Bayou Wilderness RV Resort - Carencro, Louisiana (March 2023)

Nearly everyone on a WBCCI Caravan has an opportunity to help the group through an assigned task and our duty was to serve as parkers at this campground. That meant we left our last campground two hours earlier than the other members and traveled to this park with the caravan leaders. We quickly unhitched and set up Rosie, our Airstream trailer, because we knew there were about 20 more Airstream trailers headed to this park. 

Following the leaders to Bayou Wilderness RV Resort

Sign at the entrance to the campground

Our jobs were simple. I stood at the entrance to the campground with a red flag and waved in approaching trucks pulling Airstream trailers. I used our radios to relay the number of the arrivals to Becky, who gave them their site numbers and other park information. 

It was interesting to me that you could turn into this campground from three directions. We had fellow caravaners who arrived from all three directions while following the same directions. How does that happen? Of course the answer is that Apple Maps, Google, Garmin and the many other GPS systems in use all came up with their own shortcuts to the park. 

There were more than 100 sites in this campground. The roads inside this park were paved with gravel. 

Walking Suzy in the campground

Some of our activities from this campground included a swamp tour and a visit to an alligator skin studio where they made purses, wallets and boots. We also visited a large Catholic Church that had an amazing tree on the side of the building. 

Dinner for the gator?

Becky putting that gator in his place

Part of our group leaving for the swamp tour

The local Catholic church

A huge tree on the side of the church

One of the exciting things while in the campground happened in the middle of the night. We had a severe thunderstorm and ended up turning on the air conditioner's fan to help drown out the sound of heavy rain and constant thunder. Our Yorkie dog wanted to be under the covers and right next to us. 

It took more than a day for the standing water to drain off some sites. We were fortunate in that Rosie was dry and the puddles on our site were away from Rosie. 

We learned that several people on our caravan tested positive for COVID. We would learn about another testing positive the next day. We decided to be cautious and isolate ourselves from the group. We ended up leaving this campground and our caravan one day early. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a pull-through 
• Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with gravel and we needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service. The site next to us had only 50 amp service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• There were several small trash dumpsters scattered around the campground. It was easy to walk to one with your trash
• The bathhouse was under renovation while we were in the campground and was unusable
• The park provided WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Bounce, Buzzr, Grit, H&I, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, MY-TV and Stadium
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Bay Wilderness RV Resort - Carencro, Louisiana

Having grown up in Florida, I know that the word "resort" carries a lot of baggage. Resorts have amazing amenities and accommodations. Evidently, the word "resort" means something else to the RV community.

Bay Wilderness RV Resort

We arrived in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, at the Bay Wilderness RV Resort near Lafayette, Louisiana. Someone from the park led us to our campsite, which was a pull-thru. In fact, all of the sites in this park were pull-thrus and that made it easy to park.

Pull-thru parking at Bay Wilderness RV Resort

During Rosie's set-up, our fresh water hose decided to start leaking. One of the park's workers noticed my problem as he was driving by in a golf cart. After a quick look at my hose, he said that the washer was bad and he would return with a replacement washer in a few minutes. I guess things got busy because I did not see that worker again and ended up getting a washer from one of my fellow campers and that cured my problem.

My neighbor had better luck with the campground staff. His site had only 50 amp electrical service and his motorhome was wired for 30 amps. Another campground worker stopped by to help and said that the campground had some 50 to 30 amp adapter plugs and he would get one for our neighbor. The worker returned with the adapter in a few minutes and our neighbor was up and running on the park's electrical power.

Rosie in the campground

Lots of Airstream campers in this campground

There are a couple of "art" objects in the park. There is an old tractor that is on display and some large vases near the park's entrance that were probably part of a fountain at one time. But the best feature was at the cypress pond at the rear of the park. We loved the beautiful cypress trees and the many cypress knees in that pond.

Cypress pond in this campground

Here are some specifics about this park:

• Sites have water, electrical and sewer connections. Our site had 20 and 30 amp electrical service. Our neighbor's site had 20 and 50 amp service. You need to let the park's staff know your camper's electrical needs when you check in.
  
• Our site had a TV cable connection. It provided marginal service when we first arrived. After a few hours, a campground worker dropped by and asked if we were having trouble with the cable-TV signal. I guess we were not the only campers having that issue. He returned after about 20 minutes and said that he found the trouble and our cable-TV feed should be working. He was correct and we had solid cable-TV service while in this park.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS and NBC from either the cable-TV service or from Rosie's TV antenna. We also saw Antenna-TV, CW, ME-TV and THiS on the digital channels found over-the-air while in this park.
• The park has Wi-Fi service. Unlike most parks we visit, this park had really good Wi-Fi service. We had no trouble getting online and completing normal online things. We didn't try to watch online videos through the park's Wi-Fi service because we didn't want to use more than our fair share of the bandwidth.
• AT&T provided strong 4G service for both voice and data.
• The park has very nice restrooms and showers. You have to get used to the bathouse lights being on timers. The lights clicked off twice while I was in the restroom. I reset the timer once while exiting and heard someone yell "thank you" from the showers. I imagine that it can get very dark back in the shower area if the timer unexpectedly clicks the lights off.
• There is a large and nice laundry room at this park.
• There is a good clubhouse at this park. Our Wally Byam Cajun Country Caravan was able to use this clubhouse for several events.
• There is a camp store that has some of the necessities you may need while camping.
• There are several park workers who seem to drive through the park in their golf carts during the day. They seem to be proactive in that they will stop to help if it appears that you are having some issues while in the park.

Overall, this is a nice park. While it has some "parking lot" tendencies and it may fall a little short of some of Florida's famous resorts, it is a good place to spend a few days while exploring the Lafayette area of Louisiana and it is a cut above most of the commercial campgrounds we have visited.