Since this is a Camping forum, I wanted to share the latest from the state park nearest my hometown of Tuscaloosa, AL (home of the Crimson Tide). That would be Lake Lurleen State Park.
I grew up as a kid going to LLSP in the summers to swim and enjoy the beach on the lake. Then as a youth in Boy Scouts, it was a cheap, close, easy-to-get place to get bitten by mosquitos, eat half cooked food, get rained on overnight, smell like campfire smoke when you went home, and absolutely have a blast with your buddies. It was even the first place we took our first pop-up camper (the Jayco 12' HighWall). LLSP was opened in the late 60s or early 70s and added onto over the years (the early part was for car camping) and not designed for back-in trailer spots. Additions to the park in future decades were trailer friendly and some effort was made to convert car camping sites to trailer sites but it's still not 100% trailer friendly.
All that to say ........
Everybody's trying to cash in on the Crimson Tide and so add LLSP to that list. It, along with one COE campground nearby, are the closest "camping" experiences to Tuscaloosa. There are camping trailer parks in town (zoning is very bu$ine$$ friendly) among sub-divisions but if you want a true camping experience, LLSP is half your choices within 30 minutes of town.
For the 2021 Alabama Football Season, LLSP is cashing in via the following ways:
https://www.alapark.com/parks/lake-lurleen-state-park/alabama-football-camping-packages
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Book early, book for a long reservation, and pay for a couple months in full in advance .....
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If you dare wait till the next call in date a month later, there is less commitment but WHO KNOWS if they will have room for you?
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The choices after that are more affordable but I bet the pickings are slim:
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And the T & C's are pretty tough. No specific campsite reservation mind you. You get what's available when you show up:
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This kinda junk is why I still like my local CoE campground which is on a bluff upriver of town above a dam. It has site specific, simple reservation rules from recreation.gov. Know your site, know your dates? Just wait for the booking window and use the rules in your favor to work the system.
C19 new cases are starting a downward trend in Tuscaloosa County thankfully. Just in time for football season.
Roll Tide
Bama Ed