left anyway. The guy was creeping me out.
Now mind you, I have nothing against the homeless. You do what you gotta do to survive. Hell, I'm homeless. Covid killed my business, so I had to retire. Bank made me sell the house. I live on the road in my RV. So a couple homeless people using the shower isn't a huge deal. It might be for others though. But this last guy, following me around, stopping and staring at me, stalking me, never saying even one word...well that was too much. You have been warned.

Two out of five stars. One of the worst campgrounds I've ever been at. The only things that gave it two instead of one star was the free WiFi, great showers, nice laundry room and big, wide open areas to walk the dogs. I'll never go there again unless I have no other choice.

Paid $4.50 processing fee, plus $25/night, plus $2.11 tax, less $13.55 (50% senior discount), for a total of $18.06. Friendly, competent check-in agent. 26 deteriorated asphalt sites, most unlevel. More level sites were #1 & 10–14. Showers/toilets, with lockable stalls, were spacious, clean, and climate-controlled (hook only in shower stalls, no bench). Laundry (get access code at check-in) had two each washers & dryers, $1.75 each. Playgrounds & outdoor swimming pool were just down the campground road. Kayaks were available for $7/hour.

Easy in, easy out. Full services. Newly built bath house with W/D. A nice mountain bike/ hiking trail. and a large swimming pool open in Summer. Next to and with access to Bayou Bartholemew and with a sizeable lake separated from the bayou by a levee. Boat ramps at both. Perfect for those who want to just getaway somewhere quiet and laid back. Trails can be muddy in rainy season. About 10 miles from town ( Bastrop) with one of the best outfitters in the region's ( Simmons). There's a Super Wal Mart on the NW edge of Bastrop on 165.

This campground has one loop with 24 sites, full hookups and a clean, modern bathhouse with laundry. We called day of for one night on Saturday which requires two nights to prebook. We booked site 12 in the exterior loop, had generous space, fire ring and grill, was not level, ATT service fluctuated between 1 and 4 bars on my hotspot. There is a street light between 11 and 12, which didn’t bother us for the one night stay but it shines on 11. We walked to the new cabins, and older cabins near the playground, meeting space and pool. There are a couple walking paths and we didn’t visit the boating area. This park was a pleasant surprise - small, clean and quiet - and we would stay again for a short visit. Sites 18, 22, 24 first choice.