Pickensville COE - Pickensville, AL

PICKENSVILLE RECREATION AREA

RUN BY: Corp of Engineers

LOCATION: Pickensvile, AL

UTILITIES: Water and Electricity. Some have sewage.

COST: $22-24

OUR RATING (1-5): I-5

NOTES:  Here is one of the COE's jewels. Located along the main channel of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway, this 170+ site campground was a great find.  Except for the loop closest to the entrance, almost all of the sites have a nice view of the waterway.  The channel is very active with commercial barges and pleasure craft.  You are at least 10+ miles from shopping even though there are a couple of convenience stores within 5 miles. Pamela and I rode our bikes through the loops and down the road to the lock and dam and were able to get >1 hr of steady riding without repetition. (She was using biking as part of her PT.)  We really enjoy the barges. They were so close that we could practically touch them. Just watching them go by was a treat. They would also moor barges on the other side of the waterway from the campground and you can watch them tie them together. Fishing is evidently excellent and a lot of duck boats went by. 

Environment: A heavily treed campground.

Amenities:  The bath-houses are very nice and each has a laundry room. There is a play area for children and nice observation decks.  A boat ramp is close.  They provide a fish cleaning hut that actually has sinks and a garbage disposal. No catfish allowed. Evidently the catfish skin jams the disposal.  

Phone Service:  We had good Verizon service here. 

Location:  Right across the waterway from Pickensville, AL which is almost due west of Montgomery.  The campground is right on the State line with Mississippi and you actually travel a few yards into Mississippi when drive from the CG to the main highway.  It is a great place to stay but you must intend to go there. 

Camping Population:  In December there were no more than 1/2 dozen of us in the campground. In January there were nights when our friends and the host were the only other units.  There is a stay limit.  Rangers told us that they have the authority to extend the limit for good campers. 

Sites:  Beautiful - paved with utilities easily accessible. Most so level that you don't need anything. 

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RATING KEY: category - score

Categories: I - established campgrounds where one might spend a vacation or several days

II - boondocking, dry camping where there are no designated sites and no amenities but

one might choose to stay for more than a night.

III - over-night areas

You must remember that we are scoring 1 thru 5 according to things which are important to us: the environment, cost, amenities, location, safety, camping population, site, phone service