Monte Sano State Park

4/20-4/24 Monte Sano State Park. Huntsville, AL Site 48, $45
Neat little state park located on the top of a big hill just east of Huntsville. Nice large crushed stone campsites w water and elec, plus table and fire ring. Shower house clean, has washer and dryer and adequate showers with nice warm water. Lots of hiking trails, a planetarium w a Sat evening show, campstore and small Japanese garden. Check your route to the park- one is really full of very sharp turns and has a length limit. We were fine w a small 18’ Rpod trailer.
Be sure and see the Veterans Memorial park- amazing and so well done. The Rocket Center was underwhelming after already visiting NASA, and Smithsonian but still worth a visit. We loved seeing the historical homes in Twickenham neighborhood. Great brunch downtown at Poppy and Parliament English Pub by the courthouse.

We rarely give out 5 stars, but this campground earned every star! This state park is on top of a mountain. Do not follow your phone’s GPS, follow the route recommended on their website then you will be fine! We will definitely be back to this campground. Site 71 is a wooded, water / electric (50 amp), level, gravel site. AT&T was 2 bars 5G, OTA channels = LOTS, wi-fi was n/a. They have a double dump station near beginning of the campground. The hiking trails in the park were outstanding and well marked. Make sure you go to US Space and Rocket Center and Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro AL.

We are local to Huntsville and visited Monte Sano for our first trip in our new travel trailer. We stayed at one of the full hookup sites. The sites are wooded with ample space between them. The bathhouse was older but clean and the shower had plenty of hot water. They recently upgraded and now all sites have 50amp hookups. Check-in was a breeze and the State Park has numerous hiking trails, a playground for kids, and many other amenities. The only knock is the Verizon service was nearly non-existent. If the cell phone coverage would have been better we would rate it 5-stars.

Most of CG was closed for upgrades when we stayed, so the remaining sites were very full. Strangely complicated arrival and check-in (thru a park guard gate, then check in inside a park store, and then a gate code is required). Shower/restrooms weren't particularly upgraded and we didn't use them. But a quiet night, not much for the money since no Verizon reception and no TV signals though so near to Huntsville. The drive up through neighborhood wasn't too much for our 22' van but it would be for a long rig.

We returned to Huntsville after 30 years to see what is new. Monte Sano is well located for sightseeing in town. Returning after full days the spacious level sites were welcome to sit around our campfire. 1/3 of the sites are still closed for electrical upgrades. Most sites are too small to get all the vehicles off the road. On weekends, both sides of the road was full of parked cars. Hiking to and through the Japanese Garden next to the campground office was a pleasure. The other trails require real athletic ability.

The park has a lot of construction going on, so they moved my site to accommodate my stay. This site has no sewer but it was next door to the restroom/shower so no big deal. The staff here was amazing. ESPECIALLY CASEY.

BE CERTAIN to take the Governor's Exit, and not the one GPS suggests or you are in for a huge surprise with the hill. Unless you have a big truck, I highly recommend you avoid exit 17 I believe. Governor's is exit 20 and much much easier to climb.

I have multiple cell phones and LTE routers. Only Verizon and AT&T worked at the park.

We stayed here (site 74, full hook-ups) for two nights during July 2021. We had booked a full hook-up site, and were re-booked because of the electrical work which closed much of the campground. Luckily, we were re-assigned to a full hook-up site. This is a great state park, very large, and in a beautiful location. There is an extensive trail network, but I was able to take advantage of only a fraction because of heavy rain (3" in two days!) and a short stay. I'd love to come back and try some more of these trails. The McKay Hollow trail is very challenging!

We didn't use the facilities much, but they seem to be adequate. Laundry facilities were available. T-mobile reception was two bars but quite fast. The sites are large and private. Pretty much all the sites look very usable. The campground seemed a bit deserted in the summer, but much of it is shut down due to the ongoing electrical work. The staff was very helpful. We would definitely come back!

We enjoyed our stay at the park. Gravel sites. Nice spacing. Lots of hiking trails.

My problem was being contacted two weeks before our trip telling us our reservation was being cancelled. They wanted to do electrical upgrades. Work like this should be planned ahead of time. My wife called to get us moved to one of the 29 sites that stayed open. We had sewer hookup originally and lost it with the transfer. At least we were still able to go. If we were planning a big trip and got cancelled like this, we would have been upset. We were just doing a weekend trip.