Located just south of Tupelo just off a county road, you will find the Tombigbee State Park. Built in 1934 by the CCC, it is different from the sites you will see at both Cheaha State Park and even nearby Tishomingo State Park. It lacks the very distinct stone buildings you find in so many CCC parks. This has me wondering if they didn’t have the same resources in this area or if those buildings are no longer there. We didn’t get to see the entire state park, so there may be some deeper in the park.
Map of Tombigbee State Park
We were stopping here because it was a great halfway point on a road trip we made. It is an exceptional stop as a halfway point.
This park is 6 miles outside Tupelo. We were able to take a ride into Tupelo down Main Street and were almost caught up in their high school’s homecoming parade. This area looked so nice and I would love to come back and explore more. Tupelo is also well-known as Elvis Presley’s birthplace. I have been able to check it out and I recommend it if you are even remotely an Elvis fan.
Ways to Stay at Tombigbee State Park
Map of Disc Golf trails at Tombigbee State Park, MS
We were able to book our campground reservations the day of by calling the MS State Parks reservation line, but if you aren’t booking the day of your trip you can reserve your spot online.
At only 480 acres, there aren’t a ton of accommodations.
There are 20 RV/tent sites, a primitive camping area, seven cabins, one cottage, and a group camp area.
We stayed in the RV campground. The bathhouse is centrally located and is clean. It is what I have come to expect at state parks. Clean enough, but not very modern and updated. There was also coin-operated laundry in the bathhouse. The shower water was hot enough, and after a long day playing outside sometimes that is all you need.
There were some relics in the office of the CCC days.
We stayed a night in site #10. We did have to use levelers to get our travel trailer level, but it wasn’t terrible. The great part about the campground being smaller and that only about half the sites were in use- the kids could ride their bikes to their heart’s content. That’s not something we let them do in bigger or more crowded parks.
There was ample shade at our site, and all the other sites looked similar.
Check-in was at the office and the staff was friendly and helpful. There were a few things in the office from the CCC days, as well as maps of the park.
The cabins are along the main entrance of the park (probably not a lot of road noise though). Some looked rather rough, but the inside could be a treasure. There were some along the lake’s edge and I did see satellite dishes in the yard, so they might even have TV.
What To Do
You most likely won’t be surfing the internet. We only had one bar of Verizon service.
One of the pavilions at Tombigbee State Park
Disc Golf… We play disc golf, but we didn’t have a lot of time to play on this visit. They have two courses and if you ask in the office, they can give you a scorecard and map of the courses.
Volleyball Court… My kids love the sand pile they have at my parent’s house, so they did enjoy digging in the sand a bit.
They have a pretty awesome playground that I am guessing is only a couple of years old. It is well cared for and was a hit with our kids.
There are many picnic areas. Some just small tables in the open. Some are covered. There are some very nice pavilions if you have a larger group meeting.
Lake Lee is a rather large lake and has fishing and boating options, although no swimming is allowed.
Hiking… There are several trails at the park, but we weren’t able to go hiking this visit, so check out AllTrails for advice from some folks who have been there.
Things You Should Know
If you are coming in the summer…. bring bug spray, the mosquitoes were bearable, but they made their presence known.
The campground at Tombigbee State Park
Our GPS took us in an awful way. We pulled a travel trailer and did okay… but when we left to go into town, we found a much better entrance/exit. DON’T come into the park from the North side. We came on road 1282… Don’t! The road has more twists and turns, is more narrow, and the area you ride through isn’t as scenic as the other route we found. We took Main Street to State Park Road. And we took road 1050 to State Park Road. Both of those options are far better than the first route we took. I didn’t find the roads to be as well-marked as some state parks are, so make sure you have it loaded in your GPS and follow it closely.
The laundry room at the bathhouse
We had a serious lack of cell phone service while we were there. It is a good idea to take a photo of the driving directions, so you won’t get lost leaving.
I had some specific questions about the park, so I was delighted to get the park’s number on my reservation confirmation. 662-842-7669
Overall, it is a decent stop-over park. It was exactly what we needed… a safe, quiet place to stay a night. I would love to have gotten on the trails and seen more of the park, but we just didn’t have the time…. honestly after our last camping trip, I am comfortable with paved trails until it gets colder and snakes go in for a while.
The state park sign on the entrance we used on our way in…. definitely use my recommendation on a better way to find the park!
