Hattiesburg, MS
We were so happy to have arrived at our campsite at Paul B. Johnson State Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Now, we had visited this park a couple years back when we were running away from Hurricane Sally. We only stayed one night then as it looked like Sally was headed our way. There were very few campers the night we were there, and most of us left the next morning. Nobody wanted to meet Sally.
It’s amazing how different the same place can look under different circumstances. Now, this is a gem of a park, but first I want to give you the specifics of our campsite.
We had a waterfront view, and we even saw a lone grey wolf. The next day, we noticed the mountains in the distance.
See our door handle?
on our second day.
If you are Dan, you can skip this paragraph, as you have already heard it numerous times. Everybody else, stay right where you are. Especially if you are RV’ers. My husband, whom I promised to love until death do us part, loves the pull through sites. In principle, I agree. When I made these reservations, I didn’t pay too much attention to the sites or the campground map. I wanted to make him happy. That’s on me.
Bottom line, the pull through sites at Paul B. Johnson give new meaning to the words pull through – because you just want to pull through and leave as soon as possible. Not my idea of how to enjoy a stay at a state park.
There are only about a dozen of these pull through sites. All the rest are back-in sites and are spaced as you might expect at a state park. Most sites are pretty nice – spacious and with pretty views. Next time, I, I mean we – Dan and I, will weigh the options a bit better and consider all of the factors – such as how many nights we are there. For this trip, we had reserved three nights.
The good thing about camping at a Mississippi state park is that a senior discount is given to all seniors – not just those who live in Mississippi. So a full hook up campsite for seniors is $16 a night. We like that!
I would also mention that, for some reason, GPS takes you into the “back entrance” – if you put your destination in as “Paul B Johnson” state park. However, if you use the street address – “319 Geiger Lake Rd. Hattiesburg, MS” it will take you to the front entrance. The only issue with arriving by the back entrance, as we did, is that there is no signage for the pull through site numbers. So, we drove around all the camping loops with no luck.
Most people waved at us when we drove by a second time. We smiled and waved back and tried to look like we knew where we were going. We finally turned down a road with a sign pointing to the office, and that’s where we found our campsite. One sign would make all the difference. When we mentioned all this to the office, they smiled and said, “Yep.”
Even with the quirks, this is a very nice state park. There are a number of amenities, and we enjoyed riding our e-bikes on the roads.
We really didn’t do a whole lot while in Hattiesburg. We did visit “The Lucky Rabbit” and a grocery store one of the days. Other than that, we simply enjoyed the park – taking walks, riding e-bikes, and playing some Scrabble.
the perfect place to enjoy some Scrabble.
Before we knew it, it was time to head to our next destination. And yep, it’s a pull through campsite!
Chambers on the Road 
Great post, Betty! This looks like a lovely park. I see what you mean about the pull-through set up at that park. We’ve never experienced that sewer situation with a pull through. “Seeing the mountains” on day two must have been at least a small compensation 😉
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Yes, the mountains were very beautiful. 🙂 There wasn’t even room for a picnic table between sites. All the other campsites in the park did have picnic tables. It would be okay for a one night stop. Have a great day, Terry!
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It looks like a very nice and clean park. Is it $16 per person (senior) or per RV? I am glad you are having a good time. Days don’t always have to be filled with activities, just enjoying the park, walking, riding a bike and playing scrabble is often enough exactly what we need.
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It is $16 a night per campsite. Some places give a senior discount but only if you are from that state. The Army Corps of Engineers park give a 50% discount if you have a senior national parks pass. We do. We have stayed at beautiful COE campgrounds for $12 a night. I always look for those first when planning a trip. 🙂 Enjoy your day!
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Are there restrictions on how long you can stay? I remember Hattiesburg as I took a few teacher courses one summer at the University in Hattiesburg. It was fairly easy to get around.
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You can stay 14 nights at a Mississippi state park. Most places do have restrictions about the length of stay. Sometimes people get around those by using a different phone number and email. I would not do that. We didn’t do much in Hattiesburg, but I did see a lot of big homes with lots of charm; although, some need a refresh. Have a great day!
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That is generous for senior citizens. I imagine other states may have similar plans. I would enjoy visiting Northern California, Utah, Montana, Wyoming in a camper. I have already visited many Southern places.
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I follow a blogger who visited many areas in Northern California, and it was beautiful! However, gas is sky high in California. I doubt we will ever take our travel trailer there. We do have some new to us places coming up later this year. I really enjoy seeing new places.
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Yes, I can imagine. I have relatives in California. I would like to connect again sometime soon with them, again.
When I retire, we hope to travel.
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We feel your pain. We stayed at a really tight pull through site right next to the dump station for several weeks while we were house hunting. Certainly not ideal! 🤣
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I’m not sure who had it worse! At least we survived for better times! Have a great day!
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You were hilarious as usual in the descriptions. I’m thinking “a grey wolf near Hattiesburg? Mountains–I don’t remember any mountains visible from Hattiesburg” and then I scrolled down…
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A campsite like that just about writes the post for me! Enjoy your day!
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I do understand where you are coming from. But then again, I guess it all depends on what your schedule is and the size of your rig. For me, if I’m only staying a day or a couple of days I have no issues with such a pull through site. In addition since we have DISH most pull through sites are out in the open which gives our antenna unrestricted access to the satellites. In general whenever I can I will ask for a pull-through. The exception being if I’m staying for a month or longer and there is a substantial difference in price between the back in and pull through. Anyway, continued safe travels and enjoy your time on the road.
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Those are all valid points to consider when selecting a spot. It’s just that there were so many other really pretty spots in the park, and all those had a picnic table, too. Most of our sites are booked for the rest of the year, so what will be, will be. Keep having fun!
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It’s so hard to reserve parks, and sites, “site unseen”! I feel your pain. But, there’s always hope that the next one will be better.
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Well, if I would have researched it just a little bit more, we would have had a better site. But like you said, the next one will be better!
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Bah! You had me going for a little while. I’m thinking it must be very nice with a waterfront site. We’ve had sites like that where we had to step over the neighbor’s sewer hose to get to our door. We always try for get back-in sites on the outside of a loop. They seem to be the best option most of the time.
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That is some good advice. We just booked for next April in the Smoky Mountains, and I studied the map and watched Youtube videos, too. We haven’t had too many poor sites, but this one, well, it was a stinker. It does make us appreciate those gems when we can get them!
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I had to google pull-through campsite to understand what that meant. I can appreciate why Dan likes them so much now! – Marty
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It is much easier to get all set up in a pull through site; however, sometimes there is an additional cost. I am glad for your comment because I need to be reminded to give a bit more of an explanation sometimes. A man came up to me here at the park and said he was reading my blog. He was reading the post about Corinth and wondered where it was located. He said he finally figured out it was Mississippi. In that case, I only needed to add one word in the right spot (Mississippi). In your case, just a couple words to describe a pull through site. As a writer, clarity is very important to me! Thanks for your comment, Marty, and have a great day!
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I have to admit that I prefer pull-through sites as well; they reduce the number of parking-related arguments.
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LOL. I know exactly what you mean!
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