Gum Springs Campground

This was a beautiful campground to stay at. No other campers the night I stayed so it was absolutely quiet. There was a long drop toilet building with a men’s and women’s side Make sure to bring something to clean up with, there was no toilet paper. I could only find one spigot (at the front of my spot) but there may have been at least one more. I had cell signal 80% off the way in and everywhere at the campground. The entrance from the main rough is slightly rough but everything else is in really good condition. Pad at site was in great condition and level, included a picnic table, fire ring, and trash hook.

We stayed here as we migrated north out of Louisiana. It is a very well maintained campground with a small reservoir. I believe this was a CCC project back in the 1930s and you will see remnants from that era, like cement steps in the woods that don't seem to go anywhere now.

The sites are paved and most seemed large enough to handle our 38' motor home with room to park the toad. There are pit toilets in the campground that we didn't use so I can't really comment on them. There is water at the sites but no electric or dump station.

The campground is easily accessed west of Winnfield off of US highway 84. We were the ONLY campers here for the last three of our four nights. I'm guessing it doesn't get used much because of the lack of hookups, but it is definitely worth the $5 a night we paid using our lifetime pass. Unlike most Forest Service campgrounds, this one has a 21 day stay limit.

I did hear traffic on the highway when I was outside during the day, but at night it was dead quiet and very dark. There aren't the usual street lights blaring through the night that so many campgrounds seem to have. I consider it a major plus to have it be dark.

I fished for a bit one afternoon at the reservoir and caught a bass on my fly rod. The ranger told me they stocked it with bass, crappie and blue gill.

So, all in all, I think this was a great spot.

We traveled HWY 84 from Texas towards Alabama.Found this nice little National Park around 3pm right on HWY 84.. Completed our first Boondocking with our new 2020 Casita. We were the only ones in the Park and it was super quiet all night. Has a water hookup, but no other hookups. Also has a small latrine building with no water or lightning. The lake was pretty and fall leaves made it picturesque. I have attached some photos. Gum Springs would be fantastic get-a-way if Forestry would add full hookups and a nice bath house. Either way it is well maintained.

This place had no reviews so I was not real comfortable setting it as a destination while transiting Louisiana west to east. What we found was a beautiful and extremely well maintained camp ground that is easily accessible (paved throughout) and what a bargain at $10/night! Actually with the America The Beautiful pass it is even better at $5.

I’m assuming it would be suitable for most big rigs. Our total length (truck & trailer) is 40’ and we easily fit in site #16 without unhitching. If any sites had electricity I didn’t notice them.

There is a lake just down through the trees that apparently has fish of some kind. Two fisherman came in and bobber fished it from the bank. They must be doing some good as they fished both days we were here.

Cons:
Mosquitoes. Not unbearable but this is Louisiana. Water had some issue while we were here but they are obviously taking action to remedy the situation. (See photo).
Minimal road noise but some from the trucks out on the highway. Not a problem, just sayin’.

Pros:
Really too many to mention. Beautiful setting. ~1 mile trail around the lake. Shade everywhere. Paved and level sites. Clean vault toilet.
Verizon was 2 bars LTE with upload speeds 9.75 Mbps and download speed 2.25 Mbps. Streaming was no problem.