Palmetto Island State Park Campground

The camp hosts and park staff are friendly and do a really good job keeping the park in great shape. We were really surprised at the quality of the park considering how inexpensive it was. We passed so many private RV parks with reach-out-and-touch-your-neighbor spacing that were far more expensive. It is a mystery to us why someone would choose those when the LA state parks are so nice.

The RV sites are a good size and most of them have significant vegetation for privacy. Each site has electricity, water, picnic table, fire ring, and a solar light on the site number sign post. No sewer, but there is a dump station with two ports on the way out of the park.

Some of the sites have a tent pad with them (the web site marks which ones do). This is nice for setting up a canopy. If you really want to tent, I would recommend the backpacking sites as they are on the lagoon. Tent site 1 is especially nice because it has a lot of privacy.

The bathrooms are clean, climate controlled, and the showers are nice. If you are the first of the day to take a shower, you will have a long wait for the hot water to show up. Just be patient. After 2-3 minutes, it will be warm enough to start using. Another 5-6 minutes after that, it will reach a nice hot temperature.

The laundry facilities are free, and the laundry rooms are bright, clean and have folding tables. The laundry room at Comfort Station 1 (I never remembered to check Comfort Station 2), has a bookshelf with a borrow/exchange collection. Most of the books are either romance or children's, but there are a few others scattered in.

There is a small playground at Comfort Station 2 (the one near site 43), and there is nothing for kids at Comfort Station 1 (the one near site 90), so pick your site accordingly. There is a large playground at the Nature Center, but that's probably too far a walk from the RV sites for a kid. One thing to note with the various buildings is the railing design - they have built in a palmetto design which is a nice touch.

There are plenty of walking paths - some are improved and some are primitive. The primitive ones get really muddy after a heavy rain. We felt safe walking and biking on the road as well.

The boat ramp, parking area, and bathrooms are good - no overhead lines to annoy sailboat launching. We didn't end up putting in just because it would have a long bout of motoring to get where we could put the sails up in the bay, and the current was fairly strong, so it would have taken several hours with our wee motor to get back up the river. For a power boat, it would be a nice experience.

There is also a canoe launch and canoe rental. They have some "canoe paths" which are canals between the various lagoons.

We saw lots of armadillos, an army of vultures, and a few pigs - no bears or alligators. The mosquitoes were pretty bad the first day, but a hard freeze cleared them up for us.

We were at the park after New Year's, and it was fairly empty. We heard from the camp hosts that it can get rowdy with locals on the holidays, but for us, it was one of the more quiet experiences we have had.

If you arrive after hours, just pick a site to stay in overnight (use the web site to see which ones haven't yet been reserved) and settle up at the office in the morning.

One interesting bit: to get to the park, you go by many rice fields. We saw what looked like little traps in the fields and wondered if they were perhaps crawfish traps. After looking it up, we found out that this area of LA is known for this type of aquaculture. It's actually fairly fascinating how it works, so I encourage you to read up on it so you know what you're seeing.

Sites are level (a few are concrete, most are dirt/gravel), and well-spaced. There's a lot of plant life keeping the sites private and well shaded. The restrooms are huge, modern, and very clean. We had 3-4 bars of Verizon and 4-5 of AT&T. The park WiFi is pretty good if you're close to the tower, but don't count on it.

There are almost 100 sites, and while we were here, there were no more than 10 taken, so we only saw other campers while walking the dog. Lots of trails, but watch out for the feral hogs and black bears. We didn't see bears, but the hogs are most definitely around.

Resident dragonflies keep the mosquitoes down in the mornings, but the mosquitoes can be pesky in the early evening. Rangers and campground hosts are extremely pleasant and friendly. The only sounds you hear are the birds and treefrogs.

Good, relatively central location for Lafayette, New Iberia, Abbeville, and surrounding areas. Oh, I almost forgot -- free laundry facilities!

I wish we had more time to spend in this area. The park itself was lush and green, even in the middle of February. The campsites are huge - ours was 75 feet long, and at least 25 feet wide. If you can drive it in, you can park it here. The sites are nestled among the trees, and have good privacy. There are excellent restrooms, showers and laundry facilities in the park, as well.

Close by in Abbeville, Louisiana, we like Shuck's Restaurant. Always busy, it had the freshest oysters and great cajun food served in a family-friendly place. Avery Island is nearby - don't miss the chance to stock up on Tabasco stuff and tour the facilities.

Palmettos Island has a number of recreational opportunities - trails, canoe and kayak launch areas and a boat ramp. The park allows individuals to drive golf carts in the park.

If you're so inclined, there are get-togethers at the park. One Saturday morning, there was a pot-luck Dutch Oven breakfast.

All in all, a very pleasant place to stay for a while.

The other reviews cover this place well, I just wanted to mention the FREE LAUNDRY at this park. I must have done 12 loads while here, just for fun. If you have the time, do the kayak/canoe trail as well. It is not very long, but pretty as heck.

PS - scout your site ahead. Some sites have street lamps right in them. On top of those lamps are the Wifi antennas. With a little planning ahead, you can get a great Wifi signal too.

There were a bunch of armadillos here - let's start by saying that.

Also, free laundry, so we stayed right next to the bath house / laundry area. 2 washers and dryers per bath house. The first day we made up the cost of the site with 6 loads of laundry.

Getting here was a bit of a drive off our path as we traveled from Mississippi to Texas, but it was a pretty nice place once we got there.

The sites are all back in and electric and water only. Every site is private, some have tent sites as well, but plenty of space.

There were not a lot of things for the kids to do, but we think that was based on the weather. There is a splash pad and many hiking trails - just not the right weather for us.

We would go back again for sure. Oh yeah, friendly staff!

We arrive at Palmetto Island State Park between boon-docking trips with family in South Louisiana. Prior to departing on our Westward bound trip, we thought it would be a classic S. Louisiana spot to check out.

The only uncomfortable experience I would expect would be staying here in warmer months; not so much from the heat, but from the mosquitoes. Even in February, the warmer days bring out the mosquitoes.

Since we arrive in February, the Park is mostly empty; no reservations needed. The staff are friendly, camp hosts (3) are available to assist if needed. The camping spot are level, large and spread out for privacy. There are a few spots that are close together, which provide those with camping friends to be parked near each other.

Fishing is available in the ponds and bayous connected to the Vermillion River. This is a good park to stay at during February/March to catch the local Mardi Gras parades in the Lafayette area.

After driving down back roads and passing crawfish ponds, we found this great state park.
It's fairly new. It has nice sites that are well separated. Plenty of room to bike/hide. There is a boat launch and canoe trails. The bathrooms have free laundry! We put additional detail on a youtube video ( https://youtu.be/J-gPeaYcnEs )

Cell phone Data download/upload rates MBps:
T-Mobile NG
ATT 8.55/0.50
Verizon 8.97/0.52

With Weboost Cell Booster
T-Mobile 4.60/0.07
ATT 8.31/8.06
Verizon 5.28/7.92

This is really a beautiful park with nice trails and lakes, well maintained. However, we planned to stay Thursday through Sunday, but left early. Thursday night was fine, but Friday night was all about parties, neighbors with loud music and talk past midnight. We could tell that Saturday night was going to be even worse, so left early.

I don't mind others having fun, but this was out of control. There seems to be no enforcement of the rules - sites with as many as 5 cars (supposed to be 2 max), loud music and noise way past 10PM, golf carts clogging the roads, etc. I would love to go back, but will never go on a weekend again.

Most of the sites are well spaced with vegetation between, some are more open. Very clean facilities. If they would just enforce the park rules, it could be nice, even on weekends. If you want a peaceful stay, shoot for Sunday-Thursday.

We stayed here a couple of nights mid-February and it was a nice enough place. We pulled out on a Friday as hordes of people were filling up the campground!

The sites are deep and relatively private and well maintained. We did some exploring and saw a gator in the pond at the end of the campground. He was watching some people fishing so he didn’t see us... 😐

There is laundry and clean bathrooms. The sites are gravel but level and nice. Water and electric only with dump station on site. It’s a little off the beaten path but we enjoyed a quiet stay.

I can’t say enough good about this campground. After 4 days of roadside and beach camping, the hot showers and free laundry were exactly what I needed. Full hookups at each site, friendly neighbors and many trails to explore. They even have a free swap library with a great selection.
Note: The states nightly rate of $20 does not include a $6 administrative fees or taxes. Out the door cost was $33 and some change and since I arrived after hours, I didn’t find out until I left the next day. Admittedly it soured my experience a smidge. Still, free laundry!! 😁