19 May Tiger town

On our way up to Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, AL we decided to stop into Auburn, AL for three nights to check out Chewacla State Park and the college town of Auburn University, home of the Auburn Tigers.

This nice little state park has been serving the folks from AL and around the Nation since 1939 and as you might imagine is a very popular venue during the Auburn home games.

Just a few minute drive into Auburn guests can explore the University campus and walk the streets of town for restaurants and bars to enjoy. Folks locally and the students seem to love Toomer’s Drug Store and the lemonade is a speciality. The town is vibrant and filled with happy families and good old fashioned fun. We enjoyed stoping in to explore and have fond memories.

The state park is nicely laid out with two camping loops, the first is the smallest with 14 full hook up RV sites McVay Loop the other is Watts Loop and offers 20 RV sites also with full hook up and all have 30/50 amp service. The camping loops are somewhat tired/worn and in need of an infusion of money to keep them more fresh. Some sites were clearly better than others so consistency could be better.

We enjoyed seeing the old buildings that were built in the late 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. They add that old/vintage camp look that most folks expect to see at these older parks. The park is 700 acres in size and the main attraction is the 26 acre Lake Chewacla. The lake is beautiful and offers fishing for bream, crappie, and bass. We caught some of each species so there’s plenty of fish to catch. They have boat and canoe rentals but only non-motorized boats are allowed. Kids were swimming and really enjoying the big swimming/diving platform out in the lake.

The parks location was situated in-between the cities of Columbus to the East and Montgomery to the West and just on the edge of Auburn. They have six vintage cottages available for rent that look very cool and have been modernized over the years. Hiking trails and lots of mountain biking trails with ramps are very popular.

Our dates were April 11-14, 2019. We were on site #22 which was elevated, roomy and mostly level. Costs for the three nights with the full hook ups was $73.77.

Our rating for this facility is only 3.5 Pickles. The bathhouses need updating, the grounds need more $$, there was the RV storage area which is an eyesore as its right within the full view of the Watts Loop and finally, the camp hosts have a bunch of cluttered “stuff” outside their camps including the Flamingo Park which is just not attractive to see when you’re going camping. Finally, for some stupid reason that we could not understand they’ve added about four/five speed bumps up at the top of the entrance that cause your rig to bounce and jar to the point where everything inside will be on the floor! I think I lost two fillings going through that gauntlet. Why? Take them out…even the park staff were complaining.

Chewacla State Park – 124 Shell Toomer Parkway, Auburn, AL 36830 (334) 887-5621 Visit –Chewacla State Park