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| Sign at entrance to park |
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| The road to the campground |
We always think of visiting Fort Pickens as a beach trip. Florida beaches are very different from the ones in Mississippi. To be fair, we could only reach the Mississippi beaches behind the barrier islands. We missed the soft white sands found on the Florida side of the Gulf Islands Seashore. Perhaps the soft white sand we are used to seeing is found on the Mississippi barrier islands, which are reachable only by boat.
We did find the beaches around the casinos in Biloxi. The imported white sand there felt nice as we took several walks on the beach.
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| On the beach in Biloxi |
Having “Bayou” in the campground’s name creates a different set of expectations for this park. If "bayou" paints visions in your mind of swampy wetlands with ample "critters," you are on the right track.
The ranger told us as we checked in that the alligators were awake and active. We saw our first “gator” the next morning in one of the park's ponds.
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| A gator in one of the park's ponds |
The ranger told us the raccoons were active. We overheard some people our first morning saying they left some food out overnight and the raccoons had a feast.
The ranger did not tell us about the birds. We found them on our own. The ranger did not tell us about the turtles. We found them throughout the park. The ranger did not tell us about the pelicans. We found them, too, and enjoyed watching them scout for their meals. We found ospreys building their nest near the visitors center. We also enjoyed watching the lightening bugs, as they are called in the south or fireflies for those from the north. They entertained us in the evenings. Yes, the bayou critters were active.
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| A pelican in the bayou |
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| The osprey nest |
Speaking of birds, they were everywhere and filled the air with happy bird sounds. This reminded us of the sounds that seemed to be everywhere during our childhoods. That was very nostalgic and fun to hear.
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| Another "critter" roaming the park |
There were an unusual number of bikers, hikers and bird watchers in the park. It turned out that the park was surrounded by several nice residential areas and there were special gates that gave those neighbors quick access to the park. It appeared to us that the local residents loved to bike, hike and observe birds in their backyard park.
This is a small campground with only 51 sites and several appeared to need repairs and were unavailable. Since we made our reservations at the last minute, we had to switch campsites after a few days. As with any campground, some sites are better than others. We enjoyed our second site more than our first.
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| First site in the campground |
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| Second site in the campground |
It appeared to us that the Biloxi casinos were a reason some people camped here. Others were here to spend some time in the bayou and enjoy the quiet solitude found in this park. We found the quiet intermingled with the sounds of birds and the bayou animals was a great reason to visit this park. The bike paths and the hiking were the icing on the cake.
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| Biking in the park |
Here are some specifics about this campground:
- This is the first park we camped in that vigorously enforced check-in time. You will not be admitted to the campground before 1pm.
- There were two loops in the campground.
- Most sites could be classified as "full sun." Only a few had shade.
- Most sites had ample space on both sides. Our first site must have been in the park’s buddy site since the space between our sites can only be described as “tight.” We had to change sites after a few days. Our second site was better.
- Both of our sites were paved with asphalt and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer.
- Our sites had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
- Our sites had a water connection
- Our sites did not have a sewer connection
- There was a dump station in this park. It was easy to pull your sewage tote to it.
- The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
- There was a bathhouse in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on its condition
- The park did not provide WiFi service
- AT&T provided 2 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsites
- We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Circle, Grit, LAFF and an overload of crime related channels
- The campground was near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. That meant there were restaurants and shopping nearby
- This was a pet friendly park
Fellow campers told us about the big gator in one of the park's ponds. Having grown up in Florida, we recognized the sounds of a large gator, but didn’t see him our first week in the park. He lived up to his billing as a big gator when we finally saw him.
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| The big gator in the pond |
We are glad we had an opportunity to experience this campground.
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| Selfie in the park |
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